Tag Archives: Law

Idaho citizen files $1.5 million wrongful arrest suit against local appointed body

Speaking up in a public meeting should result in violations of


someone’s rights under the First (“peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”), Fifth (“nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”), or Eighth (“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”) Amendments.
Anti-fracking activist Alma Hasse is seeking legal redress.
This could be a nationwide trend, with one local bully apologizing to Nydia Tisdale to avoid jail in Forsyth County, Georgia,
after settling for $200,000 for being ejected
from the Cummings, Georgia City Council for videoing.
Nydia hasn’t filed charges yet for the

case of the six missing screams
, in which she was forcibly
ejected from a public campaign event headlined by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal
for videoing.
Maybe if you advertise a public meeting, you can’t throw someone out for videoing,
and you can’t arrest somebody for speaking up in public government meeting.

Alma Hasse was

arrested for
Continue reading

Videos: Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27



They vote tonight at 5:30 PM on what you can see them discussing yesterday morning in these videos.

They got a
Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise
for trash collection, including use of the county’s collection facility at

345 Gil Harbin Industrial Blvd
.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked what about recycling;
Chairman Bill Slaughter said there would be recycling at the collection centers.
Which means yes ADS’ price went up and service reduced since no curbside
recycling collection anymore.

County Manager Joe Pritchard asked County Engineer Mike Fletcher
to report and to be added to the Regular Session emergency

Nankin Road Repair
due to a water-eroded box culvert.
And it’s a single-source no-bid, this time for Rountree Construction.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker had a few remarks about

the letter
to support plans to

“renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc.

The
body armor request from two weeks before got Continue reading

Videos: Trash, Vallotton agriculture, animals, body armor, HEAT, water, and a canopy road @ LCC 2015-04-14



ADS trash collection price and performance
wasn’t on the agenda, but even

former Commissioner Richard Lee

stood up to speak about it two weeks ago at the April 14th 2015 Regular Session, along with two other citizens

David Eaton

and
me.
See also

VDT trash story
.
The VDT didn’t pick up on

Ann Swayze’s smoot and soot concerns

also being related, because nobody stood up to complain about burning in
Foxborough before the collection centers closed.

Commissioners did the right thing and unanimously

rezoned Vallotton Farms back to Estate Agriculture
,
like it was before county-wide rezoning happened.
It wasn’t like the County Planner said, “it has developed around it
in an urban way”.
The subject land and landowners didn’t do that:
other people have built subdivisions around it the the county’s
active promotion.
And for once agriculture won, after

landowner attorney Bill Langdale
,
Commissioner

Demarcus Marshall
,
and I spoke up for it.

They’re even going to

preserve the canopy on Boring Pond Road

and

I thanked the County Engineer for that
.

The two Sheriff’s requests for Continue reading

Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27

Finally on the agenda for the meeting right now this morning:
Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise.
That’s some improvement in the ongoing county trash situation previous
versions of the County Commission caused.



If the Commission can

sign a letter
to support plans to

“renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc.
,
maybe it can sign a letter of support for expanded
public transportation in Lowndes County.
Arbor Trace is low income housing.
Bus systems typically include many low-income riders.

Even the agenda item PDF doesn’t say, but
FY 2016 HEAT Grant
for the Sheriff’s Department
is about

Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic
“to combat impaired and aggressive drivers,” with the purpose of reducing traffic fatalities.
And the Juvenile Court wants to continue with its
2015 Request for Proposal (RFP) Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program.

Also on the agenda is

saving money
with an

AT&T telephone discount

and
a
Wine and Liquor License – VHS Corporation – 2418 Rocky Ford Road
liquor license.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 27,2015, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Videos: Peggy Green apologizes to Nydia Tisdale to avoid jail time



Tuesday morning assailant Peggy Green apologized a year after
Nydia Tisdale asked.
The judge remarked he was happy at the outcome so nobody had to face jail time.
So, if you want your meeting to be private, don’t advertise it as
“open to the public”.
And when someone shows up with a camera, don’t try to throw them out,
especially not physically.

From

Nydia’s blog post
here’s

the video:
Continue reading

Nydia Tisdale fights back, requests criminal arrest of assailant this morning in court

This morning at 9:30 AM, a judge will hear Nydia Tisdale’s request
for arrest of someone who tried to take her camera
and threw her out of a meeting advertised as
“open to the public”.
Go Nydia!


As usual, she has the whole thing documented:

Republican Women of Forsyth County GA kick citizen & camera outta public meeting 04/16/14
.
As you can see in her blog posts,
at least one of the candidates for election at that event apologized
for what happened to her.
Also later the owner of the restaurant told a police detective
that he had not asked her to leave, despite Peggy Green’s
statement in the video of the event.

