Category Archives: Government

May 7: Downtown Valdosta Farm Days

Downtown Valdosta Farm Days begin two weeks from tomorrow:
Bringing the best of the country to the heart of the City!

Downtown Valdosta Farm Days is a bi-weekly farmers’ market featuring local farmers and artisans and also serves to educate the community about eating local, nutrition and food choices.

Downtown Farmers Market
First and Third Saturdays from May to September
9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Lowndes County Courthouse Square, Downtown Valdosta

There’s a calendar on their website, along with how to become a vendor. And everybody is purring now. Agriculture, economy, and a festival! And, it costs the county nothing.

More on this story as it develops.

-jsq

What will you do? —John S. Quarterman @ VCC 7 April 2011

I wanted to know what the council and the protesters will do when the biomass plant is canceled. I still want to know: what will you do?

Here’s the video, followed by my points.


What will you do? —John S. Quarterman @ VCC 7 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Before I started, the mayor noted that many people needed to go to an event at 7PM (he didn’t name it, but it was the 100 Black Men Annual Dinner.) He offered to proceed with scheduled business and re-open Citizens to be Heard at the end of the meeting. Nobody objected. I had already waited until nobody else seemed to want to speak.

My points: Continue reading →

Biomass is a bad idea —Matt Flumerfelt @ VLCIA 19 April 2011

Matt Flumerfelt says he’s a musician, writer, and poet, and doesn’t usually go in for speaking about politics. But he’s come to the conclusion that the biomass plant is a bad idea.

Here’s the video:


Biomass is a bad idea —Matt Flumerfelt @ VLCIA 19 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, VLCIA,
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Acting Executive Director, 19 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Children —Keisha Ferguson for Angela Manning’s church @ VCC 7 April 2011

Her church is close to the proposed biomass plant site. Many children go to school near there, too. She said she could feel that some of the council wanted to jump up and say something.

Here’s the video:


Children –Keisha Ferguson for Angela Manning’s church @ VCC 7 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Local NAACP votes to oppose private prison in Lowndes County

Leigh Touchton commented yesterday about a meeting Tuesday 19 April. She is president of the Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP. -jsq
Valdosta NAACP branch voted last night to oppose the private prison approved by VLCIA. We don’t need more prisons, and they do not improve economic standards in any community in which they have been located. There is a safety burden upon the community, there are human rights abuses, and the focus should be on saving the state money by rehabilitation of non-violent offenders rather than mass incarceration. When America has 5% of the world’s population but incarcerates 25% of the world’s prisoners, this is unacceptable. In North Carolina, private prisons have put local furniture manufacturers out of business because they cannot compete with the prison’s slave labor. These are not sustainable and it’s no mystery why most of the large Christian denominations in America oppose them.

-Leigh Touchton

Here’s Brad Lofton’s explanation of the private prison. Here are statements on private prisons by three Christian denominations. And the state of Israel has outlawed private prisons. More information about CCA and private prisons here.

-jsq

City Manager’s Report and Council Comments @ VCC 7 April 2011

Sometimes you hear what you need to hear at the end of the meeting. Or, maybe you’re not there to hear it.

I think it helps make the point if you need to first listen to the City Manager’s Report before you hear what happened at the end of this video.

City Manager’s Report

Second night of classes [for something] is this coming Monday.

Police Department review April 16-19 including a public hearing April 18th 6PM at the City Hall Annex.

Electronic recycling was very successful.

Composting program “very unique”: they give it away free three days a week; bring your own truck.

Matt Martin promoted from interim planning director to full time.

City’s table is #17 at the event tonight [100 Black Men annual dinner].

Employee appreciation luncheon Thursday April 21 at [?] Park.

Next meeting one council member will serve on committee about comprehensive plan.

Council Comments

Council Yost said: Continue reading →

Conversation for jobs —Cristobal Serran-Pagan @ VCC 7 April 2011

Dr. Serran-Pagan suggests we have a conversation among all types of people and do the math. Let’s put the money where it will produce jobs. Solar, wind, why haven’t we been doing it? Real clean renewable sources of energy. He brings up the water the biomass plant would use.
Water is precious. Air is precious. Oil, coal, is not precious. Biomass is not precious. We have plenty of good clean, renewable sources of energy. Let’s do that…. and get rid of old models, and let’s try to do what is right for community, for our economy, and for public interest.

Here’s the video:


Conversation for jobs —Cristobal Serran-Pagan @ VCC 7 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

About those minutes —Bobbi Anne Hancock @ VLCIA 19 April 2011

Stonewalling is a good way to get your Industrial Authority on the front page of the local newspaper (again). Here’s video of what Bobbi Anne Hancock said to the board about their minutes (and other things).

First, here’s is VDT reporter David Rodock’s excerpt of what she said last night:

Bobbi Anne Hancock, the woman who made an Open Records request with the Authority for meeting minutes from 2006 to the present day, spoke to board members during the citizens to be heard portion of the meeting.

“The majority of your costs for the request are for the five hours

Continue reading →

7.b) Manhole covers on Country Club Road @ VCC 7 April 2011

This item comes from the flooding on Country Club Road caused by:
…excess rain which overloads the Withlacoochee River Water Pollution Control Plant. He said growth along the river and throughout the regional watershed area has contributed to the amount of excess water running into the river.
That’s two flooding-related items in one Valdosta City Council meeting; the other was Browns Canal Streambank Restoration. Maybe we should think about doing something about the uncontrolled growth that leads to such water problems.

Here’s the video:


7.b) Manhole covers on Country Club Road @ VCC 7 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Thanks for clean up after recent storm —Dan Davis @ VCC 7 April 2011

Dan Davis thanks Valdosta City staff for timely clean up after recent storm. This plus there were two scheduled items related to storm and flood damage. Maybe we need better planning to reduce sprawl and the resulting flooding.

Here’s the video:


Thanks for clean up after recent storm —Dan Davis @ VCC 7 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq