Tag Archives: Georgia

Charter school preamble biased like T-SPLOST?

T-SPLOST proponents are up to their old tricks again, starting with the preamble to the charter school referendum. And Bert “Little Goose” Brantley, formerly of Lowndes County, defends that wording.

Paul Crawley wrote for 11alive.com September 12 2012, Is Charter Schools Amendment wording biased?

Here we go again, apparently another ballot issue with questions about whether it’s worded fairly.

First, it was the July 31st transportation sales tax issue, known as T-SPLOST, which Georgia voters rejected overwhelmingly.

Opponents howled when they found out the ballot preamble wording promised to “create jobs” and “relieve traffic congestion”.

Now, opponents of a November ballot question are also crying foul.

They’re upset over the preamble wording for the Charter School Commission Amendment.

It reads, “Provides for improving student achievement and parental involvement through more public charter school options.”

How can the preamble say that?

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“No other state has had a positive outcome for a charter-positive ballot initiative” —former T-SPLOST proponents now pushing charter schools

The same people who pushed the failed T-SPLOST tax referendum on the July primary ballot are now pushing the charter school referendum on the November general election ballot. Four of their leaders are the same specific individuals, including one from right here in Lowndes County. They’re pushing something they admit has failed in every other state. Let’s not be the first to fall for it.

According to the Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA),

No other state has had a positive outcome for a charter-positive ballot initiative

So even one of the major proponents of charter schools admits no other state’s voters have thought they were a good idea. Their slides lay out a pair of statewide major money campaigns to push the referendum anyway.

We know about this because these slides fell into the hands of the AJC, and Jim Galloway published them today, saying:

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KLVB 2012 Executive Director’s Report —Aaron Strickland @ LCC 2012-09-10

Here is the Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB) 2012 Executive Director’s Report, provided to LAKE by KLVB Executive Director Aaron Strickland.

This is the report he discussed at the 10 September 2012 Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

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Want knowledge-based jobs? Welcome gays and lesbians

The Chamber, the Industrial Authority, and various other local leaders say they want knowledge-based jobs, or creative jobs. We won’t get those just by teaching students to show up on time and do what they’re told: that’s how you train factory workers, not knowledge-based employees. For creative jobs we also need Technology, Talent, and Tolerance. How do you measure Tolerance? One key component is the concentration of gays and lesbians. So today’s South Georgia Pride Festival is a good sign for creative jobs in south Georgia!

Richard Florida wrote 16 July 2012 for The Atlantic, The Geography of Tolerance,

The map above shows how metros across the U.S. score on the Tolerance Index, as updated for The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited. The chart below shows the top 20 metros. Developed by my Martin Prosperity Institute colleague Kevin Stolarick, it ranks U.S. metros according to three key variables—the share of immigrants or foreign-born residents, the Gay Index (the concentration of gays and lesbians), and the Integration Index, which tracks the level of segregation between ethnic and racial groups.

Do you recognize that shape in the middle of south Georgia? That’s the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of Lowndes, Echols, Lanier, and Brooks Counties. Looks like about 0.4 on the Tolerance Index. So sure, we’re no Austin, Texas, but we’re in the same range as oh, Charlotte, NC.

If you want to help promote creative jobs in south Georgia, there’s a festival going on today:

South Georgia Pride Festival
noon until 6PM
John W Saunders Park
1151 River Street
Valdosta, Georgia
food and music all day

Who knows, the Mayor of Valdosta might even be there; what do you think? He certainly gave the festival plenty of earned media.

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Valdosta Street Railway 1899-1924

 

What’s that little shelter by the front gate of VSU? It’s the last physical remnant of the Valdosta Street Railway, an early 20th century streetcar system, when Valdosta was the smallest city in the country to have one. Valdosta had 5,613 people in 1900, about twice as many as present-day Hahira.

Dean Poling described the origins of Valdosta’s streetcars in Valdosta Scene 26 February 2010:

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Streetcars and bicycles: upcoming movies at VSU

You do know that Valdosta was the smallest city in the U.S. that had a streetcar system, right? Here’s a movie about what probably happened to it, like all the others, followed by a movie about another mode of transportation: bicycles.

