Since we posted the
Reapportionment maps
obtained Tuesday evening,
the county has posted PDF versions
of this same information on their own website.
Copies are
on the LAKE website and appended
below.
I’ve added HTML tables of the statistics.
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Here are
the new County Commission District maps
that the Commission
just agreed on tonight for reapportionment due to the new census
and population changes in the county.
These are the districts that will be used for next year’s County Commission elections.
These documents were obtained by John S. Quarterman for LAKE from County Manager Joe Pritchard by asking the County Commission during Citizens Wishing to Be Heard at their Regular Session of 13 December 2011.
I made a little list of requests, and the County Manager fulfilled all of them. I’m convinced this demonstrates that Joe Pritchard is indeed typecast as Santa Claus.
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County Manager Joe Pritchard briefly described
agenda item
8.a. Ankle Monitoring SystemHe said it would permit jail inmates to serve some of their time outside the jail. He mentioned early discussions with Commissioners Joyce Evans and Richard Raines, and said it started related to drug court, but the idea had expanded. He recommended the board approve the County Manager working with the judges to organize the monitoring.
Chairman (and former Sheriff) Ashley Paulk remarked that this could lower the jail population. He seemed to be in favor of it.
Sheriff Chris Prine had some concerns that were hard to hear, but seemed to be related to budget.
Pritchard indicated that everybody realized the program was an experiment, and everyone would work with the Sheriff to avoid any unnecessary impact.
Commissioner Raines also reassured the Sheriff along the same lines.
They vote on it tonight, 5:30 PM.
Here’s the video:
8.a. Ankle Monitoring System –Joe Pritchard @ LCC 12 December 2011
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 December 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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The Commission started early, and they were already into agenda item
7.a. REZ-2011-16 South Beach Commercial, US Hwy 41 South R-10 & TLA to C-G, ~1.7 acreswhen this video started. Then they moved right into
7.b. Lowndes County – Greater Lowndes 2030 Comprehensive Plan Updates — Resolution to TransmitAs you can see, County Planner Jason Davenport had little to say about that (mostly that this draft isn’t the final version; they’ll revise it some time next year after they hear back from the state), and the Commissioners even less (they said nothing), at Monday morning’s Work Session. Tonight at 5:30 PM they vote on sending these materials to the state. If you want to know what’s in these documents, see Gretchen’s writeups The actual documents are on the LAKE web site. LAKE obtained them from elsewhere after the county refused to honor an open records request. The Chairman told Gretchen yesterday that those versions were “close enough” to what they’re going to vote on tonight.
Here’s the video:
Comprehensive Plan @ LCC Work Session, 12 December 2011
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 December 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Videos from Monday morning’s Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission
are
here.
The
previously-skipped hearing related to the Comprehensive Plan
is on
the agenda
for tonight’s Regular Session, 5:30 PM at the county palace,
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor.
These videos of Monday morning’s work session start some way into the agenda, because they started about five minutes early. Here are the videos.
Videos of LCC Work Session, 12 December 2011
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 December 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Just another Wal-Mart Fired Untrained Department Manager.George’s introduction: Former Wal-Mart Department Managers Tell All at a Valdosta Diner!This is an initial introduction to a much bigger story of truth that cannot and will not be hidden forever! Nor will Wal-Mart Workers here in American continue to be mistreated and ignored as if we were in the Republic of China or in some other third world nation. Galatians 6:7, Saint Luke 4:18……
And an interview: One of several Former Wal-Mart Department Managers Telling their stories of Truth:
Video by George Boston Rhynes for bostonbgr on YouTube and K.V.C.I.
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Press release from GreenLaw, 6 December 2011, Longleaf Defeat Marks End to Nation’s Longest Running Fight Against Coal Plant: Agreement Marks Milestone of 160 Coal Plants Canceled,
The country’s longest-running campaign against construction of a newContinue readingcoal plant ended today as LS Power, a New Jersey-based power company, announced that it will cancel plans to build the Longleaf Energy Station in Blakely, GA. Sierra Club, Friends of the Chattahoochee and GreenLaw have been organizing against the Longleaf coal plant since it was first proposed in 2001. This victory comes as part of a legal agreement between LS Power and Sierra Club.
This victory marks the 160th proposed coal plant canceled since Sierra Club launched its Beyond Coal campaign in 2005. This victory is particularly noteworthy because the struggle lasted for a decade and involved numerous hearings and appeals, and sustained local opposition by hundreds of Georgia residents. Longleaf was one of the very first plants proposed when, in 2001, the coal industry attempted to block clean energy development by building more than 150 new coal plants across the US, a move which would have effectively locked the nation into dependence on coal-fired electricity for the foreseeable future. Longleaf was one of the last remaining new coal projects proposed anywhere in the United States, counting 160 proposals that have now been defeated or abandoned in the past decade.
Several times over the past decade it looked like LS Power would move
6. Resolution – Reapportionmentwhich I’m guessing has to do with changes in population in County Commission districts. Maybe they’ll say at the Work Session Monday morning.
And these interesting items:
8.f. Lowndes County Fire Rescue Standard Operating Procedures .br> 8.g. Animal Welfare Standard Operating ProceduresI wonder if those procedures are available for citizens to see?
Plus a rezoning, a road abandonment, a beer and wine license, and quite a few other items for the last meeting of the year. Given they haven’t met since 7 November 2011, more than a month ago, I guess that’s not surprising.
Here’s the agenda:
Continue reading
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
The
Zoning Board of Appeals decided unanimously at its 6 December 2011 meeting
to publish its agendas and minutes on the City of Valdosta’s website.
This item was not on the agenda, but members of such a board can make motions
anyway.
Member Gretchen Quarterman suggested it.
Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin said they could do it no problem.
Discussion ensued.
They all agreed to post agends before their meetings,
and to post minutes after they are approved (usually at the next meeting,
a month later).
Maybe other local boards and authorities will follow this example.
Left to right: Laverne Gaskins (V), Gretchen Quarterman (L), Paul Alvarado (V), Allan Strickland, Chair (V), Nancy Hobby (V), Dave Kirk (L), Carmella Braswell (Lowndes County Zoning Administrator), Matt Martin (Valdosta City Planning and Zoning Administrator). Absent: Scott Orenstein, Vice-Chair (V), Dr. William Houseal (L). L: Lowndes County appointee. V: Valdosta appointee.
Here’s the video:
ZBOA decides to publish agendas and minutes on Valdosta website
Agendas and Minutes,
Regular Session, Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 December 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Unfortunately I missed this meeting as well, and not by choice.I vaguely remembered that Roy Copeland mentioned after the October
meeting that the December date might be changed to December 6. Thus, I called Tuesday shortly after 5pm to verify if a meeting was indeed scheduled. I only got the answering machine (indicating to me that the office was closed) and the IA website (as so often) was no help.
Thus I, too, was assuming the meeting would be later this month … only to find out the next day in the VDT that there had been a meeting after all.
Our community has gone through so much these past couple of months,
highlighting more than ever the need to communicate and cooperate. I was hoping after all this that we could finally start working together, despite any differences we might have. That would, however, not only require a certain amount of transparency but also communication of such simple matters as meeting agendas and calendars. How difficult can that be?
Communication is, and always will be, the key to success. Whether this is about your children’s education, such matters as energy efficiency and energy conservation, or a Strategic Planning Process which can only benefit the community … if that very community (not just the same old status quo) is actually included in the process.
Michael G. Noll, President
Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)