Tag Archives: public defender

Bottled water, prisoner details, board appointees, and Easter Seals @ LCC 2015-05-11

Picture by Michael Rivera, CC

Why is the county accepting
Bids for Bottled Water Service?
If its own water, or Valdosta’s, is good enough for the taxpayers,
shouldn’t it be good enough for Commission and staff?
They’ve also got a
Bid for Coffee Service,
but we don’t grow coffee here, as far as I know, so that’s not the same issue.

With many local people needing jobs, why does the county continue to renew an
Annual Contract Renewal for Prison Work Details?

Looks like Joseph G. Stevens will be reappointed to the
Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority.
Both G. Norman Bennett and incumbent Anthony Payton want to be appointed to the
one slot opening on the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority.
Their applications were not included with the agenda, so who can say
which one is most qualified?

I guess they didn’t decide

to relocate the Public Defender’s Office into
the historic Lowndes County Courthouse,
since on the agenda is a three-year
Lease Agreement for the Public Defender’s Office at its present location.

Looks like J. Glenn Gregory will provide the
Architectural Services for the Lowndes County Civic Center Renovations
and the
Architectural Services for the Naylor Community Center, both funded via SPLOST VII.
Both apparently without competitive bids.

Here’s

the agenda, which also has
Declaration of Surplus Items and Authorization for Sale/Disposal
and
Easter Seals Southern Georgia Presentation (Work Session Only).

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Report of the Historic Courthouse Committee @ LCC 2015-03-09

No education, all law enforcement:

Sheriff’s Office or

Public defender’s office.

Either would save the county money in the long run and preserve the courthouse
through use of its services (heat, light, air conditioning).
Plus some points on renovating the courthouse building and grounds.
Judge McLane referred to this report in his

talk at the Commission Work Session 9 March 2105,
in which he said it would not be possible for VSU to use the courthouse
without “some pretty dramatic and we think negative” changes to the building.

In his cover letter, Judge McLane said he was not sending the actual
report to the Commissioners, yet clearly they were reading it in the
Work Session, because they asked questions from it.
And now you, the public can see the report.
LAKE did not get it from the Commission, which so far as we know has
not published it.
The cover letter and the report are below in full. Continue reading →

Videos: Day 1 of Budget Hearings @ LCC Budget 2015-03-03

It’s good the Commission is having these meetings where they can
hear directly from the various department heads.
And with LAKE’s videos, you the citizens can hear what the departments
are asking for.

Also, why are these called budget hearings?
The public doesn’t get to speak, so they are not actually public hearings,
and they are not the state-required budget hearings before passing a budget:
they don’t even have a draft budget yet.
And the next time the Commission rushes citizen speakers to finish,
remember
this 14 minutes of dead air
or the several others like it in yesterday’s meeting.

They met in the Commission Chambers,
nevermind the address
on the Commission’s calendar
yesterday,
and

still says for today’s meeting.

There’s still no agenda posted, except for paper copies in the Commission building, which read as below. Continue reading →

Videos: Devine tabled, Naylor boat ramp, no HB 170 or animals @ LCC 2015-02-10

Nothing was said about the
GA HB 170 state tax grab from local governments,
even though both school boards and the Valdosta City Council
already passed resolutions against it.
No citizens spoke about animals, or about anything else,
not even in the Public Hearings,
except for

me thanking the Commission about the Naylor Boat Ramp.

The
Devine Subdivision at Tillman Crossing
was tabled at request of applicant to try to sort out continuing
concerns about safety and congestion,
while
REZ-2015-01 Gramercy 2
and
REZ-2015-03 Scurry Property,
were unanimously approved.
No citizens spoke for or against any of them.

You the taxpaying public didn’t get to see any of the materials
in the board packet
beyond the one-page agenda item forms, before the Commission voted last night,
unless you were in the Commission Chambers or watched the LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session.
The open records request for those rezonings came back with
paper maps, despite my request for electronic format;
at least the paper maps were in color this time.
I asked again for electronic format, and will post them
soon even if I have to scan them.
The other open records request, for maps and materials for the
engineering agenda items, came back with no maps at all, so I sent
it back to be satisfied.
Both County Planner Jason Davenport and County Engineer Mike Fletcher
said they had never seen those open records requests,
and they’d both be happy to email electronic copy if they
were authorized to do so by the County Clerk.