“Taken for a Ride” and “Pedal Power!” screening

Public Event · By Valdosta State University Social Issues in Film Series
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
7:00pm
VSU University Center room 1171
DOUBLE-HEADER!

“Taken for a Ride” focuses on the Great American Streetcar Scandal (or Conspiracy), in which major US companies deliberately bought-up and dismantled the public light-rail streetcar lines in dozens of American cities. The guilty companies? General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil, Phillips Petroleum, and Mack Trucks—all companies that wanted to replace the public streetcars with buses and then private cars.

“Pedal Power!” is an inside look at the world’s growing cycling movement and how bikes are pushing-up against a dominant car culture in North America. From Critical Mass bike rides and “bike-to-work” programs, to increasingly popular “public bike” programs, bicycles are becoming an ever-important component of cities.

Co-sponsored with the Valdosta Community Cycling Center.

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Resigning from Planning Commission; suggest appoint Jody Hall —John Page @ LCC 2012-09-11

John Page, recent winner of the Republican Primary for Lowndes County Commission District 5, spoke as a citizen wishing to be heard in yesterday’s Commission meeting. He said he was resigning from his appointed post on the Planning Commission effective 31 December 2012 because he sees it as a conflict with his upcoming elected position as a County Commissioner, plus he said he does not have time to do both. (Since there is no Democratic or other candidate for District 5, Page will be the Commissioner.) Page recommended his primary runoff opponent Jody Hall as his replacement on the Planning Commission.

Update 2012-09-20: Fixed video embedding.
Here’s the video:

Resigning from Planning Commission; suggest appoint Jody Hall —John Page
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 September 2012.

I commend John Page for both of his decisions, and for announcing all this in a public meeting in front of a video camera. Maybe as a County Commissioner he will support transparency. And I commend Jody Hall for being willing to serve on the Planning Commission. Maybe as a Planning Commissioner he will support transparency.

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Europe: no shale gas, more renewables

Europe has no shale gas, so, unlike the U.S., natural gas will not be getting in the way of quickly moving to renewable wind and solar energy.

Barbara Lewis and Henning Gloystein wrote for Reuters 23 August 2012, EU Green Energy Drive Says No To Shale Gas, Looks Towards More Renewable Power Sources,

In the medium term, the value of conventional gas is in providing reliable baseload power to supplement unpredictable renewables, which depend on the sun shining or the wind blowing.

Danish state-owned utility DONG Energy, which has relied heavily on coal-fired power generation, sees a combination of gas and renewables as the way to go.

“We see gas-to-power and wind energy as the ideal mix, together comprising clean and stable energy. Wind energy as the clean energy source, and gas-to-power as the balancing power,” Carsten Krogsgaard Thomsen, DONG Energy’s acting CEO, said.

Meanwhile, Windpower Monthly reported 13 August 2012, Dong issues 2012 profit warning,

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Video Playlist @ LCC 2012-09-10

Yesterday morning’s County Commission Work Session started on time! In addition to the open records and open meetings items, it included a report from KLVB, two rezonings, typo fixes and date changes in the ULDC, a vanity road name change, an alcohol license and an alcohol ordinance change, a USGS river gauge, surplus vehicles, purchase of a new fire truck, and more! They vote on all this tonight at their Regular Session, 5:30 PM. Here’s the agenda.

5.a. Unsurprisingly, the County Manager suggested the County Clerk be appointed the Open Records Officer now required by state law. 5.b. They also have a resolution before them about review and approval of minutes of executive sessions, but of course they don’t allow we the taxpayers to see that before they vote on it.

They considered adopting subdivision infrastructure for 5.c. Glen Laurel and 5.d. Crestwood.

6. Videos of the KLVB report and of applicant Emily Macheski-Preston are in a separate blog post.

7. Public Hearings:

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Lowndes County continuing funding for USGS HWY 122 Stream Gauge —Ashley Tye @ LCC 2012-09-10

Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye reported to the Lowndes County Commission at their Work Session yesterday morning that after the floods of 2009, Lowndes County negotiated with USGS to put a stream level monitor on the Withlacoochee Little River at the GA 122 bridge, and the county typically renews that funding once a year. We shall see whether they approve that this evening.

Here's the video:

Lowndes County continuing funding for USGS HWY 122 Stream Gauge —Ashley Tye
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 September 2012.

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