Metro Atlanta cities want to air their business in living rooms. Alpharetta agreed to spend $68,000 for a video recording system in its council chambers. Dunwoody will shell out $93,000 for a digital video recording system, enabling residents to view city council and planning commission meetings live from home.Continue readingWhile not every city electronically records its council meetings, the practice has become increasingly popular.
“It’s an overall trend of cities, going where people are to share information, to keep people in touch,” said Amy Henderson, Georgia Municipal Association spokeswoman.
Tag Archives: Georgia
Videos and transparency –John S. Quarterman
Here
I discuss with the mayor
about the Valdosta City Council videoing their entire meetings and putting
them on the web for everybody to see.
The mayor indicated costs of streaming was an issue;
I recommended putting it on YouTube or Vimeo and letting them handle that part.
I think the AJC article he mentioned is this one:
Meeting access video grows among city councils,
by Patrick Fox, 18 Jan 2011.
This comment by the mayor was amusing:
The worst thing you could do would be to have one camera in the back that has room audio.Touche, Mr. Mayor! :-) What do you think, is a noisy video from the back of the room more useful than no video at all? Can you see him waving his arms around? Continue reading
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Act
The Act of the Georgia Legislature that created VLCIA in 1960.
Note III.4.F:
F. To encourage and promote the expansion of industry, agriculture, trade, commerce and recreation in the City of Valdosta, County of Lowndes, and to make long-range plans therefor.Hm, so its board appears to have understated the range of VLCIA’s state-chartered scope when it stated:
“We’re industrial development.”See also Section 9. – Liberal construction.
This Act was found via search.municode.com, which notes:
Editor’s note—Printed in this article is 1960 Ga. Laws, page 2786, as adopted by the Georgia General Assembly. Amendments to this act are indicated by parenthetical history notes following amended provisions. The absence of a history note indicates that the provision remains unchanged from the original act. An act (1960 Ga. Laws, page 1359), substantially identical to the act set forth in this article, was also passed as a constitutional amendment. Such constitutional amendment was continued in force and effect by 1985 Ga. Laws, page 3653, as a part of the state constitution.The text of the Act is appended below.
-jsq Continue reading
Biomass Rising echoes from Macon
Patrick Davis
sums up the Valdosta biomass situation from Macon:
It appears to be the mainly conservative power structure of Lowndes trying to force this business venture into Valdosta’s community and not considering the environmental dangers.He has some interesting points, such as who just got appointed to the EPD. I think he overestimates the power of the Valdosta mayor, however.
-jsq
The Quitman 10 in Valdosta
At Serenity Church in Valdosta, 15 Jan 2011,
Gladys Lee from Brooks County addressed the Quitman 10 about
justice anywhere,
about the
spirit of conviction,
and she said
“We are residents, property owners, taxpaying voters!”.
Speaking
as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Floyd Rose addressed the
Quitman 10 and the congregation:
Now I want to say though we’ve met on what would have been my 87th birthday may be some place of honor. For this honor I want to thank you, and I must say to you: unless the schools you have named for me teach children how to live as much as how to make a living they will become little more than battlegrounds for the frustrated individuals. Unless the bridges that you have named for meContinue reading
Draft Resolution on Citizens Wishing to be Heard
Here’s the draft resolution on Citizens Wishing to be Heard.
Previously we posted that
on Tuesday’s Lowndes County Commission agenda is an item about:
5. Resolution Establishing Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be Heard and Consideration of Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be HeardToday I went by the county palace (hey, they call it that, too!) and asked Paige Dukes, the County Clerk, what was in the old resolution and what’s in the new draft resolution. She said there was no old resolution, and a bit later she sent me the new draft resolution, which is in the PDF below.
It’s a PDF of a scan of a paper page, so I don’t have the plain text. If somebody wants to type it in and send it to me, have at it.From: “Paige Dukes” <paiged@lowndescounty.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:32:35 -0500
To: “John S. Quarterman” <jsq@quarterman.org>
Subject: Resolution Draft 1.24.2011.pdf – Adobe Acrobat Professional
See you 5:30 PM tomorrow evening (Tuesday 25 Jan 2011) at 327 N. Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. They start on the dot or slightly early, and it’s a light agenda, so be on time and don’t blink or you’ll miss it.
-jsq
No Work Session Today; County Commission still meets Tuesday
No work session today; regular session still on for 5:30 PM Tuesday 25 Jan 2011.
The
county website has under Special Events this notice:
This has happened several times before. Paige Dukes is the County Clerk.
PUBLIC NOTICE
COMMISSION MEETING
WORK SESSION CANCELLED
Due to the lack of agenda items requiring additional information or discussion, the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Work Session on Monday, January 24, 2011, has been cancelled.
The regular session meeting is still scheduled for
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street
Valdosta, GA
For questions please call Paige Dukes at 229-671-2400.
See the previous post for the one unusual item on the agenda, about policies and procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard.
-jsq
Valdosta Locally Grown
Local food for local jobs!
According to their
facebook page,
Valdosta Locally Grown is an online farmers market being formed to bring consumers together with small farms, gardeners, and food producers located around Valdosta , Georgia, all carrying the common thread of dedication to community, environment, health and education. We hope to be operating by the early spring harvest season.They are working on a website. Their primary instigator is Tom Kuettner, whom you can see here at the Hahira Farmers Market: Continue reading
Farmers grow renewable energy? –James Wright
Grow crops to burn for fuel, or for food?
Valdosta City Council member
James Wright brings up
an article about farmers growing plants for biomass fuel.
These things get passed around by council members, and I’m pretty sure
this one that came to me indirectly is it:
November 12, 2010 – Incentivizing Renewable Biomass Production,
by New Energy Farms, Leamington, Ontario.
What they’re mainly recommending is
Miscanthus,
which is a genus of clump grass.
After all the citizens left –Valdosta City Council, 20 Jan 2011.
Now call me old-fashioned, but I prefer local farmers growing food Continue reading
County Commission Meetings Monday and Tuesday
left to right: Ashley Paulk (Chairman), Joyce E. Evans (District 1), Crawford Powell (District 3), Richard Raines (District 2). |
- 8:30 AM Monday January 24, 2011: work session
- 5:30 PM Tuesday January 25, 2011: regular session
5. Resolution Establishing Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be Heard and Consideration of Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be Heard
It also has the regular item:
7. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And AddressThis item is for the regular session, not the work session, although in the work session the Chairman sometimes notes somebody is there wanting to talk and asks them to say what they want to say. Conversely, in the regular session we don’t usually hear much from this one:
8. Reports-County ManagerThe county manager often gives a longer report in the work session.
By “very brief” I mean work sessions typically run about 15 minutes, with the record being something like 8 minutes. And they start on time, or a minute early. Be there or miss what you want to hear or say.
-jsq