This comment from George Boston Rhynes arrived just now,
on “Talk to my chairman”. -jsq
I was at
the last LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING when
Chairman Ashley Paulk shared information about the Biomass Project
extension being denied and the alleged secrecy surrounding keeping the
general public ignorant.
“Because certain people won’t share with you and I think it’s
unfair. We were approached about three weeks ago, Mr. (Joe) Pritchard
(County Manager) was, by the Industrial Authority, and we were tentatively
asked to make a move to ask that they not extend the contract.”
(Chairman Paulk!)
Chairman Paulk words prove that there is an apparent pattern and practice
The member who hardly ever speaks at board meetings makes a strong case for openness.
Tom Call
called me back about the biomass plant,
and we talked about a number of other matters.
He remarked that he was not an appointed spokesperson for the Industrial
Authority, so this is just him talking.
I don’t like to publish hearsay, but since the Industrial Authority
won’t talk, that’s what I’ve got.
According to Leigh Touchton, Ashley Paulk told her Tuesday night:
He said that Jerry Jennett took the biomass vote off the agenda at last
Industrial Authority meeting (April 19) even though Mary Gooding and
Roy Copeland wanted the vote to be taken ( a vote that was to oppose an
extension of the biomass contract since the biomass incinerator had not
met timeline benchmarks like having a buyer, etc). He said that Allan
Ricketts, Industrial Authority attorney Steve Gupton, and Jerry Jennett
went up to Atlanta to meet with Wiregrass officials and that’s when he
(Chairman Paulk) got a call telling him all this and he said he wouldn’t
keep quiet about it. He said the three men asked Wiregrass LLC officials
to rescind their letter asking VLCIA for an extension on their contract
and to substitute a new letter saying they were withdrawing their request
for extension (or not going forward to ask for extension).
This is in addition to what you can see him
on video saying during the meeting.
More after this picture of the cast of characters:
Continue reading →
Ashley Paulk agrees with my mother about
what the Industrial Authority should do.
At the Lowndes County Commission meeting last night, Chairman Paulk
discussed the biomass plant with Dr. Noll, and said:
Certain people won’t share it with you, and I don’t think it’s fair.
We were approached … almost three weeks ago by the Industrial Authority
and we were asked to … ask them not to extend the contract.
Well, it’s not our contract; we could do that, but … we didn’t.
And then last week the Tuesday of their meeting, I received a call
… on my way back fromm Atlanta and they had gone up
there to talk to Wiregrass Power,
because they’d written a letter asking for an extension.
My understanding was that they asked Wiregrass to write another letter
to remove that extension request.
These are things, I think should be public knowledge.
Regular meeting of the Lowndes County Commission, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 April 2011
Video by Alex Rowell for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
He told me several weeks ago about the commission being asked to vote not to extend.
Continue reading →
Over the past four years, I have had a significant number of citizens
contact me. Some with complaints, some with questions and yes…even some
with compliments. I have never refused to meet with anyone. Some want
to know what my position is on an issue. As a rule, especially on items
that may come before council for a vote – I do not state a position. I
choose to wait for the public hearing at which time all final arguements
both for and against an item are stated and on the record.
Mrs. Noll contacted me directly this past week and we met and discussed
How much does it cost to pave 3.5 miles of dirt road?
Apparently $1,413,097.92, or around a million dollars a mile,
when the county insists on paving it like a state highway
at the expense of safety:
How Much
To Whom
From
For What
$7,200.00
Lovell Engineering Associates
Valdosta
Design of Culvert
$48,010.00
Doyle Hancock & Sons Construc.
Doerun
Clearing and Grubbing
$1,357,887.92
The Scruggs Company
Valdosta
Paving
$1,413,097.92
All contractors
Total
This financial information comes from an open records request
filed by Carolyn Selby more than a year ago
and finally fulfilled 17 March 2011.
Copies of all the pages received are
in the flickr set.
How many other roads could have been paved for $1.4 million?
If this road had been paved like a local rural road,
instead of like a state highway (literally according to
state highway standards) it would not have cost nearly
as much and probably another shorter road could have been paved, too.
And if other roads were paved like local roads instead of state
highways, how many more of them could be paved?
They still wait while this one got paved to the tune of $1.4 million.
This came in Sunday as a blog post on
To Speak or Not to Speak.
As a contrast, Lowndes County Commissioners do usually talk to people before and after
their meetings, and sometimes they use that time to answer questions citizens asked during the meeting. -jsq
Yost engaged Dr. Noll (and was unpleasant about it) at one meeting that I attended, Mayor Fretti engages people sometimes, Attorney Talley engaged J. Smith last Thursday, and sometimes others at other meetings, myself included, and Vickers talks pretty much to whomever he wants whenever he wants. The whole CTBH policy is a smokescreen. The Council Comments period ought to be followed by adjournment and then the Councilmembers making their remarks from the dais during Council Comments ought to have to walk out into the audience and deal with the voters’ concerns directly.
When Jimmy Rainwater was Mayor, I may not always have agreed with him, or he with me, but he always came out into the audience and talked to us.
This Council is not responsive to the concerns of its citizens,
It’s a
very light agenda for the Lowndes County Commission;
so light the work session was cancelled.
However, the regular session is scheduled as usual for Tuesday evening.
They’ve moved Citizens Wishing to be Heard back to the middle of the meeting.
Historically, it’s been here and it’s been there in different places
in the agenda.
I still think at the end is a fine place for it, since then
more people may stay for the entire meeting.
I posted
my other thoughts on CWTBH
back when they changed to their current policy on that.
Groundwater sampling near a landfill is an item.
The same item was on the agenda last time, but didn’t get resolved.
Water is an issue throughout the region.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION CANCELLED
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Executive Director, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
(Valdosta, GA)
A very exciting opportunity with a successful industrial
authority with numerous assets.
Greater Valdosta is the business, cultural, educational, medical, leisure,
and retail hub for thirteen South Georgia and North Florida counties and
more than 1.2 million citizens. Valdosta and Lowndes County are quickly
becoming the fastest growing area in Georgia and are home to Moody Air
Force Base; two Regional Medical Centers; and Valdosta State University,
a regional university with over 13,000 students.
Digging around on cb-asso.com finds this detailed job description.
It’s four GIF images (copies
here)
of a VLCIA logo and three pages of a four-page flyer.
I was at the last LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING when Chairman Ashley Paulk shared information about the Biomass Project extension being denied and the alleged secrecy surrounding keeping the general public ignorant.
“Because certain people won’t share with you and I think it’s unfair. We were approached about three weeks ago, Mr. (Joe) Pritchard (County Manager) was, by the Industrial Authority, and we were tentatively asked to make a move to ask that they not extend the contract.” (Chairman Paulk!)Chairman Paulk words prove that there is an apparent pattern and practice
