Category Archives: Transparency

No San Onofre nuke startup decision until June at least –NRC Chair

Two more victories for anti-nuke activists: San Onofre restart decision pushed back at least until June, and webcasts of California Public Utilities Commission hearings going on right now.

Abby Sewell reported for the L.A. Times yesterday, Decision on San Onofre pushed back to June at the earliest,

The plant’s operator Southern California Edison had hoped at one point to have one of the plant’s two units operating by summer, but NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane made it clear that will not happen.

Macfarlane told reporters Tuesday after a speech, “You know, the process is very complicated now. Almost every day it gets a little more complicated…. Right now I can tell you a decision on restart won’t happen until the end of June, certainly after the middle of June.

“It may get pushed back later,” she said. “I don’t know.”

She didn’t say much about the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) decision to require NRC public hearings before any decision on restarting San Onofre, but she did say this:

Continue reading →

Videos: Why do we need to pave those roads? @ LCC 2013-05-13

Half a million dollars for paving without any competitive bid: it’s the county way! Only one of three potential board appointees showed up. Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions, including about a water system trust indenture, but not enough. They vote this evening at 5:30 PM.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 13, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Paving questioned @ LCC 2013-05-13

Commissioners asked a few questions about the half a million for paving with no apparent competition at yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session. Mike Fletcher, County Engineer Maybe you have more questions; you could ask them tonight at the Regular Session. You’ll have to catch them before the session starts, because you don’t get to speak in the session until after they vote.

8. Bid – Soil cement, bituminous prime (with sand), and paving for Bayhill Drive, Pinewood Drive, Grand Pine Drive, Glenn Hill Drive, Bay Wood Drive, Bemiss Knights Academy Road North, a portion of Old Bemiss Road, Payton Place, and Dodd Road

Kari Sands, Purchasing Director Purchasing Director Kari L. Sands said staff recommendation is to award the bid to Scruggs Company for $495,845. No other bids were mentioned. County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the money was already received from the LMIG program.

LMIG is Continue reading →

Appointees: Airport Authority @ LCC 2013-05-13

Only one of two potential appointees to the Airport Authority showed up.

No mic for County Manager Joe Pritchard at yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session, but by turning the sound way up I think he said the term of Wayne Edwards on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority expired this month, and there were two applicants: Jeff Sykes president and CEO of First American Prescription Drugs and Kevin McCraney of Georgia Power. Jeff Sykes was present and spoke. McCraney didn’t. Maybe the Commissioners assumed everybody knows McCraney. I do; but do you? Sykes said:

Continue reading →

May LAKE meeting tonight

Same agenda as in January, local governance: Water, trash, and money.

What: Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: about 6PM Tuesday
(after the County Commission meeting)
14 May 2013
Where: Let's Eat Cafe
2102 W. Hill Ave.
Valdosta, GA 31601
(just west of I-75, at the Shell station)

Don't let the location fool you: Let's Eat is locally owned, and serves a lot of locally-grown food.

If you're on Facebook, please Like the LAKE facebook page. You can sign up for the meeting event there, or just come as you are.

-jsq

Lowndes County v. Deep South Sanitation: Why?

Why is Lowndes County suing a local business for the benefit of investors in New York City? I guess we’ve discovered the litigation last month’s Lowndes County Commission executive session was about. Why is this a good use of taxpayer money?

On Deep South Sanitation’s facebook page yesterday,

Friends, we all watch the news and we see governments making changes that are unacceptable to the American people. Well, it is happening right here in our hometown. LOWNDES COUNTY has issued a CIVIL ACTION LAWSUIT against DEEP SOUTH. The preliminary hearing is set for FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013 at 9:30AM in Courtroom 5D of the Lowndes County Judicial Complex. The purpose of the hearing is to force DEEP SOUTH to shutdown on that day! (We are a small, local, family owned and operated business.) We need your support because this hearing will effect almost every one of you. “IF” we are forced out, Advanced Disposal will be your “ONLY CHOICE” for garbage service. That means there will be a MONOPOLY for garbage service in Lowndes. The County maintains that it is not MANDATORY for the citizens to use Advanced Disposal so then who else can we choose? CHOICE keeps business healthy and HONEST. Please help support this matter for your sake and ours by calling LOWNDES COUNTY and voice your concerns. Also, there are several petitions being sent around as of today. We personally thank each and every one of you!! From: Cary, Debbie, Trevor, Dylan and Sadee Scarborough

Unnamed Lowndes County “representatives” spelled out in the VDT back in January that

“According to the solid waste ordinance, Advanced Disposal will be the only residential hauler licensed to serve unincorporated Lowndes County.”

A few hours later yesterday, also on DSS’s facebook page,

Continue reading →

NRC tries to ignore hearing requirement for San Onofre nuke restart

Maybe the ASLB was referring to some other NRC that should hold public hearings? The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) agreed with Friends of the Earth (FOE) when it ruled that restarting either San Onofre unit requires a full public hearing like a trial, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) interprets that as having nothing to do with its own staff decision process. This is after the city of Los Angeles (and numerous other southern California cities and the San Diego Unified School District) said it didn’t want any decision about restarting any San Onofre reactor/ without a full, transparent, public decision process. The L.A. Times says all this is creating “confusion”. Just last week I heard Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers say confusion was bad for business. Maybe it will be bad not just for Southern California Edison and its San Onofre nukes, but also for Georgia Power and Southern Company’s 19-month-late and billion-over-budget nuclear boondoggle at Plant Vogtle.

Abby Sewell wrote for the L.A. Times yesterday 7:24 PM, San Onofre ruling creates confusion,

Continue reading →

Two appointments, a rezoning, 2 alcohol, an indenture, a building, and bids for paving LCC 2013-05-13

Where is the Lowndes County Commission getting the money for paving parts of nine roads? Who are they appointing to the Airport Authority and the South Georgia Community Service Board?

Here’s the agenda:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 13, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

F for Georgia state integrity

Worst of all fifty states; worse than South Carolina and worse than Michigan: that’s why Georgia’s gets an F on its corruption risk report card from State Integrity Investigation. Gov. Nathan Deal did just sign an ethics bill, but as William Perry, executive director of Common Cause Georgia says,

“It’s like you’re starving for a meal and somebody gave you a saltine cracker.
It’s chock full of loopholes.”

I wonder if this lack of ethics in state government has anything to do with widespread rural poverty in Georgia?

-jsq

Harrisburg just keeps getting worse

After Harrisburg, PA defaulted on its incinerator bonds, started selling off pieces of itself, and threatened bankruptcy (twice), now the SEC is suing the city for fraud.

James O’Toole wrote for CNN Money 6 May 2013, SEC sues financially troubled Harrisburg,

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued the city of Harrisburg for fraud, alleging that officials in the Pennsylvania capital misled the public about the city’s financial condition.

The SEC says the misleading statements came in the city’s 2009 budget report, its annual and mid-year financial statements and a “State of the City” address. The case marks the first time the SEC has charged a municipality with misleading investors in statements made outside of securities documents.

Harrisburg has been mired in

Continue reading →