The Quitman 10 were arrested in Brooks County for alleged irregularities
with absentee ballots, the day after two of them were elected to the
Brooks County Board of Education.
Saturday (tomorrow) a statewide rally for them will be held in Macon:
When:
Saturday at 11:00pm – Sunday at 2:00am
Where:
Stewart Chapel AME Church, 887 Forsyth Street
Who:
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Robert Brown, Rep. Tyrone Brooks, Sen. Vincent Fort, Rep. David Lucas, Ms. Helen Butler
Tonight I went to the VBOE meeting and delivered the offical NAACP letter
stating our branch’s opposition to consolidation. I asked Chairman Warren
Lee if he would discuss with VBOE attorney Gary Moser and let me know
whether they are “allowed” to take a position on this. The reason I
asked this is because one of my friends says that Dr. Cason told her
that “they are not allowed” to take a position on this. To my mind,
employees might not be able to take a position, but elected officials
representing voters ought to clearly state their position on an issue
as important as school consolidation.
The new case decided yesterday (REZ-2011-05 – Laurel Brooke),
was also represented by Bill Nijem, who got up and started
speaking for it, and after a bit said:
First let me introduce myself, there are new faces up here.
Bill Nijem. I represent the applicant.
Assuming that Commissioners
should just know who he is may not sound like a good start,
But, as he already said, nobody was speaking against this rezoning.
Why is that?
I would like to note when the applicant first submitted this application,
it was submitted as planned development,
and worked with Mr. Davenport,
we did tweak the site plan somewhat, made larger lots, and now it’s R-10.
And that’s what the opponents of the Glen Laurel rezoning asked for.
At least a couple of them were present this time.
Gretchen talked to them later, and they told her that since
this subdivision had what they asked for last time,
they had no objections this time.
Bill Nijem even discussed traffic and accidents, which you may recall
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Should the County Commission approve rezoning for a subdivision
just because developers say they won’t compromise any more?
Bill Nijem presented Moody and schools nearby and the proposed
house price as arguments for the Glen Laurel subdivision,
plus county services, which, remember,
were put in for them to use.
This was afterPine Grove Elementary closed
and moved farther away.
LAST week authorities
captured two fugitives who had been on the lam
for three weeks after escaping from an Arizona prison. The convicts and
an accomplice are accused of murdering a holiday-making married couple
and stealing their camping trailer during their run from justice. This
gruesome incident has raised questions about the wisdom and efficacy of
private prisons, such as the one from which the Arizona convicts escaped.
Two weeks ago I delivered the official NAACP letter to all City Council
members (and Mayor Fretti) asking for a written response as to their
position on biomass and selling reclaimed water to the Wiregrass, LLC,
proposed incinerator.
No response. Not one.
I have heard that at least two Council members refuse to do so because
“it might be used against them.”
Citizens are entitled to hear where their elected officials stand on
these issues. At least Councilmen Vickers, Wright, and Yost have stated
publicly that they support biomass, even though black infants are already
dying in Valdosta at a rate twice as high as white infants. According
to Mr. Wright,
Our community could subsequently also “monitor” increases in respiratory
illnesses, cancer rates, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality
rates. Just ask the American Lung Association, the American Cancer
Society, and the American Heart Association.
This is incredible. A city council member who still hides behind an
EPD air permit, and who chooses to ignore the testimony of thousands of
medical professionals throughout the United States. At the same time,
we have a City Council that continues to isolate itself from its citizens
with a policy that undermines open dialogue.
The continued silence of our City Council and Mayor in regard to biomass
is mind-boggling. Haven’t they noticed the developments of the past
couple months? The regular protests? Hundreds and hundreds of signatures
and voices in opposition to biomass? Ashley Paulk’s statement? George
Bennett’s statement? Even a statement, it appears, by Wesley Langdale
who said that biomass is economically not feasible … which is something
WACE stated as far back as October 2010, supported by an article from
the Wall Street journal called “(Bio)Mass Confusion”.
Dr. Mark George once asked all City Council members the following
question: “What is it you still need from us, so that you understand
that biomass is a bad deal”? To my knowledge that question was never
answered.
Last night I shared a letter from a local physician
Pretty much everyone agrees there are problems with the two local
school systems in this county, those of Lowndes and Valdosta.
Proponents and opponents of school unification even agree on many
of the details.
They just don’t agree on the solution.
CUEE believes that unification will somehow lead to solutions to all this,
and
believe is the word they use,
because they have no evidence.
Opponents such as me
don’t see any plan to get to better education, and some think that unification
will cause problems that CUEE is not even considering,
just like integration did in 1969.
Here’s a pair of pie charts from 2008 from
Who’s losing in Winnersville?
a project unification opponent Dr. Mark George was involved in:
Roger Budd III read a speech about socialism and communism
and government oppression.
He didn’t like not being able to build a restaurant
because he hadn’t yet been able to get a building permit.
Hm, I guess he wouldn’t like the city paying for
making videos of its meetings available to the public,
like me and my socialist buddy Dan Davis suggested.
He didn’t like it —Roger Budd III @ VCC 21 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 April 2011,
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Nolen Cox said he knows standard reporting procedures for expenses.
He also doesn’t like regulations.
Once again the city Attorney responded.
Dan Davis said he had similar concerns about the city’s travel policy.
He added that he thought “these meetings should be televised”.
That got a brief round of applause.
Hm, that sounds like
something I’ve suggested several
times to the same council.
Since Dan Davis and I couldn’t get much farther apart on most political issues,
maybe televised meetings are an issue with bipartisan support!
They both talked about expenses for sales representatives.
I wonder if that’s all they think elected officials are.
