Tag Archives: Law

Maybe we citizens need to hear the rest of the story —Barbara Stratton

Received today on Ashley Paulk is a big man again:
Ref comments by outof control – This is definitely confusing. I don’t see anything in the controversy about contracts being put out to bid. Isn’t the fact an electrical company owned by one of the board members was contracted to do work on a government project illegal conflict of interest? It appears to me that someone needs to come in & educate all the government entities (elected & appointed)& the public in Lowndes Co on what conflict of interest means.

I have seen several incidents in government meetings where an elected or appointed individual excused himself from voting because of an admitted COI. How does that excuse the COI when COI also includes impaired objectivity, unequal access to information, etc. Basically if there is any connection between a government elected or appointed official & a private company contractual relationships of any kind come under COI & are not supposed to be allowed even if a bid process takes place.

That is another reason why citizens should not allow public/private partnerships. Normal bidding procedures are ignored

Continue reading →

Somebody has gotten fired at the animal shelter

Improper use of drugs for euthanizing animals is apparently enough to get someone fired from the animal shelter, at least if there is a parade of witnesses and paperwork, but only after someone files a complaint with GA Dept. of Ag.

On 16 June 2011 Susan Leavens got a letter from Shirley King, with attached PDF, containing:

  • complaint from Susan Leavens (unknown date):
    “Employee working with Lowndes County Animal Services euthanizing animals wihtout certification.”
  • 2011-06-03 PDF notice of violation from Ga. Dept. Ag. to Lowndes Co. Animal Services
  • a long handwritten statement by Pat Smith, also annotated:
    “Copy of report received by [signed] Joe Pritchard 6-3-11”
Continue reading →

Ashley Paulk is a big man again

Kay Harris wrote on the front page of the VDT 1 July 2011, Fireworks at Parks and Rec meeting, quoting board member Ashley Paulk,
“These contracts are invalid, and the same employees who did this did the same thing last year and we told them then not to do it again. They seem to think the Authority doesn’t run Parks and Rec., but we do, and since this was done illegally, with prior warning not to, these individuals should be fired for insubordination.”
This was about a contract with Black Crow media. Last night Ashley Paulk told various people after the County Commission meeting that when he went down to Black Crow to do the morning radio show he usually does before the board meeting, he wasn’t even allowed in the building. I asked him, so does this mean you’re going to keep quiet? He answered,
“No, not when I’m right!”
Remember, Ashley Paulk was a big man back in April Continue reading →

“Once the investigation is complete and closed all documents will be provided to you.” —Custodian of Records

More from Susan Leavens:
—– Forwarded Message —- From: “King, Shirley”
To: “sleavens4@bellsouth.net”
Sent: Wed, October 27, 2010 2:21:02 PM
Subject: Open Records Request
Ms. Leavens, as you requested under the Georgia Open Records Act, please find message from the custodian of records for Animal Protection attached.
If we may assist you any further, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks.
Shirley J. King
Open Records Coordinator
The attached PDF is here on the LAKE website. Interestingly, although that message from Patricia Mitchell, “Animal Protection Office Custodian of Records” says
“Once the investigation is complete and closed all documents will be provided to you.”
it also says:
“By policy the department only retains 2 years (2008 & 2009) inactive files and 1 years (2010) active files.”
So if the investigation takes more than 2 years, do the earlier files about it start to vanish?

-jsq

All employees were drug tested and interviewed —Joe Pritchard

Susan Leavens sent this Tuesday:
John, this is the first open records reguest I did with GDA. The rest will be in order of date of the request.
The document Shirley King attached for Item #2 was this PDF of a letter from Joe Pritchard of 27 August 2010 telling USDA GDA all employees (presumably of the animal shelter) had been drug-tested and were being interviewed.

Documents about the animal shelter are appearing here on the LAKE web pages. Here are the messages Susan Leavens forwarded along with this particular letter.

-jsq Continue reading →

I tried following the chian of command —Susan Leavens

Many comments are on Animal shelter open records and Return cameras. Susan Leavens provides specific information in this one. -jsq
Concerned Citizen,

Please understand that there are state laws that people get arrested for each day also; the county ordiance mirrors the state law(s) however if you have not read the statements no one was arrested either. And do you think the bulldog was the first incident? Keep reading!! Below are some other things which have occured in the shelter.

Page 3 #15 Cruelty,
Page 5 #23 hoplesly disable animal,
page 5 #26 humane care,
page 7 #36 records,
Section 5 page 10 Emergencies involving animals,

to name a few of the Lowndes County Ordinance.

So when you say why didn’t I(Officer Leavens)end

Continue reading →

Return cameras or I’m going to pursue it through the Sheriff’s office —Ashley Paulk @ LCC 28 June 2011

Chairman Paulk threatened the Humane Society with legal action last night:
…the Humane Society provided two county employees with undercover cameras as a gratuity.
…
I want those two undercover cameras returned by my two employees, or there will be some administrative action.
…
I’m making this a public record.
…
If I don’t get those cameras back and the gratuity I’m going to pursue it through the Sheriff’s office.
…
Needs to be public record in the VDT.
The picture shows Ashley Paulk (center) motioning to VDT reporter David Rodock (foreground) as he directs the VDT to publish what he just said. Mechelle Sullivan is on the right, and County Manager Joe Pritchard looks on from left. Voting Commissioners Evans, Raines, and Powell are just visible between Paulk and Sullivan.

The VDT did take dictation and publish that this morning, adding this quote from Chairman Paulk:

“It’s a gratuity. You can’t give a government employee something in order to get something in return. It’s not legal.”
Other things are also not legal, yet never seem to be pursued.

Speaking of pursued, Chairman Paulk encountered a group of Continue reading →

How to bring a case to the Sheriff’s attention

Sheriff Prine was at last night’s budget hearing (his office accounts for more of the county budget than anything else). Afterwards I asked him how matters such as the complaints about the animal shelter could be brought to the attention of his office. He said that was a code enforcement matter, and if code enforcement thought it rose to a criminal matter, they would take it to Magistrate Court, which would issue a warrant, which would go to the Sheriff’s office, where it would be pursued.

Remember who code enforcement is in Lowndes County. Continue reading →

Animal shelter open records from Susan Leavens

Received yesterday from Susan Leavens:
These are the open records that me and another animal control officer sent to GDA and I also have Amanda Jordans Statement if you would like that. Please excuse some of the language in my statement she (pat smith GDA inspector) told me to write it like it was said….
Here they are on the LAKE web pages.

These records include much more detail than what we’ve heard before.

After reading them, do you think installing a few cameras is adequate to deal with this situation?

-jsq

Why make it hard to obtain the budget? —Jessica Bryan Hughes

Why, indeed? -jsq
This is ridiculous.

-Jessica Bryan Hughes

This comment came in yesterday on Proposed Lowndes County Budget published by LAKE.