At the 18 Jan 2011 VLCIA board meeting,
Brad Lofton congratulated Roy Copeland.
Lofton seems to be referring to Copeland’s membership in the
THE TOP 100 TRIAL LAWYERS – Georgia,
A Professional, Educational, and Business Organization of Trial Attorneys.
There appear to actually be 90 members.
I congratulate Roy Copeland on his membership.
I can’t quite make out whether he also received an
award from the same organization.
Anyway, here’s the video:
-jsq
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.
Now call me old-fashioned, but I prefer local farmers growing food Continue reading
Want to know what your city council really thinks?
Stay through the entire meeting
and you’ll get some clues; or watch these videos by some who did stay.
City Manager, Attorney, and each council member say what’s on their minds.
Much of it addresses some of the questions asked by citizens earlier:
cracks in the MLK monument, biomass,
council members answering questions from the audience, etc.
What they didn’t talk about may indicate what various citizens
didn’t succeed in conveying to the council.
It’s not like what they were saying was a secret. The VDT reporter was there. They were finishing up the agenda with the sections “7. City Manager’s Report” and “8. Council Comments”. You can see them adjourn at the end. Some of them groused about the time citizens take up in “Citizens Wishing to be Heard”.
But remember, almost none of those citizens bothered to stay around to listen to them. Among the stay-latest: two cameras for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, providing you these two views: Continue reading
First-time speaker Matt Flumerfelt notes the Valdosta City Council
and the Lowndes County Commission both disclaim responsibility for the
Industrial Authority even though both appoint its members,
and he thinks that may make VLCIA’s contract for the biomass plant
challengeable on constitutional grounds.
He also sent LAKE the appended article on 20 Jan 2011.
Video by John S. Quarterman of the regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 20 January 2011, for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Continue readingFaith In Technology Is What Got Us Into This Mess
by Matt FlumerfeltMany people in the Valdosta-Lowndes County community have faith that the proposed Biomass incinerator won’t harm anyone or anything, but faith in technology is what got us into our current environmental mess in the first place. Those old enough to remember the nuclear power debate will remember how many people gave assurances that nuclear power was safe, yet we see today how difficult nuclear waste is to dispose of and how much damage it has caused when things go wrong, which, human nature being what it is, they inevitably do. The recent gulf oil spill would not have happened if
George Boston Rhynes
asks for Valdosta City Council members
to be easier to visually distinguish,
and thanks council and staff for promising to
pay attention to physical problems with the MLK monument.
Video by John S. Quarterman of the
regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 20 January 2011
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
As
the VDT transcribed:
“I think we can do better than a generator that burns human waste. I think we can do better than a private prison and those are two things that we seem to be excited about as a community.”Dr. Mark George spoke to the Valdosta City Council, 20 Jan 2011:
We’ve previously written about CCA private prisons and AZ immigration law on 21 December 2010:
Considering how many local farmers and others around here use hispanic help without inquiring closely as to where they come from, a CCA prison in Lowndes County would be more than ironic.And in If it’s sunny enough in Buffalo on 16 September 2010: Continue readingSpending state tax dollars to lock people up while cutting funding for education that would cost less per person doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
Is this what we want to be known for?
Some people seem to be forming opinions of that letter without ever having read it. LAKE has published links to a PDF of it from four previous posts: “Far from Over”, “What is Fiery Roots”, Russell Anderson Responds, and “We got off on the wrong foot”. Formerly LAKE only had a PDF of a scan of a paper copy of the email of 3 Jan 2011. Per request, Russell Anderson has sent plain text, which appears below. -jsq
Continue readingAll,
My name is Russell Anderson. I am the Co-Director of Collectiveprogression.org and graduate of Valdosta State. I am writing to inform you of my intent to publish the below piece on our website and to our readership as well as produce a full length documentary about the community struggle against the proposed Wiregrass LLC biomass incinerator. I have you all on this email {Sterling Assets, Langdale’s, Council, Commissioners, Authority, Attorneys} and ALL of you have continued to pass the blame and buck on the building of this plant. Rather than doing the more responsible thing (pending EIS),
Former VLCIA Executive Director decides based on rants in the VDT
to come say “I trust in you” and
“If it turns out to be wrong, then we live with that.”
Ken Garren (Brad Lofton’s predecessor as executive director) speaks in support of the current VLCIA and the biomass plant, 18 Jan 2011.
“I made a decision that although I’m concerned about a lot of things, and I’m concerned about anything….I have to trust those people who are in those positions will do their homework and make the right decision. Then I will live with that. If it turns out to be wrong, then we live with that.
What bothered me was when I started reading in the paper about the veiled threats. The personal issues. …
When I started reading about veiled threats. When I started reading about people being chastised because they didn’t accept a brochure or some literature. You know, that bothered me.
Then when I read one of the rants about it; they wondered how you folks were chosen. If you don’t know how these people are chosen…. They ought to do their basic homework.
But I’m here tonight to say that: I’ve looked at it; I’ve researched it; I don’t always agree with all the things the authority does… but I trust in you….”
Update 2014-03-31: VDT wrote 3 March 2014 that Garren joined VLCIA after Sterling Chemical came in.
Then he praises Sterling Chemical which came in on his watch,
and while Norman Bennett (currently on the VLCIA)
was Chairman of the County Commission.
See for yourself:
In the current fashion he begins by saying when he first moved here (1965). Is that what’s required these days to be worth listening to? Continue reading
Continue readingFrom: “Allan Ricketts” <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>
To: John S. Quarterman
Cc: Brad Lofton
Subject: Response to Your Questions to the VLCIA Board of Directors on 18 January 2011
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:01:35 -0500Hello John,
This e-mail is in response to the questions you directed to the VLCIA Board of Directors during the “Citizens to be Heard” portion of the VLCIA Board Meeting on Tuesday, 18 January 2011.
I
asked the VLCIA board (18 Jan 2011)
about my
previously submitted questions about house refitting for insulation and efficiency,
and about rooftop solar,
such as have been successful in Austin and Houston, Texas.
Mary Gooding answered:
“That really would be the city… we’re industrial development.”
She didn’t say which city. There is more than one city in the county. The question as sent to them in writing refered to Hahira; maybe that’s the city she meant. Should Hahira not expect any help from VLCIA?
And what about us who don’t live in any of the cities?
So far, all the new solar rooftop installations are in unincorporated
parts of the county, although
both are in Hahira’s 31632 ZIP code.
Col. Ricketts, at the direction of the board, has since sent me a response, which will lead off tomorrow morning.
VLCIA seemed somewhat confused as to what their protocol is as to answering questions: Continue reading