5.b. Consideration of a request to approve the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Action Plan.Plus of course, Citizens to be Heard.
They heard some citizens Tuesday, as Drive Away CCA honked at City Hall.
Here’s the agenda.
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Continue readingAGENDA REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, March 8, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Yes, we drove about that slow the whole way: that was in the plan.
We honked at Valdosta City Hall: the City Council could hear us inside.
They have Citizens to be Heard at their regular meeting tonight.
Here’s the video:
Heading out Drive Away CCA 2012 03 06
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Motorcade against Corrections Corporation of America, Drive Away CCA,
CCA, VLCIA, Corrections Corporation of America, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
Valdosta City Council, Lowndes County Commission, incarceration, prison, private prison,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Staff Writer editorialized yesterday, A ray of hope for VSU project,
Amid the lost homes of this past weekend’s tornado and severe storms, South Georgia could use an infusion of hope.Later that day it was back in the proposed 2013 Georgia budget. David Rodock wrote today for the VDT, Funding for new VSU building approved, Continue reading
Good news came Monday with word that the Valdosta State University Health Sciences and Business Administration building has a renewed shot at becoming reality.
Earlier this year, the $23.5 million project was assumed dead. Though its inclusion had been expected, the building was not part of the 2012 state budget.
Winn Roberson told us how he had the idea for the
motorcade against CCA,
from the private prison site past Valdosta City Hall to the Industrial Authority.
Here’s Part 1 of 2:
Starting up Drive Away CCA —Winn Roberson 2012 03 06 Part 1 of 2:
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Motorcade against Corrections Corporation of America, Drive Away CCA,
CCA, VLCIA, Corrections Corporation of America, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
Valdosta City Council, Lowndes County Commission, incarceration, prison, private prison,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
And how he wasn’t opposed to it just because it was down the street from him;
also because:
“Every step so far has dollar signs behind it.”A private prison would give everybody from justices to jailers incentive to keep more people in prison instead of rehabilitating anybody.
Here’s Part 2 of 2: Continue reading
The motorcade went well and
you can still help
Drive Away CCA!
Turning radio into TV, here’s LAKE video of Tuesday morning’s interview
with Chris Beckham about
Drive Away CCA, the motorcade against the private prison.
Listen for the mentions of
Sheriff Chris Prine (he is
opposed to the private prison “I want him in my jail, not a private jail”)
Winn Roberson (the
motorcade was his idea),
Matt Flumerfelt (he filed the open records request that revealed
the contracts with the March 13th),
Bobbi Anne Hancock (she
dug up a history of CCA that reveals problems for many years
and she had a
very funny interview with VLCIA executive director Andrea Schruijer),
George Boston Rhynes (he’s been following incarceration and especially
jail issues for many years),
and former sheriff and current Lowndes County Commission Chairman
Ashley Paulk (he listed a number of hurdles the prison project
would have to leap before it could happen), and also the VDT.
Too many other people are involved to name here.
Here’s the video:
Video: Drive Away CCA radio (John S. Quarterman interviewed by Chris Beckham)
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Radio WVGA 105.9 FM with Chris Beckham, Drive Away CCA (DAC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Audio from WVGA 105.9 Also, audio from WVGA 105.9 is available.
There are plently of things you can still do to help Drive Away CCA:
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5PM today,
Drive Away CCA, from the prison site at East US 84 and Inner Perimeter Road,
honk at Valdosta City Hall, and march at the Industrial Authority office.
Chris Beckham’s show has put audio on the web of his
interview with me this morning.
Update: Here’s LAKE video of the interview.
John Quarterman, who is with a group informally called “Drive Away CCA” visited The Morning Drive to discuss the group’s displeasure with a possible private prison that is being discussed in Lowndes County. A possible extension for the company to continue its plans here is up for renewal and the group feels its location here would be bad for area businesses and citizens alike.Follow the link for the audio. Video up shortly.
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Join the motorcade from the private prison site to honk at Valdosta City Hall
and march at the Industrial Authority office.
I’ll be on Chris Beckham’s show on WVGA 105.9 FM this morning at 7:30 AM
to talk about it.
Update: audio of the interview.
Update 2: Here’s video of the interview.
Citizens entitled to open government,
All governmental entities supported by tax dollars are subject to the laws. Private companies are not.As the VDT knows better than anybody else around here, getting informaiton out of Valdosta State Prison or the Georgia Department of Correcions (GDOC) is very hard. The VDT has been trying to find out what’s going on at Valdosta State Prison for years now, and getting the runaround and hitting stone walls.
Florida has a law that says private prison operators have to comply with Continue reading
Kay Harris wrote for the VDT today, Georgia AG works to boost Sunshine Laws, quoting State Attorney General Sam Olens:
The bill ( Here’s HB 397 on the legislature’s website) includes some welcome requirements about meeting times and public records officers having to be posted on a body’s website, but builds in a huge loophole: Continue reading“The legislature has given the Attorney General’s office the jurisdiction to enforce the Open Records law and this bill will give us the tools to do so.”
Olens said the AG’s office receives an average of 400 complaints each year of Open Records violations by governmental entities in the state. The bill strengthens penalties and gives the AG more tools to use to prosecute violators.
Subsection 50-14-6 changes the fine for knowingly violating the law from $100 to $1,000 and allows the court to impose a civil penalty as well.
The bill also strengthens the guidelines for posting notices on websites and clarifies the rules for social events that may attract a quorum of officials. Also, destroying public records can be prosecuted as a felony.
drive away CCA.
Near Ft. Lauderdale, CCA wants to put a detention center
in Southwest Ranches, Florida, and
CCA Go Away (facebook)
is organizing against that.
Lots of clever signs, from the unmistakable:
to the symbolic orange jailbirds holding oversize $20 and $100 bills.
CCA Go Away
Plenty more in their flickr set:
No Prison Here in This Town
Put Residents Before Profit
The Prison is No Longer A Secret
Did You Know?
A Prison is coming to your neighborhood!
Say No to
Corrections Corporation of America
No CCA
If they can do it, we can, too.
Come to the prison site Tuesday 5PM to help
Drive Away CCA!
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