School consolidation would set up an artificial fiscal disaster that
could force the “unified” public school system to turn to private foundations
for funding, at the price of control of public education by private entities.
This is disaster capitalism, or the shock doctrine, right here in
Valdosta and Lowndes County.
What’s the Shock Doctrine?
It’s been around for a long time, but Naomi Klein researched it for
her book of the same name. It’s
“the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock”
She was writing mostly about wars, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.
Locally here we haven’t had any of those.
But we may be about to create a disaster, a shock,
at the ballot box in November,
if voters fall for the school “unification” snake oil.
What’s the next step after CUEE has accidentally revealed that
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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:
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There are a bunch of changes to the Comprehensive Plan and the
Land Development Regulations (LDR) that people ought to pay attention to,
scheduled for tonight’s Valdosta City Council (VCC) meeting.
But the one many people are going to see is this one:
6.a) Consideration of a Position Statement on School Consolidation.
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?
This is the same method used in 2003 when former Mayor
James H. Rainwater died before the election.
Council appointed David Sumner interim mayor.
According to the VDT 31 August 2011:
At that time, Councilman David Sumner assumed the role of mayor, but had
to resign his council seat to do so. He had already qualified to rerun
for his seat in the November 2003 election, was re-elected to his seat
and stepped down as mayor at the end of 2003, re-assuming his duties as
a newly elected councilman at the beginning of 2004.
If they don’t appoint Vickers interim mayor tomorrow,
the Valdosta City Council will probably appoint somebody else.
According to the VDT today:
Vickers is among those being considered for appointment by council,
along with Dexter Sharper and David Sumner, who are also former council
members. Vickers pointed out that he did not submit his name for
consideration, but rather it was mentioned in conversations with other
council members.
A few people qualified on the last day. They’re marked ! below,
in this latest information from
Deb Cox, Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections;
* indicates incumbent.
-jsq
Valdosta
Mayor
Brooks D. Bivins !
John Gayle
Gary Minchew
At Large
Matt Flumerfelt
Ben Norton *
Council 1
James R. Wright *
Council 3
Joseph Sonny Vickers *
Council 5
Tim Carroll*
Hahira
Council 2
Bruce Cain *
Council 3
Ralph Clendenin *
Sherry Parham Brown
Dasher
Post 2 special election
Donald J. Bryan
James (Jim) Dew !
Becky Rogers
(was held by Rodney Lieupo)
Post 3
Albert Hall !
Edwin R. Smith *
Post 4
Anita Armstrong *
Lake Park
Mayor
Walker Keith Sandlin *
City Council At Large (Vote for 4)
Eric Schindler *
Ronald Carter *
Paul Mulkey *
Cathi Brown !
Russell Lane !
Sandy Sherrill !
Special election
voting now
Cathy Brown
Sandy Sherrill
Whoever wins will also have to run again in November.
Remerton
Mayor
Cornelius Holsendolph *!
City Council At Large (Vote for 5)
Alexander Abell !
Sam P. Flemming, Jr. !
Steven Koffler !
Jasen L. Tatum *
Bill Wetherington *
A few people qualified on the last day. They’re marked ! below,
in this latest information from
Deb Cox, Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections;
* indicates incumbent.
-jsq
Valdosta
Mayor
Brooks D. Bivins !
John Gayle
Gary Minchew
At Large
Matt Flumerfelt
Ben Norton *
Council 1
James R. Wright *
Council 3
Joseph Sonny Vickers *
Council 5
Tim Carroll*
Hahira
Council 2
Bruce Cain *
Council 3
Ralph Clendenin *
Sherry Parham Brown
Dasher
Post 2 special election
Donald J. Bryan
James (Jim) Dew !
Becky Rogers
(was held by Rodney Lieupo)
Post 3
Albert Hall !
Edwin R. Smith *
Post 4
Anita Armstrong *
Lake Park
Mayor
Walker Keith Sandlin *
City Council At Large (Vote for 4)
Eric Schindler *
Ronald Carter *
Paul Mulkey *
Cathi Brown !
Russell Lane !
Sandy Sherrill !
Special election
voting now
Cathy Brown
Sandy Sherrill
Whoever wins will also have to run again in November.
Remerton
Mayor
Cornelius Holsendolph *!
City Council At Large (Vote for 5)
Alexander Abell !
Sam P. Flemming, Jr. !
Steven Koffler !
Jasen L. Tatum *
Bill Wetherington *
This post includes an update on who has qualified
for the end of the day Thursday September 1st from
Deb Cox, Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections;
* indicates incumbent.
This is basically the same as
the list I posted yesterday afternoon, with a few corrections:
the Dasher candidates (except for Post 2) are now correctly marked
as incumbents; Lake Park Mayor candidate Keith Sandlin is listed;
Lake Park and Dasher Council At Large elections are described correctly;
Paul Mulkey has also qualified for Lake Park;
various names are filled out more completely.
This morning’s post is taken from a text document sent by Deb Cox,
so it’s probably more accurate than yesterday’s writing it down from her telling it to me on the telephone.
I called Deb Cox, Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections,
and asked her who has qualified so far.
Here’s the answer, where * indicates incumbent.
This data also pretty much answers the question of why we
keep seeing the same people in office:
because hardly anybody else runs.
If you want to run,
you’ve got the rest of today and tomorrow to do qualify.
-jsq
Qualification Mayor.
To be eligible for election or appointment
and service as Mayor, a person must be a minimum of 21 years of
age, be a resident of the City of Valdosta for one year prior ro
the date of qualifying, and a registered and qualified voter of the
City of Valdosta at the time of qualifying.
Then you have to campaign and win.
Some people will doubtless spend a lot of money running for mayor.
However, some recent elections to Lowndes County Commission and
Valdosta Board of Education indicate
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