Campus authorities tried getting students to move away from the University
Center where
Governor Nathan Deal was having a luncheon.
The students stood their ground.
Here’s
the video.
Protesting Gov. Nathan Deal at Valdosta State University (VSU), 16 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
The students had been standing on the sidewalk in front of the
VSU student Bobbi Anne Hancock asked Gov. Nathan Deal what was going on
with the selection process for a new president for Valdosta State University.
He went on at some length but I can’t quite make out whether he answered the
question.
Here’s
the video:
What about VSU President selection? —Bobbi Anne Hancock to Nathan Deal @ VSU 16 September 2011
Student protesters,
Press Conference, Gov. Nathan Deal (VSU),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
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 asked him about
Ashley Paulk’s remarks in the 26 April 2011 Lowndes County Commission
meeting.
Tom Call said VLCIA was not standing behind any other body,
and he clarified what had happened.
He said the biomass plant had been brought to the Industrial
Authority by
Stonewalling is a good way to get your Industrial Authority
on the front page
of the local newspaper (again).
Here’s video of what Bobbi Anne Hancock said to the board about their minutes (and other things).
First, here’s is VDT reporter David Rodock’s excerpt of what she
said last night:
Bobbi Anne Hancock, the woman who made an Open Records request with the
Authority for meeting minutes from 2006 to the present day, spoke to
board members during the citizens to be heard portion of the meeting.“The majority of your costs for the request are for the five hours
Could the Industrial Authority try any harder to make it look like
they’ve got something to hide?
Of all things to go to the mattresses about: their board minutes?
The VDT picked up on our series about
a local citizen being overcharged for an open records request for
VLCIA agendas and minutes.
In a front page Sunday VDT story,
David Rodock reports:
In response, The Valdosta Daily Times submitted their own Open Records
Request for the salaries of all Industrial Authority employees.According to the information provided by the Authority, the lowest paid
fulltime employee, the Operations Manager, is paid an annual salary
of $46,526.When this number is divided by 2080, (52 weeks multiplied by 40 hours
per week) it shows that the lowest paid full-time employee is making
$22.40 per hour.
The salary quoted on the invoice is not the same as either
Why does it take someone paid $24.23 an hour to convert agendas and minutes
to PDF?
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, VLCIA, Open Records Request,
Bobbi Anne Hancock asked Allan Ricketts why
a bunch of agendas and minutes should cost $125.09?
She received back this itemized invoice:
Apparently the lowest paid VLCIA employee who can convert documents to PDF is
paid $24.23 an hour.
According to
Georgia Code 50-18-71:
After all the
protesters, police, and press,
representatives of
VLCIA,
Sterling Planet,
Hannah Solar,
Georgia Power,
and the
City of Valdosta
did finally break ground for
the Wiregrass Solar power plant.
I asked Col. Ricketts for a shovel, but he just snorted.
Here’s the
groundbreaking video:
Kathryn Grant at the
groundbreaking for the
Wiregrass Solar LLC plant:
We’re here to oppose the biomass plant….
We want people to know we support solar energy
in hopes that that could be incorporated throughout the state.
Here’s
the video:
-jsq
Dr. Michael Noll at the
groundbreaking for the
Wiregrass Solar LLC plant:
We’re all for solar, go solar!
But no to biomass.
Here’s
the video:
More
Noll here.
-jsq
It was good to see
Georgia Power assisting at the groundbreaking of the
Wiregrass Solar LLC plant, instead of just studying and demonstrating.
The speaker equated solar, biomass, and nuclear.
Hm, what’s that over their heads?
Why, biomass doesn’t seem to be as popular as solar!
I didn’t catch the speaker’s name, but he also recognized
Robbie Hastings, detail manager in Valdosta.
Here’s
the video:
Georgia Power had several pages in the business section of the
Valdosta Daily Times (VDT) the previous Sunday, written up
on Monday as
Harnessing the sun’s rays:
Georgia Power kicks off 18-month solar power study,
by Karah-Leigh Hancock, about what Gapower is doing instead of actually deploying solar:
