Tag Archives: Elections

Listening and asking questions to make sure I understand —Tim Carroll

This came in as a comment Tuesday evening on Walk out into the audience. -jsq
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

Continue reading →

Equal opportunity criticizer —John S. Quarterman

Leigh Touchton remarked:
…apparently Yost thinks your criticism of people not staying is something he can use to good effect to nullify the need to publicly address citizen complaints.
Well, good luck to him: it doesn’t seem to be working that way.

I think I’m an equal opportunity criticizer. Remember I pointed out that the council is not a law enforcement body and gave a recent example of that. And I pointed out that the mayor of little old Gretna put out a proclamation saying no biomass and the great city of Valdosta could go ahead and do that instead of waiting for somebody else to make the decision for them. And yes, I criticized the protesters for not staying. I’m not surprised various people choose to ignore part of what I said and pick up on other parts; life’s like that.

I understand that some people don’t like to take a strong position in public. Clearly not everybody has to be an advocate for or against any given topic.

However, my opinion is that anybody who runs for elected office should be willing to say in public what their opinion is. Sure, sometimes it’s good to say “I’m thinking about it” or “I’m studying it” or even better “I’d like to know more about X”: that could promote a dialog. Even “I’m working on it behind the scenes” would be a useful public statement. But elected officials refusing to take any position is ridiculous, and I see nothing wrong with laughing out loud at the ridiculous.

-jsq

Vernon, California: they only cared about jobs

What can happen to a town that really doesn’t care about anything but jobs.

Adam Nagourney writes in the NY Times 1 March 2011: Plan Would Erase All-Business Town

VERNON, Calif. — Vernon is a bleak, 5.2-square-mile sprawl of warehouses, factories, toxic chemical plants and meat processors that looks like the backdrop for “Eraserhead,” the David Lynch movie set in an industrial wasteland. It has a population of 95 — and 1,800 businesses, drawn by low taxes, lax regulations and cheap municipal power.

It also has a history of corruption and public malfeasance going back nearly 50 years.

The rest of the story is mostly about how it’s gotten so bad Continue reading →

Precincts, Lowndes County, Georgia, January 2011

These are the precincts being used in the current ESPLOST election (more about that later). You don’t actually need these maps to see where to vote; for that, see Polling Places, by the Lowndes County Board of Elections. Also, early voting is always at the Board of Elections, 2808 N Oak St, Valdosta, GA.

Available on LAKE’s web pages are wall-sized precinct maps, actually two parts (left and right) of one big wall map, as two PDF files (each between 4 and 5 megabytes) and as a variety of JPEG image sizes in a flickr set.

Left SideRight Side
left side PDF right side PDF
These maps were obtained from Deb Cox, Elections Supervisor, Lowndes County Board of Elections, 4 March 2011 by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

The Quitman 10 at the Georgia capitol

George Rhynes writes about the Quitman Ten, On Georgia State Capital Steps, Standing Strong for Georgians Right to VOTE!
I traveled to the Georgia State Capital February 22, 2011; in support of the Quitman Ten. These brave, courageous freedom fightes stood and are standing strong on behalf of Georgia Voter’s right to vote. This is a short preview of what will be posted here as a reflection of what took place at this meeting and historical event. As a concerned citizens from the South Georgia, I commend the Georgia citizens that stood in support of the Quitman Ten as they received rewards for their courage and perhaps being forced to bring South Georgia into the 21st Century along with other cities.
He reminds us of the not-so-distant past: Continue reading →

New Meeting, New Rules –Lowndes County Commission

Remember, the new rules take effect at the upcoming County Commission meeting:
  • 8:30 AM Monday Febuary 7th, 2010: Work Session
  • 5:30 PM Tuesday February 8th, 2010: Regular Session
Both meetings will be at 327 N. Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. Only the regular session has Citizens Wishing to Be Heard.

The Lowndes County front page has links to the resolution the Commission passed last time, to the new rules, and to the new sign-in sheet, along with this notice: Continue reading →

“No person shall be eligible as a write-in candidate…” –Ga. Code

Calling investigative reporters: here’s a trail of fishy behavior in the Brooks County elections. George Rhynes brings up an interesting point in Quitman Ten, Judge Porter’s decision, News Media Outlets, Is Another Investigation Needed, and can Justice Be Found in South Georgia? The two write-in candidates in the general election for the Brooks County Board of Education were allowed to run despite a clear restriction in the Georgia code, O.C.G.A. 21-2-133. This restriction is mentioned in the Ga. Secretary of State Candidate Training Guide:
No person shall be eligible as a write-in candidate in a general or special election if such person was a candidate for nomination or election to the same office in the immediately preceding primary.
Also in the same department’s Continue reading →

Celebrate citizen participation –John S. Quarterman

A message to the only elected body in Lowndes County that represents the entire county. I’ve added a few links, and otherwise what you see is the suggestions I sent to the Commissioners and the County Clerk Thursday after offering them Tuesday. -jsq
From: John S. Quarterman
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 1:40 PM
To: Commissioner@lowndescounty.com
Cc: Paige Dukes
Subject: Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard

Dear Commissioners,

At your most recent meeting I mentioned I had a few suggestions about your new Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing To Be Heard, and at least one of you has indicated he would like to see them, so here they are.

“2. A maximum of 10 persons shall be allowed to speak at any meeting.”
I think that number is too low. On the one hand,

Continue reading →

What you didn’t hear at the County Commission meeting

The interesting commission meeting will be the next one. Remember, Chairman Paulk said they were still operating by the old rules at the meeting that happened this week. So next meeting they may actually refuse to let people speak on certain topics.

On the Frank Barnas Newstalk105.9 WVGA radio show 25 Jan 2011 the morning before the County Commission meeting, County Commmission Chairman Ashley Paulk complained that Citizens Wishing to be Heard has been abused and meetings are not free; there are people to pay.

“In these times we’ve got to run efficient meetings.”
Chairman Paulk also invoked Tuscon and said:
“You need to monitor people who are there.”

…

“You want a little better control over who and where they are.”

So posting videos of the meeting to the web should be a good idea so everyone could see what is going on.

And in the larger picture, should we be more concerned with a few dollars now or with the ability of citizens to be heard or for that matter with the long-term economics and health of the county?

Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard

The host asked if tonight would be the time to comment on the new policy, and Chairman Paulk responded: Continue reading →

VDT Elevates Biomass and Renewable Energy as Political Issues

The Valdosta Daily Times (VDT) has apparently decided biomass and real clean energy instead are political issues. As part of the VDT’s sudden turn against the VLCIA and its biomass plant, which was provoked by citizen and student activism, the VDT started a week of articles with the headline “Proposed plant said to be ‘medical atrocity'”, about Dr. William Sammons’ Monday talk about health problems of biomass and how solar is better.

The VDT then featured biomass in its reporting on the AAUW Candidate Forum: Continue reading →