Really; those are the names of two of the organizations they spoke before:
Great Promise Partnership and Leadership Lowndes.
And what is the mystery Project XX2?
Here’s the agenda:
Valdosta — Lowndes County Industrial AuthorityContinue reading
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Who’s responsible for the recent partiality in budget reports?
The newspaper, or its source of information, namely the county government
at its secretive retreat on the Chairman’s private property that even the VDT reporter had trouble finding?
When the Coroner and the Sheriff (often at odds lately) agree that the VDT’s version of the county government’s remarks about their budgets was at best partial, where is the source of that partiality? Who’s responsible for budgeting for the county, reporter Matthew or editor Kay Harris or Dean Poling? Or is it the local government our taxes pay to do that job, namely the Lowndes County Commission and its staff, which is managed by County Manager Joe Pritchard?
Maybe somebody down at the county palace should,
as Gretchen suggested recently,
“check our work”.
-jsq
Like
the Sheriff, the Coroner reports
that something’s rotten in the
Lowndes County Commission and staff’s version of his budget.
Dean Poling write for the VDT today, Coroner responds to county budget issues,
Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson explained Friday that comments calling him one of the county budget’s “worst offenders” did not explain why his office’s expenses change from year to year.
“I have no control over the number of people that dies each year,” Watson told The Times, “and I have to fund the transportation for autopsies. Any time there is an autopsy, it costs my office about $750.”
These costs include Continue reading
LTE in the VDT today. -jsq
Sheriff’s Response to “budget woes”
The Sheriff’s Office has received a lot of criticism in the last several months. It appears to be the fashionable thing these days and an easy target. Sheriff Prine did not receive an invitation to the Chairman’s personal property for a review of the county’s budget and criticism of the Sheriff’s budget in particular. There are some facts that have not been reported by the Valdosta Daily Times, which may or may not have been provided.
First it should be noted that the Sheriff’s Office general fund budget was reduced from last year’s budget by $171,306.
This was before another $130,492 was taken away in August as a result of shift in traffic citation processing responsibilities to the Clerk’s Office.
A closer look at some of the specific line items targeted for criticism will show Continue reading
They detailed spending by the Sheriff and the Coroner,
yet never seemed to say how much the Commission itself has spent
sueing a local business.
And what was that executive session about?
Doesn’t
Georgia Open Meetings Law say they have
to say what it’s for?
Here’s the agenda. See also County discusses budget woes: Sheriff’s department, coroner are ‘worst offenders’, by Matthew Woody, VDT, 15 November 2013.
Here’s a video playlist for the entire Lowndes County Commission Retreat Work Session.
Videos: Budget, SPLOST, and 2014 Planning
Retreat Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 November 2013.
-jsq
A local mom said she was one of many landowners being bullied
by a pipeline company and asked for help from local leaders,
at the
7 November 2013 Valdosta City Council Regular Session.
Here’s Part 1 of 2:
Carol Singletary’s impassioned and reasoned plea
got a response from Mayor John Gayle,
even if it was only Continue reading
Fan of local government Gretchen suggested it
“check our work” before whipsawing citizens in for items
that didn’t happen or failing to schedule a public hearing
even after the Chairman asked for it, plus failing do deliver
what was promised in open records requests,
at the
12 November 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Today she’s checking their work at
their secretive Retreat Work Session.
At the Regular Session she noted that the Sabal Trail item that was misscheduled for the previous morning caused several citizens to take off work to come in for something that didn’t happen. (You can find out more about that pipeline Saturday morning at 10AM at the SpectraBusters Informational Meeting.
She mentioned the Green Lane item that the Chairman had asked Continue reading
It’s 9AM: do you know where your County Commission is? They’re at Chairman Bill Slaughter’s house, having what finally got billed as an “Annual Retreat Work Session”. Why so secretive, Commissioners?
Crawford Powell (District 3), Joyce Evans (District 1), Richard Raines (District 2), Stephanie Black (Finance Director), Joe Pritchard (County Manager), Bill Slaughter (Chairman), Paige Dukes (County Clerk), John Page (District 5), Demarcus Marshall (District 4)
At the start time of 8:30 AM, nobody was observing except
Jody Hall (GLPC) and Gretchen Quarterman (LAKE).
The VDT reporter arrived at 8:59 AM.
Here’s
the agenda,
with picture taken by Gretchen of copy posted on door.
The online copy is not in the usual
agenda page, rather it’s hanging off a special entry in the
calendar.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
Annual Retreat Work Session
November 14, 2013
6926 Simpson Road, Hahira, Georgia
“We apologize for any inconvenience.”
No Sabal Trail pipeline presentation this time;
yes it really is December 9th like
the front page of the VDT said.
So the online agenda was incorrect, and
it’s still incorrect
about
Green Lane
which is still listed as “For consideration” when it should be listed
as a Public Hearing.
And another item was listed so obscurely on the
agenda that a Commissioner had to ask “exactly where is this?”
A report turned into an agenda item for the
Alapaha Water Treatment Plant,
and an item for
“Consideration of Back Pay for 911 Employees”
has appeared on
the amended agenda with no public discussion.
How are citizens to know what their elected officials are going to
vote on tonight at 5:30 PM if the agenda changes all the time
yet is still incorrect?
Plus they could take up Nottinghill even though the Planning Commission recommended tabling, there’s yet another Dollar General proposed (see Planning Commission video, three decorative special tax lighting districts, mosquito control, pump replacement, the annual MIDS bus service contract, a beer license, the return of Green Lane (why isn’t that one a pubic hearing as promised last time?) something about NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County Board of Elections: will they stop changing the precincts every year?
Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
AMENDED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Nevermind what the front page of the VDT said
about December 9th:
the Sabal Trail pipeline presentation is on the agenda for Monday morning, 8:30 AM.
Or maybe Tuesday evening, 5:30 PM; it doesn’t say, but if they’re sticking
to at least the Work Session part of the request from Demarcus Marshall,
it’s tomorrow morning.
Plus they could take up Nottinghill even though the Planning Commission recommended tabling, there’s yet another Dollar General proposed (see Planning Commission video, three decorative special tax lighting districts, mosquito control, pump replacement, the annual MIDS bus service contract, a beer license, the return of Green Lane (why isn’t that one a pubic hearing as promised last time?) something about NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County Board of Elections: will they stop changing the precincts every year?
Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
AMENDED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor