The new Commission with the new portrait got to hear about money and
transparency right away.
And a surprise alcoholic vote caused by their lack of transparency.
Crawford Powell (Dist. 3), Richard Raines (Dist. 2), Bill Slaughter (Chairman),
Joyce Evans (Dist. 1), John Page (Dist. 5), Demarcus Marshall (Dist. 4).
Here’s the agenda, with links to videos, and a few notes, followed by a video playlist. See also the Monday Work Session.
Continue reading
Why are we furloughing librarians to save $30,000
when we apparently floated bonds for unbudgeted millions on the county palace?
That’s essentially what I asked
the Lowndes County Commission at their
8 January 2013 Regular Session.
Nobody had an answer.
Just to add to what Commissioner Lee said, in addition to everyone appreciating all your service, I’m sure we all appreciate all his long years of service.
Of course there are some things that have come up since he was first on the Commission. For example, Internet access.
The Internet is the roads of the future.
Perhaps funding that might be as important as striping roads. It’s a thought.
For more on that, see what Idelle Dear said just before.
And I really appreciate that clock there. It’s a sign that sometimes change is good.
At least they are doing a few things differently.
When this building complex was opened in 2010, the county put out a double-sheet flyer saying it was completely paid off out of SPLOST money, with zero dollars owed. I’m wondering how it is that then, either in November or December, the Commission just before your one here, refinanced bonds that included I think it was six or seven million dollars for this very building complex? I’m very confused by that. I wonder if someone could clarify how we’re paying on something that was completely 100% paid off with zero owed.
It’s actually about $8.9 million. Why are we paying that? Nobody answered. County Manager Joe Pritchard, pictured below, on that 2010 flyer I mentioned, paid no attention.
A prominent local member of the fourth estate said nobody was allowed to answer. Actually, the Commission’s own Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard include these lines:
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Gretchen Quarterman thanked and congratulated Commission members at the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Then she reminded them she ran on a platform of transparency, and she asked them to make Commission packets available to the public, and move CWTBH to the beginning of the meeting so citizens can comment before the commissioners vote.
Here’s the video:
Make available packets Commisioners see? —Gretchen Quarterman
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 January 2013.
-jsq
Idelle Dear noted we’re up to 12 library furlough days,
and reported a flaw in that picture to
the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
I looked across the street and there are millions of dollars being spent on the construction of the hospital, construction of the VSU Health Sciences building. And yet what is happening, because this is a mandatory furlough for all employees, is that people who are employed by the South Georgia Regional Library, most of whom are minimum wage, work part time, rely on the income: they are going to lose out….
We’d heard about these state-mandated furlough closings at a library board meeting. Idelle Dear spelled out some of the consequences, and made some telling comparisons.
Something is wrong with this picture, and I realize there are different kinds of money, but something is wrong with this picture if we can spend millions and millions of dollars on construction of these buildings and yet shut down the library and the employees who are in low income are going to be affected.
She said she wasn’t sure most people even knew about all this. And she heard somebody had said most people have Internet at home, but
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The ghost of Commissions Past, in the form of former Commissioner
Richard Lee, pointed his finger at the Commission and staff
at
the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
So if y’all can find some coins, and Mr. Prichard has a real knack for doing that, we’d appreciate it up in my end of the county.
That’s curious, since Mr. Pritchard can’t seem to to keep the solid waste collection stations open, or for to keep libraries open, or even for a bus for 4-H without children doing much of the heavy lifting.
But Mr. Lee is confident Mr. Pritchard can find funds to stripe roads in Mr. Lee’s neighborhood!
Here’s the video:
Continue readingThe Lowndes County Commission has deployed a clock! Where people can see it. Even the speaker in Citizens Wishing to Be Heard can see it! Congratulations to new Chairman Bill Slaughter and new Commissioners Demarcus Marshall and John Page.
The clock above County Manager Joe Pritchard, Chairman Bill Slaughter, Commissioners Joyce Evans, John Page, Richard Raines, Demarcus Marshall, Crawford Powell. |
This is a welcome change from when
former Chairman Ashley Paulk
stopped Jessica Bryan Hughes at 4 minutes 39 seconds on 24 May 2011
and
cut me off at 4 1/2 minutes on 28 June 2011,
both times less than five minutes
according to the LAKE video camera.
Speaking of five minutes, that’s the time limit set by the Commission in its own Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard:
6. Each speaker’s time to speak shall be limited to five minutes.
Maybe the Commission would like to follow its own ordinance?
Continue readingAnd now a word from award-winning Valdosta City Clerk Teresa Bolden. -jsq
Good morning — I wanted to let you know that the Work Session scheduled for January 8th and the Council Meeting scheduled for January 10th have both been cancelled due to the lack of items on the Agenda. Our next Regular Council Meeting will be held on January 24th.
The
public defender said the county palace (that we’re still mysteriously
paying on) didn’t have space for his office.
The
Industrial Authority request to buy some still-unspecified property
“has been pulled from the agenda” by unspecified forces.
The new
4-H agent spoke and
a bus was discussed.
One Commissioner forgot to show up until late to hear
Workers’ compensation is going up and the Commission’s own
schedule is being adjusted for holidays.
There was little substantive discussion, and
there’s no sign anything will change at the Lowndes County Commission
unless enough people want it to.
They vote this evening at 5:30 PM, and they do have Citizens Wishing
to be Heard, although it is still at the end, after all the votes.
Here’s the agenda, with links to videos, and a few notes.
Continue reading
Pictured: newly elected Commissioners Page, Evans (re-elected), Slaughter, and Marshall |
Here’s a list of the current Commission members:
Their Commission web page still has at the top this mission statement:
“To provide an efficient, effective and responsive local government to all citizens of Lowndes County while maintaining the financial strength to meet any contingency”
The county government has apparently been pretty good about that last thing (although that $8.9 million discrepency could make some wonder). On responsiveness, not so much, considering the trash non-solution railroaded through at the last meeting of the previous Commission. Maybe this new Commission will be different.
Here’s the agenda.
-jsq
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
At the county’s farewell reception for retiring Chairman Ashley Paulk Friday,
Attorney General Sam Olens gave him something to hang on the wall,
Paulk said a few words,
County Manager Joe Pritchard
read a letter from incoming Chairman Bill Slaughter,
and
Pritchard said a few words and gave Paulk a rocking chair, in which he declined to sit.
At some later date maybe I’ll post a retrospective about my neighbor Ashley Paulk, but for now I think the many posts in this blog will serve, and meanwhile I look forward to seeing what the new Commission will do with new Commissioners Demarcus Marshall (District 4), John Page (District 5), and new Chairman Bill Slaughter.
Here’s a video playlist:
Farewell Chairman Ashley Paulk, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 December 2012.
-jsq