LAKE has obtained the planning revision documents Lowndes County refused,
in violation of the law, to return in response to an open records request.
Here they are for all to see.
The Standards and Procedures for Local Comprehensive Planning,
established by the Georgia Planning Act of 1989, require updates
to the Short Term Work Projects (STWP) list and the Report of
Accomplishments (ROA) every 5 years.
Lowndes County and the cities in Lowndes County have submitted the
documents to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs
(DCA)
An open records request to Lowndes County for the documents was not satisfied.
However other government agencies were willing to abide by the
Georgia Open Records Law ocga 50-18-70.
Received Saturday.
Lots of people from Hahira. -jsq
Valdosta, Lowndes County and other concerned citizens marched from the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce building through downtown
to Rev. Martin L. King Jr., Monument. There were many speeches given
along with the sharing of ideas at this historic event. The marchers
were lead by Valdosta Police Department and eneded in peace as we all
expected in our beloved community. Peace!
-George Boston Rhynes
George Rhynes talks to No Consolidation marchers
No school consolidation,
Vote No for Consolidation March, Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2011.
Videos by George Rhynes for bostongbr on YouTube.
Today from 5 to 7 PM at the Rainwater Conference Center is the
2011 Meet the Candidates Forum organized by the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber’s Meet the Candidates Reception provides an opportunity
for Chamber members to meet and hear from candidates running in the
Nov. 8 general election. All Chamber members and guests are invited to
attend this event at the Rainwater Conference Center. There is no cost
to Chamber members to attend.
Here’s a list of
who qualifed to run.
As you can see, most local incumbents are running unopposed.
Maybe they’ll show up anyway, and there are at least a few contested positions
(Valdosta Mayor and Council At Large, Hahira Council 3, Dasher Post 3, and Lake Park Council At Large.
This being an odd year, there are no county-wide posts up for election,
but the municipal elections affect everyone around here, even people
like me who do not live in any of the cities.
Whether at this event or elsewhere, you may want to ask the candidates
their platforms and positions on local issues.
Usually there’s also an
AAUW Lowndes County Political Forum;
I don’t know what’s up with that this year.
Usually it’s immediately after the Chamber thing,
and the AAUW Forum is open to all.
Mayor Sonny Vickers said he thought it was important for children
and grandchildren and proper for the City Council to take a stand
against school consolidation, and City Manager Larry Hanson read
the statement (transcript appended).
For:
James Wright
District 1
Hoke Hampton
District 3
Alvin Payton
District 4
Ben Norton
At Large
Didn’t Have to Vote:
Sonny Vickers
Mayor
Against:
Robert Yost
District 6
Tim Carroll
District 5
Missing:
Deidra White
District 2
After very brief discussion, the vote was 4 for
(James Wright of District 1, Hoke Hampton of District 3,
Alvin Payton of District 4, and Ben Norton At Large)
and 2 against
(Robert Yost of District 6 and Tim Carroll of District 5).
Valdosta City Council voted to oppose school consolidationo
education, consolidation, resolution,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Here’s the statement transcribed as accurately as I could from the video:
Continue reading →
Hahira’s biggest event of the year, the Hahira Honeybee Festival,
filled up Main Street from the Middle School to Branch Street.
Last year reputedly drew 25,000 people; I’m no expert, but I’ll be surprised
if there weren’t at least as many this year.
You can tell by all the City Council candidates that there’s
an election going on.
See if you can spot the mayor.
(I didn’t, until I was revewing the pictures.)
My favorite is this one of
Charles Henry Hobrat.
Hahira Honeybee Festival, Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 October 2011.
Pictures and Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
The bees buzz in Hahira again this year.
I went to the breakfast Monday at O-dark-thirty.
Other events have already happened, but these are going on today:
Saturday Oct. 9th – 8 am until 6pm Arts & Crafts and Food Concessions. All
day we will have events like The 5k Run, Century Bike Ride, Dog Show,
Cloggers and other entertainment. There will also be a Kid’s Zone with
lots of inflatables, a train ride, live pony rides, mountain climb
and carousel.
Parade start time is 12:00 Noon. This is one of the largest parades in
South Georgia. We have one of the largest high school bands in Georgia
from Lowndes High School, The Georgia Bridgmen, Floats Of All kinds,
Local Queens, City Officials, Our Senior Citizen, State Officials,
and Lots and lots of Shriners and much more.
Current LCBOE member Fred Wetherington said he was on the Chamber of
Commerce Board and is still a member.
Remembering how consolidation started at the Chamber:
The whole idea was could it help us with economic development in our community.
At the same time could we increase student achievement.
And could we save the taxpayers money.
Well, I’m here to tell you tonight that I was one of the board members…
that if that theory and those ideas had held up after research and study,
I would be supporting this idea.
But he doesn’t. Because that theory and those ideas did not hold up.
Rumor has it they had a, uh, polite discussion about waste disposal at their work session Monday and they will make some sort of decision about that tonight.
I would post the agenda if it was online, but it’s not.
They do have minutes online, but the most recent ones
are from April.
the Lowndes County Commission could lead by making one of their famous
position statements, this time in favor of solar,
or by putting solar on the roofs of their buildings (solar on the jail! imagine that),
bringing in money to do so by
or by applying for grants,
or by making a project big enough to apply for private venture capital
from the at least two firms that are looking for such projects.
If the LCC won’t do it, how about solar Valdosta fire departments,
or solar Hahira tobacco barns?
The VDT picked up that I referred to Ashley Paulk’s
personal attention of the day before
as flattery.
Sorry, elected officials who can’t even get recognized by the Chairman:
bring a camera next time; then he’ll notice you!
First I pointed out that the Mayor of Hahira was in the room.
The Chairman had recognized the
new Mayor of Valdosta,
his replacement on the Valdosta City Council, and
the
Chair of the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce, but not the Mayor of Hahira.
I didn’t want anyone to think the County Commission
doesn’t care about Hahira!
Then I commended the voting Commissioners for their comments
Continue reading →
The Standards and Procedures for Local Comprehensive Planning,
established by the Georgia Planning Act of 1989, require updates
to the Short Term Work Projects (STWP) list and the Report of
Accomplishments (ROA) every 5 years.
Lowndes County and the cities in Lowndes County have submitted the
documents to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs
(DCA)
