Tag Archives: Health Care

Bicyclists at Valdosta City Council 10 November 2011

Courtesy of the camera of George Rhynes, here are the Citizens to Be Heard at Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting. Most of them are frequent cyclists, with a surprise ally speaking first. I think that’s all of them.

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I’m a bicyclist —Jim Jones @ VCC 10 November 2011

Jim Jones told Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting he was a certified bicycle technician. He mentioned all sort of reasons for bicycling:
Bicycles are going to be a big part of our future. Gas prices, and a lot of folks getting their licenses suspended, having to walk…. And if you don’t have a bicycle, that’s the only choice you have.
He mentioned Valdosta was lagging behind Portland.

Here’s the video:


I’m a bicyclist —Jim Jones @ VCC 10 November 2011
bicycle, path, health care, health, sidewalk, grant,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 November 2011.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

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How about some bike racks? —Matt Portwood @ VCC 10 November 2011

Matt Portwood told Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting that since his last address to the Council was so well received this time he brought friends (such as Heather Evans, who had just spoken) and an ally in the front row ( Roy Taylor, who spoke first) This time he asked for bike racks. If City Hall had one outside, their bicycles wouldn’t have been locked to the front step railing.

Here’s the video:


—Matt Portwood @ VCC 10 November 2011
bicycle, path, health care, health, sidewalk, grant,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 November 2011.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

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Community’s need for public transportation, bike lanes, and walking —Heather Evans @ LCC 10 November 2011

Heather Evans provided a petition with more than 200 signatures, and told Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting she got requests frequently while working in community service for something to be done about non-automobile transportation. She presented a variety of evidence.
Ideally, I’d like to see bike lanes all over town. But if I had to pick one to start with, St. Augustine would be my choice. I choose this road because it also needs to have a completed sidewalk segment. I can’t tell you how many people including myself have been endangered while using this portion of road.

George Rhynes took this video and remarked:

WOW! Valdosta-Lowndes County is now being seen as a real metro city and citizens are asking questions to their elected officials. WOW! The old control, suppress, and abate is apparently unacceptable in 2011 as we get ready for the 2012 Presidential election.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Bikes, Students and Public Meetings —George Rhynes @ VCC 10 November 2011

When he spoke in Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting, George Rhynes mentioned he had videoed the bicycles he found out front.

Here’s the video:


Bikes, Students and Public Meetings —George Rhynes @ VCC 10 November 2011
bicycle, path, health care, health, sidewalk, grant,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 November 2011.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

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Truth really needs no defense! —George Rhynes @ VCC 10 November 2011

George Rhynes stood up at Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting to respond to Ken Klanicki’s concern about Sam Allen’s speech on the City Hall steps the previous day.
I want the record to show and I hope the Valdosta Daily Tims will print it, that former Superintendent Sam Allen, all he did was to act as a professional, which he is.
George also commended the bicyclers and said he had videoed the bicycles he found out front.

Here’s the video:


Truth really needs no defense! —George Rhynes @ VCC 10 November 2011
bicycle, path, health care, health, sidewalk, grant,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 November 2011.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

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Health and safety through bicycles —Roy Taylor @ VCC 10 Nov 2011

Roy Taylor spoke first in Citizens to Be Heard at Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting:
We need bicycle paths in this community, very very badly. I travel to Europe… and they have bicycle paths all over, and it helps our children as they are growing up. It helps us as adults…. It helps all of us…. It is good for our children, our community.

I want you to think about the health care cost that those bicycles can save. In the health care we have to pay, the hospitalization, the medical costs, if we keep our bodies in good shape.

You have a grant in here now of about $75,000 to $100,000 … school money. I can think of no finer way for those children than to walk the sidewalk and to ride a bicycle.

That’s right: Roy Taylor spoke in favor of a grant, and for bicycles. Bicyclers listened from the back before some of them spoke: Continue reading →

The Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs in public safety net use by low-paid employees

Interesting study from California whose results probably also apply to Georgia, showing that Wal-Mart pays about a third less than other retail companies, so little that Wal-Mart employees tend to use food stamps and public medical assistance and housing to stay afloat, which thus “creates a hidden cost to the state’s taxpayers.”

Arindrajit Dube and Ken Jacobs wrote for UC Berkeley Labor Center, August 2004, Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs: Use of Safety Net Programs by Wal-Mart Workers in California. According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center:

This widely publicized report finds Wal-Mart’s wage and health benefits packages for its California workers to be below average as compared to the overall retail sector in California. The authors also find a greater reliance upon public assistance programs among Wal-Mart workers as compared to other California retail workers. Finally, the authors estimate the additional costs to taxpayers of “Wal-Martization”—the adoption of Wal-Mart’s wage and health benefits standards by retailers throughout California.
Here is an extract from the study: Continue reading →

SGMC asks Lowndes County Commission to guarantee $100 M in bonds 10 October 2011

Commissioners asked some perceptive questions two weeks ago at their work session, as well they should, when South Georgia Medical Center was asking the county to guarantee a hundred million dollars in bonds. Some questions may remain.

Representatives from SGMC gave a two part presentation about expansion of SGMC facilities, to include 96 new private rooms in the Dasher Heart Center, the 5 story parking deck, now under construction and due to be completed in early 2012, and Life Safety and Generator Equipment updates.

Additionally, they spoke briefly on the acquisition of Smith Northview Hospital on September 1, 2011. Smith Northview operates as a campus of SGMC and all Smith Northview employees are now SGMC employees.

The second part of the presentation was about the financial Continue reading →

Hazard mitigation and some licenses at County Commission 24-25 October 2011

Last Monday there was a hearing about hazard mitigation plan updates which I, uh, showed up late for. Ten minutes late, which, given that nobody else showed up at all, meant that the county staff went home, so as to avoid wasting taxpayer dollars presenting to an empty room. That was the second and last public hearing So if you want to see that presentation, your last chance is Monday morning at the County Commission Work Session:
4. Hazard Mitigation Plan Update Presentation (work session only)
That is not a public hearing, so you can’t speak. They did hold two public hearings at which you could have spoken.

Other items include a beer and wine license (these are often controversial), an employee health care plan renewal (I think that’s what Section 125 is), and a telephone company site lease agreement. Plus:

7.c. Travel policy

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →