Tag Archives: consolidation

Jerome Tucker honored at Civic Roundtable

The Civic Roundtable honored Jerome Tucker for some of
the many things he has done for Lowndes County and south Georgia.
And as usual he hit the nail on the head.

Dawn Castro

wrote for the VDT yesterday:



“We do have one of the best communities,” Tucker said. “The toughest
part of me standing before you is knowing how much better we could be
if all the little groups would work together.”

He also said:

“I am still blessed to have my dad with me,” Tucker began. “He
always asks me, ‘Where have you been?’ and ‘Did you do any good?’

Here are a few good things Jerome Tucker has done recently:

Continue reading →

FVCS Final Meeting 15 November 2011

Former electoral opponents met Tuesday as FVCS held

its final meeting,
with Rusty Griffin, Vice-Chair of CUEE,
watching at the MLK Monument as
Sam Allen, President of Friends of
Valdosta Schools (FVCS) announced the dissolution of FVCS.

Sam Allen,

as he has before,
called for

reconciliation of opponents on the recent school consolidation referendum,


and support of the two school systems,
financially and otherwise.

In addition to FVCS regulars such as JC Cunningham,
Chamber Chair Tom Gooding was there,
as were current Valdosta Mayor Sonny Vickers and
Mayor-Elect John Gayle, plus re-elected Valdosta City Council At-Large Ben Norton.
Valdosta School Superintendent Cason was there.
I didn’t see Lowndes Superintendent Smith,
although various members of

Continue reading →

57 year overdue house cleaning —Barbara Stratton

Received today on

Repealing the 1928 GA School Consolidation Law. -jsq

The 1926 statute that needs to be removed is

OCGA 20-2-370. The


1983 constitutional law
had priority of law precedence over the older statute &
CUEE was advised before they asked for signatures it could be protested
on those grounds before or after the vote. Thankfully we did not have to
go that route. I remember in high school I did a project on outdated laws
still in the GA Constitution including mandatory hanging for horse theft
(which I liked). There was also a law if you hit & killed a cow or pig
on the road you were required to get out & slit the throat so the owner
could salvage the meat & many others that were outdated & no longer
enforced. I trust these have now been removed. The general assembly
should be thankful that we are addressing this 57 year overdue need for
house cleaning & remedy this in January. Rule of Law should never remain
questionable when it is the duty of our lawmakers to provide clarity.

-Barbara Stratton

According to Justia.com:


2010 Georgia Code

TITLE 20 – EDUCATION

CHAPTER 2 – ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

ARTICLE 8 – CONSOLIDATION OF INDEPENDENT AND COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEMS

§ 20-2-370 – Referendum on repeal of special school law and consolidation of systems



O.C.G.A. 20-2-370 (2010)

20-2-370. Referendum on repeal of special school law and consolidation of systems

Whenever the citizens of a municipality or independent school district
authorized by law to establish and maintain a system of schools by local
taxation in whole or in part are operating a system of public schools
independent of the county school system and wish to annul their special
school law and become a part of the county school system, they shall
present and file with the governing authority of the city a petition
signed by one-fourth of the qualified voters of their territory; and the
governing authority shall then submit the question at an election to
be held in accordance with Chapter 2 of Title 21. A majority of those
voting shall be necessary to carry the election. Only qualified voters
residing within the municipality or district for six months prior to
the election shall vote. An election shall not be held for the same
purpose more often than every 12 months.

Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Georgia
may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties
or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the
information contained on this site or the information linked to on the
state site. Please check official sources.

Citizens at Lowndes County Commission 7 November 2011



Five citizens spoke up at the

7 November 2011 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Some got answers, some got excuses, and some got fingerpointing.
And one illustrated how the Commission doesn’t follow its own rules.



  • George Boston Rhynes asked about

    Open record requests and jail deaths
    and got the same excuses he’s heard elsewhere:
    nobody seems to be responsible for supplying information to the public
    about what’s going on in the Lowndes County Jail.



  • John Robinson asked about

    Contracts on the south side
    related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and to
    Title III Section 3 of the HUD program
    and got a clarification from the Chairman that the county has no
    Title III projects.



  • John S. Quarterman asked the Commission to

    video meetings like the Lowndes Board of Education does    ,
    and got a slightly different excuse this time than the many previous times he’s made similar requests.



  • Matt Portwood

    asked the Commission or the individual Commissioners to state a position
    on school consolidation
    and was told they weren’t going to.
    The VDT printed that much the next morning, the morning of the election
    with the referendum on school consolidation.
    They did not print Chairman Paulk’s allusion to
    his already-known support for FVCS in opposing consolidation,
    but LAKE published a video with that on Election Day, and you can
    see it here.



