5.b. Consideration of a request to approve the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Action Plan.Plus of course, Citizens to be Heard.
They heard some citizens Tuesday, as Drive Away CCA honked at City Hall.
Here’s the agenda.
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Continue readingAGENDA REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, March 8, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Yes, we drove about that slow the whole way: that was in the plan.
We honked at Valdosta City Hall: the City Council could hear us inside.
They have Citizens to be Heard at their regular meeting tonight.
Here’s the video:
Heading out Drive Away CCA 2012 03 06
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Motorcade against Corrections Corporation of America, Drive Away CCA,
CCA, VLCIA, Corrections Corporation of America, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
Valdosta City Council, Lowndes County Commission, incarceration, prison, private prison,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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5PM today,
Drive Away CCA, from the prison site at East US 84 and Inner Perimeter Road,
honk at Valdosta City Hall, and march at the Industrial Authority office.
Chris Beckham’s show has put audio on the web of his
interview with me this morning.
Update: Here’s LAKE video of the interview.
John Quarterman, who is with a group informally called “Drive Away CCA” visited The Morning Drive to discuss the group’s displeasure with a possible private prison that is being discussed in Lowndes County. A possible extension for the company to continue its plans here is up for renewal and the group feels its location here would be bad for area businesses and citizens alike.Follow the link for the audio. Video up shortly.
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Join us 5PM Tuesday March 6th 2012 at the private prison site (Dasher-Johnson Road off US 84 at Inner Perimeter) for a motorcade by Valdosta City Hall to the Industrial Authority offices: for education and against the private prison.
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on the web View Larger Map 
Petition |
Winn Roberson read the newspaper Friday (February 24th) and realized the prison site was down the street from him, so the news finally sunk in. This motorcade was his idea to drive the point across to the Industrial Authority: we don’t want a private prison!
John S. Quarterman lives about as far away from the prison site as you can get in Lowndes County, but realizes it will affect everybody for many counties around. So let’s say CCA Go Away!
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PS: If you can’t come, you can still sign the petition to the Industrial Authority, or write a letter to the editor, or…
Valdosta City Council and Mayor, who may not have been following the private prison issue,
now know about it and are aware that they are all implicated in the private prison
decision, due to events at the Industrial Authority board meeting
and the Valdosta City Council meeting, both Thursday 23 February 2012.
After remarking that I’d rather be talking about the additional solar panels recently installed on my farm workshop up here in the north end of the county, I recapped the case against a private prison and referred the Valdosta City Council to my LTE in the VDT of that morning (Thursday 23 February 2012). I remarked that I was disappointed the Industrial Authority hadn’t done anything to stop the prison at its meeting earlier that same day. Since they might be wondering what all this had to do with them, I pointed out that, if I could use the word, they were all implicated as mayor and council in the private prison decision because Jay Hollis, CCA’s Manager of Site Acquisition, in his Valdosta-Lowndes County, GA / CCA Partnership: Prepared Remarks of August 2010, lavishly praised the Lowndes County Commission and Chairman and the Valdosta City Council and mayor. Although the mayor was different now, and maybe some of the council, nonetheless it was the same offices of council and mayor, still implicated. I asked for their opinions on that subject. Per their custom, they did not offer any at that time. So, maybe we’ll hear from them later. Or maybe the Industrial Authority board will hear from them….
Here’s the video:
Valdosta Mayor and Council are implicated in the private prison —John S. Quarterman @ VCC 2012 02 23
VSEB, employment,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 February 2012.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.
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John Robinson told the Valdosta City Council that he thought the
application for the
Valdosta Small Emerging Business (VSEB) Program
was too long and complicated compared to the one-page
application to do major construction work.
Here’s the video:
VSEB application is too long — John Robinson @ VCC 2012 02 23
VSEB, employment,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 February 2012.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.
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PURPOSE AND DIRECTION OF TODAYS PROGRAM: To keep citizens informed;Here’s video:help eliminate the deaf; dumb; and blind process in our beloved community. For too long local radio has failed to have open disucssion about the real issues that too often are not published and excluded from our history.
This is an honest attempt to keep alive what others may not believe to be of value to us; or coming generations that will look for a real and true history of what took place today. So I hope this will be carried on by others in our beloved community for the good of all human beings.
Welcome back, George!
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PS: Other people may call him crazy; I call him dedicated.
Jay Hollis, CCA’s Manager of Site Acquisition, in his Valdosta-Lowndes County, GA / CCA Partnership: Prepared Remarks of August 2010, wrote:
So who is this local leadership?Our Valdosta/Lowndes County site quickly became our primary due to its local and regional workforce, collaboration of local leadership, site characteristics, proximity to necessary services and infrastructure, and accessibility to name a few.
We look forward to working closely with Valdosta/Lowndes leadership as we move forward in the months to come.Continue readingFinally, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a few folks that have been essential to the project:
cut a red ribbon at a ceremony dedicating
Phase II of Freedom Park.
The park’s new phase included a walking track,
disc golf course, and a dog park. The addition of the small dog park
to Freedom Park’s amenities was largely the result of a motivated
group of citizens who urged the Authority to build the leash-free
exercise and play space. 444 locals signed an online petition
requesting that the VLPRA “create an off-leash dog park,
accessible to all residents and visitors where pets can safely be
taken for exercise and play.” As a result of this community
involvement, park visitors now have a safe and shaded spot to enjoy
a game of fetch with Fido.
The mission of the VLPRA is
“to provide quality Recreation and Parks, and to advance environmental conservation, which promotes the highest quality of life for the entire community.”In the upcoming months, the VLPRA will begin revising its master plan. Continue reading
I don’t know how you found this example, but good work & thanks for the research. This is a real genuine effort to produce government transparency. Anything short of this is faux transparancy. Can you find out how the citizens were able to get this good faith transparancy enacted?Continue readingI am expecially concerned with the cloudy transparancy on RFP &
bidding procedures within our county. Having spent 12 years in government construction contracting I know the detailed safeguards that have been enacted to protect the taxpayers from contracting fraud & crony capitalist back door agreements. It is my observation that these safeguards are being bypassed by end around tactics & the current popularity of public/private partnerships has a plethora of possiblities for good old boy system abuses.
Recently a local contractor started work on an unfunded, unawarded government project that was exposed
by the local newspaper. The city’s answer to the illegal contracting procedures was to issue a contract change order for $143,807 with a 10% contingency. It has been my experience that anytime a contractor starts work on an unfunded project said contractor eats the cost of any work completed & all contractors are aware of this rule.
In addition it is a dis-service to taxpayers for that amount of money to be