All the other items were unanimously approved: Continue reading →

Videos: 3 rezonings, boat ramp, bridge, utilities, new public defender @ LCC 2015-02-09

The only rezoning to get much time was the
Devine Subdivision at Tillman Crossing,
at this morning’s Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
Maps were displayed for that and
REZ-2015-01 Gramercy 2
and
REZ-2015-03 Scurry Property,
but the board packet is still not on the county’s website.
I filed an open records request, asking for them to be emailed,
and got a telephone callback saying they were ready for pickup,
which means I won’t get them until tomorrow, and you may not
see them until after tomorrow evening’s voting Regular Session.

Tuesday evening there will be Continue reading →

Partial packet items! @ LCC 2015-02-09

This agenda includes links to the Commission Agenda Item form for each item!

That’s not all yet, since it does not link to the numerous maps
and other materials for each of the three rezoning items, for example.
But it’s progress!
And the meeting dates also now appear.
Good show!
Also the name of the engineering firm is in the document for
Professional Surveying and Engineering Services for Naylor Boat Ramp.

Proposals are also in this agenda for
Preliminary Engineering Services for Exit 22 and 29 Utility Relocations,
Professional Surveying and Engineering Services for Naylor Boat Ramp,
and
Proposal for Bridge Foundation Investigation for Morven Road Bridge Replacement,
plus a
2015 Public Defender Services Contract & 2015 Operating Contract.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos of Day 1 @ LCC-Budget 2014-03-10

It’s a good thing the county held these first-ever (as far as I know)
comprehensive budget sessions.
Here are videos of the first day.
Most of the departments are asking for more money,
due to increased population and increased demand for services
during a period of economic downturn.
Something needs to be done, and these sessions are one step in
getting to doing something.

Here’s

the agenda.

Board of Elections –Deb Cox

Video.

Continue reading →

Suddenly an agenda! @ LCC-Budget 2014-03-10

You can go to the rest of the budget meeting, which is tomorrow.
Some time after this morning when I looked for it,
today’s

budget meeting
magically appeared on

the calendar
and in

Current Events
on the Lowndes County front page.
It shows most of the day tomorrow also as budget meetings.
And at 5:30PM tomorrow (Tuesday) there’s still the
County Commission Regular Session.

Plus in the middle of all that, the Airport Authority
is having a Board Meeting at the Commission Chambers.

Only a little more than a year ago, Continue reading →

Budget meeting inside Lowndes County today @ LCC-Budget 2014-03-10

After this morning’s
Work Session,
there’s an all-day budget meeting.
All county departments, including constitutional officers, are reporting.

From Gretchen on the scene:

So far we have heard Board of Elections and Public Defender.
Next up the Sheriff.

This is apparently not a public meeting, and there was no public notice
that I can find.
Apparently it was mentioned at the February retreat.
Some candidates for County Commission are there, in addition to
current Commissioners and staff.

You may wonder as I do why this is not a public meeting.

-jsq

Attorney refuses to work with “tainted” town of Quartzite

Remember that

letter from the Arizona Attorney General to the Town Attorney of Quarzsite?
Well, there are alleged problems with the Town Attorney, as well.

Parker Live wrote 13 January 2012,

Attorney refuses to work with Town of Quartzsite,

Local attorney Matt Newman is apparently refusing to do further
business with the Town of Quartzsite, “at any hourly
rate”, calling the current administration
“tainted.”

This comes after Public Defender Michael Frame refused to work on

cases involving the Town’s Attorney Martin Brannan, citing conflicts
of interest and what he believes are politically-motivated actions
against his clients by Brannan and the Town.

Newman adds his voice to this dissent in a Refusal of Appointment, saying:

It is my belief that the current administration of the Town has
created an inherent conflict of interest by appointing the Town
Prosecutor as the Town Attorney and Town Parliamentarian. It is also
my belief that the current administration is specifically targeting
certain individuals for prosecution due to their political views.

His letter continues, elaborating on why he doesn’t want to do business
with the town.
This wasn’t just a personal letter or a letter from his law firm, by the way,
it was a court motion.

So a Council can manage to get such a bad reputation that a lawyer
won’t do business with it.