  • Tony Daniels wanted to know

    How can we pursue happiness when we don’t even have a job?
    and had several recommendations for how the various local elected and
    appointed bodies could go about getting us more jobs.
    He also illustrated that the Commissions ordinance on Citizens Wishing
    to Be Heard is, as we’ve discovered on many previous occasions,
    merely guidelines at the whim of the Chairman.

Citizen participation!

-jsq

Only a vote where both city and county residents could take part would reveal the will of the people —Karen Noll

Received yesterday on

Repealing the 1928 GA School Consolidation Law. -jsq

While I live in the city as was able to vote on the consolidation issue,


I feel that only a vote where both city and county residents would
be democratic. Only a vote where both interested parties could take
part would reveal the will of the people and be admissible. Although
I opposed the effort to consolidate that was recently defeated, I feel
strongly that a true vote of both city and county residence is necessary
if consolidation should reach the ballot anytime in the future. For
this reason it is paramount that the old law that allowed the city only
vote be stricken to allow the georgia constitution to prevail. The GA
constitution allows for both city and county to vote and a majority in
both in order to pass.

Please contact your legislator to support repealing the 1928 law from
the GA law books.

Thank you ALL for your commitment to community,

-Karen Noll

Repealing the 1928 GA School Consolidation Law

Received today. -jsq



From: JC Cunningham

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:01:26 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Fw: The Repeal of Ga. Law on School Consolidation

To: [many people]

Friends,

Even though we the Citizens of Valdosta have spoken and defeated that
hostile takeover, this is not the time to let up. We all must stay a
vigilant as possible and never let anything like this happen again.

One way in which everyone in Valdosta and Lowndes can make a impact is
to write a letter to Amy Carter, Admin. Floor Leader to the Governor,
and ask for her to introduce a bill to repeal the old 1928 law that
Cuee was able to use.

Remind Amy that she has an obligation to bring this bill to the floor.
Remind her that the people

Continue reading →

FVCS community event 5:30 PM 15 November 2011 @ MLK Monument

Received today (this is the event Sam Allen mentioned
in his speech on Valdosta City Hall steps last Wednesday). -jsq

Friends,

We must bring healing and closure to the consolidation saga. As a


means to reuniting our community the FVCS has planned one last event
designed to bring EVERYONE together for some good fun and relaxation.
Please come out and join us, bring the kids and your friends as we
close this chapter and begin anew. I pray that we can move forward and
enjoy the true meaning of the upcoming holidays with love and
forgiveness in our hearts. Remember: Don’t worry about me because I’m
be alright.

Thanks for everything,

Sam Allen

Details:

Continue reading →

I’m glad GBR spoke up for Sam Allen. —Barbara Stratton

Received today on

Truth really needs no defense! -jsq

I’m glad GBR spoke up for Sam Allen. The VDT article falsely stated
that he had changed his mind about VDT support between Tuesday night &
Wednesday when he spoke at the news release.


I was standing beside Sam
when he complemented one reporter after she interviewed him following the
election returns

at the Bd of Elections Tuesday night.
The compliments
were for her individual professionalism only as he stated to her
that he appreciated that she always put exactly what he said in the
paper. I agreed with his statements & complimented her also, because I
have observed her professionalism in other venues & it is a refreshing
change for some of the VDT reporting heritage.


Sam’s Wednesday comments about the VDT not providing balanced

Continue reading →

Truth really needs no defense! —George Rhynes @ VCC 10 November 2011

George Rhynes stood up at

Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting
to respond to

Ken Klanicki’s concern about

Sam Allen’s speech on the City Hall steps the previous day.



I want the record to show and I hope the Valdosta Daily Tims will print it,
that former Superintendent Sam Allen, all he did
was to act as a professional, which he is.

George also commended the bicyclers and said he had
videoed the bicycles he found out front.

Here’s

the video:




Truth really needs no defense! —George Rhynes @ VCC 10 November 2011

bicycle, path, health care, health, sidewalk, grant,

Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 November 2011.

Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

-jsq

We have just had a very divisive issue —Ken Klanicki @ VCC 10 November 2011



Ken Klanicki expressed concerns about
Sam Allen’s speech the previous day on the steps of City Hall.
He had only read about it in the VDT, which of course has space limits.
You can

see and hear Sam Allen’s speech for yourself, thanks to George Rhynes.
Ken Klanicki also wanted to know who approved the use of City Hall
for that speech.
Ken probably didn’t know from the VDT that Mayor Sonny Vickers was standing
beside Sam Allen at the time, but you can see that for yourself.

Here’s

the video of Ken Klanicki:




We have just had a very divisive issue —Ken Klanicki @ VCC 10 November 2011

bicycle, path, health care, health, sidewalk, grant,

Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 November 2011.

Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

-jsq