Nydia

asked for an apology
.
She didn’t get one, so this time she filed for an arrest warrant. Continue reading

Videos: Vallotton agriculture, animals, body armor, HEAT, water, waste, and a canopy road @ LCC 2015-04-13



The County Planner said “I can’t tell you anything beyond that”
about why
Vallotton Farms
is requesting rezoning to Estate Agriculture
,
which is mysterious, since he (and the County Chairman)
sat through the entire Planning Commission explanation
by attorney Bill Langdale, several Planning Commissioners,
and me: see the LAKE video
of that GLPC item
.
The County Planner did say “we expect development” in that area.
They vote on their expectations tonight at 5:30 PM,
although they have to listen to citizens for and against first.


300x225 Canopy, in Boring Pond Road, by John S. Quarterman, 13 April 2015

I’d like to commend County Engineer Mike Fletcher for preserving the canopy
in the plans for
Boring Pond Road Phase III.

The

Vickers rezoning item

was withdrawn by applicant,
and the County Planner yesterday morning
explained that was because they’d worked out a way for the property
to count as five acres so no rezoning was necessary.
The

Vickers Jennings rezoning to commercial
is still being considered.
Also discussed yesterday morning and to be voted on tonight at 5:30 PM are

three


water-related


items
,
a
Georgia Department of Agriculture Spay/Neuter Grant Request,
two Sheriff’s requests (
body armor,
and
High Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) Team grant),
another paving items (Resurfacing of 3 County Roads (Howell Road, Whitewater Road and Ousley))
a
Fuel Island Upgrade.
The


Execution of the Resolution for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund
is about reimbursement for

monitoring of the closed Clyattville landfill

about which

the county chooses to reveal very little
.
Last I heard, the Sabal Trail methane pipeline was still proposed to go through
there with its hundred-foot right of way and 36-inch pipe.
I wonder how that would affect monitoring?

Here’s
the agenda and below are links to the videos, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading

Spay, Rezonings, Body Armor, HEAT, Water, Waste, Ponds, and Roads @ LCC 2015-04-13



Update 2015-04-13: videos.

The three rezonings from the Planning Commission are on

the agenda

for this morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
One has been

withdrawn by applicant
,
Vallotton Farms still wants to

rezone to Estate Agriculture
,
and
another wants to

rezone to commercial
.
Also to be considered this morning and voted on tomorrow evening are

three


water-related


items
,
a
Georgia Department of Agriculture Spay/Neuter Grant Request,
two Sheriff’s requests (
body armor,
and
High Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) Team grant),
two paving items (Boring Pond Road Phase III
and
Resurfacing of 3 County Roads (Howell Road, Whitewater Road and Ousley))
a
Fuel Island Upgrade,
and what’s this about
Execution of the Resolution for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund?
Ah, that’s about reimbursement for

monitoring of the closed Clyattville landfill

about which

the county chooses to reveal very little
.
Last I heard, the Sabal Trail methane pipeline was still proposed to go through
there with its hundred-foot right of way and 36-inch pipe.
I wonder how that would affect monitoring?

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

County revenue and property tax appeals –Craig Cardella @ LCC 2015-03-24

9. CWTBH - Craig Cardella
A local citizen got cut off just as he said the county attorney’s
opinion was he could interpret state law about property taxes however he wished,
in the

24 March 2015 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission
.

9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard-Please State Your Name and Address

Video.
Craig Cardella’s concern was that the County Commission does not have enough money
to do things that are important to the community.
He said he had given a similar talk to Valdosta Mayor and Council recently.
He said he had been a city manager in the past, and had worked in and around
local government nearly all his career.

In 2009 GA State Senate authorized Continue reading

Videos: Fire aid, drinking, driving, and air conditioning @ LCC 2015-03-24



One citizen got cut off
just as he said the county attorney
thought he could interpret state law however he liked.
In addition to the
Lake Park Fire Department Automatic Aid Agreement
the County Manager asked at the Work Session to add to
agenda,
they also added
Southern Region Traffic Enforcement Network (SRTEN).
Plus not on the agenda there was

recognition of student guests
.
See also the previous morning’s Work Session

Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful cleanup presentation
.
They meet again this morning.

Also voted on two weeks ago were
changes to the

speed zone ordinance
,
a

GEMA grant application
, a

proposal for engineering services for Exits 22 and 29
,

HVAC for county buildings
, and a

liquor license
.
Here’s
the agenda
with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015  8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading