While LAKE would be ecstatic if all elected and appointed bodies did their own PR so we didn’t have to, in the meantime, we’re here, and we do what we can, with a little help from everyone involved.
The member who hardly ever speaks at board meetings makes a strong case for openness.
Tom Call called me back about the biomass plant, and we talked about a number of other matters. He remarked that he was not an appointed spokesperson for the Industrial Authority, so this is just him talking.
I asked him about Ashley Paulk’s remarks in the 26 April 2011 Lowndes County Commission meeting. Tom Call said VLCIA was not standing behind any other body, and he clarified what had happened.
He said the biomass plant had been brought to the Industrial Authority by Continue reading
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-jsq
Gretchen Quarterman continued
interviewing County Clerk Paige Dukes
about the owl on the historic Lowndes County Courthouse.
Q: “Are there other owls around town?”
A: “There may be!”
Paige suggests owl spotters. She says the owls cost about $20 each, and this one works for the county without any further expenditure.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
Can Council members answer in Citizens to Be Heard,
or can’t they?
One did; another says she can’t.
In Council Comments at the end of the 21 April 2011 Valdosta City Council meeting, Sonny Vickers talked about bids.
Then Deidra White said she would attend any meeting where she could hear and reply to citizens’ concerns, but she can can’t say anything about Citizens to be Heard because there’s a Council policy.
That’s interesting, considering that in the previous Valdosta City Council meeting, in Citizens to be Heard, Council Sonny Vickers responded to Dr. Mark George saying that he had already told everyone that he was for the biomass plant. Does this mean that Council supporters of the biomass plant can speak Continue reading
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That owl on the top of the Lowndes County Courthouse:
where did it come from?
As the owl watched,
Gretchen Quarterman asked County Clerk Paige Dukes.
Q: “So Paige, why is the owl up there?”
A: “The owl is up there to deter any of the pigeons in the area from flying into the courthouse.”
The owl has been on the courthouse since 2007. More details in the video: Continue reading
I wanted to know what the council and the protesters will do
when the biomass plant is canceled.
I still want to know: what will you do?
Here’s the video, followed by my points.
What will you do? —John S. Quarterman @ VCC 7 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Before I started, the mayor noted that many people needed to go to an event at 7PM (he didn’t name it, but it was the 100 Black Men Annual Dinner.) He offered to proceed with scheduled business and re-open Citizens to be Heard at the end of the meeting. Nobody objected. I had already waited until nobody else seemed to want to speak.
My points: Continue reading