Tag Archives: Transparency

Transparency by a County Commission

Here’s what local government transparency via the web looks like. Our county commission could do this.

Here’s how the Commissioners of Travis County, Texas do it:

Video files of commissioners court meetings are available online. Agenda items are available by noon the day after the meeting.
For example:
Voting Session Agenda
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 Complete Agenda Backup Materials, 120 MB

This web page version is derived from a manual conversion of the official document of record for the convenience of the user. Travis County has posted this notice and agenda in good faith, in compliance with Government Code section 551.056. Please note that, in the event of a technical problem beyond the county’s control that prevents the county from posting here or that results in an erroneous posting, notice of this meeting and agenda posted at the courthouse remains valid

By “Backup Materials” they mean the packet the Commissioners got.

The rest of that web page fior their 13 December 2011 meeting has video and text for ciizens communications and consent items, plus each item that had its backup information in the Commissioners’ packet is separated out with video, text, and backup links.

And for next week’s meeting, 20 December 2011, the complete agenda with links to Continue reading →

About the audio, and thanks to Aaron Kostyu

Answering part of Barbara Stratton’s questions, the audio access was part of the award the Commission gave LAKE for blogging questions like yours. You may know it as a bill of attainder. When the commission moved to the palace, we tried sitting in several locations and found that the front couple of rows, near the edges have the best sound. When we were banished to the back corner, we found the audio on the recordings was nearly inaudible. Perhaps our readers and listeners noticed that too.

When we mentioned the poor audio quality to Aaron Kostyu, Director of Technology, he informed us of the possibility of a direct microphone feed in the “media nook” (to the right of the door as you go in) to a properly equipped camera. He even showed Gretchen a camera that had the proper features. A bit of shopping later, we purchased a Canon HFR21 that appears to have many of the features needed for effective recording of these meetings.

Because the “media nook” speaker output had never been used before Monday, Continue reading →

I feel we are selectively being left out of the process. —Barbara Stratton

Received yesterday on Videos for Lowndes County Commission 13 December 2011. -jsq
These videos are fantastic & I love the sequential playlist. How did you get permission to connect to the county microphones? Thanks to both of you, John & Gretchen, we citizens who can’t make all the numerous meetings have excellent access to view the proceedings. I need info on the new camera please.

I have a question. Since all meetings are open to the public & all information is accessible by open record requests why do the various entities have a habit of not publically answering questions related to money amounts publically? Very often I have noticed all local government entities share a habit of referring money & budget amounts and/or bid questions to the packets each member has in front of them instead of vocalizing them. Since the public attendees do not have access to this information I feel we are selectively being left out of the process. Citizens should not have to process & fund open record requests for information that should be part of the public meeting. Since you have more experience with local entities can you explain this practise?

-Barbara Stratton

ZBOA decides to publish agendas and minutes on Valdosta website

The Zoning Board of Appeals decided unanimously at its 6 December 2011 meeting to publish its agendas and minutes on the City of Valdosta’s website. This item was not on the agenda, but members of such a board can make motions anyway. Member Gretchen Quarterman suggested it. Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin said they could do it no problem. Discussion ensued. They all agreed to post agends before their meetings, and to post minutes after they are approved (usually at the next meeting, a month later). Maybe other local boards and authorities will follow this example.

Left to right: Laverne Gaskins (V), Gretchen Quarterman (L), Paul Alvarado (V), Allan Strickland, Chair (V), Nancy Hobby (V), Dave Kirk (L), Carmella Braswell (Lowndes County Zoning Administrator), Matt Martin (Valdosta City Planning and Zoning Administrator). Absent: Scott Orenstein, Vice-Chair (V), Dr. William Houseal (L). L: Lowndes County appointee. V: Valdosta appointee.

Here’s the video:


ZBOA decides to publish agendas and minutes on Valdosta website
Agendas and Minutes,
Regular Session, Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 December 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

I only got the answering machine —Michael G. Noll

Received today on Industrial Authority held unannounced meeting last night. -jsq
Unfortunately I missed this meeting as well, and not by choice.

I vaguely remembered that Roy Copeland mentioned after the October meeting that the December date might be changed to December 6. Thus, I called Tuesday shortly after 5pm to verify if a meeting was indeed scheduled. I only got the answering machine (indicating to me that the office was closed) and the IA website (as so often) was no help.

Thus I, too, was assuming the meeting would be later this month … only to find out the next day in the VDT that there had been a meeting after all.

Our community has gone through so much these past couple of months, highlighting more than ever the need to communicate and cooperate. I was hoping after all this that we could finally start working together, despite any differences we might have. That would, however, not only require a certain amount of transparency but also communication of such simple matters as meeting agendas and calendars. How difficult can that be?

Communication is, and always will be, the key to success. Whether this is about your children’s education, such matters as energy efficiency and energy conservation, or a Strategic Planning Process which can only benefit the community … if that very community (not just the same old status quo) is actually included in the process.

Michael G. Noll, President
Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)

VLCIA pleads technical glitches on web page

Here’s something from the Industrial Authority that never happened before.

The first person I saw going into the State Legislative Luncheon yesterday was Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA). She spotted me inside, and said “I want to apologize”. Surprised, I asked for what? She said for the date of VLCIA’s Tuesday meeting being unclear. She said she had read about that in this blog that same morning.

She said they had recently changed the way they were handling their web pages and hadn’t yet figured out how to update it correctly. Since I was never very impressed with how it was handled before, I readily accepted that as a good excuse. I look forward to the updates. I’m guessing the new PR and marketing person they’re hiring will take care of this.

She also volunteered that they did inform the VDT and it was in the VDT’s calendar. I agreed that that was so; we had checked, and it appears the meeting was legal because of those notices.

She also said she thought she had said Monday evening, “see you tomorrow.” I allowed as how if she did, I missed it.

In any case, I have to say that her predecessor would never have made that much effort to make amends to a mere blogger. Once again, tiny LAKE is flattered by mighty VLCIA, although in a more positive way this time.

Congratulations on the new industries announced at VLCIA’s Tuesday meeting. Maybe more about those later.

Here’s looking forward to the Strategic Planning Process announced at that same meeting as coming up early next year.

-jsq

Some answers and some remaining questions about the Comprehensive Plan

When I spoke at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) about the Short Term Work Projects (STWP) document on Monday, November 28th, I had questions about several sections, and many of the deleted or modified items. The next day I met with Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport to discuss my questions. Some of my questions were answered to my satisfaction, some I still had concerns about, and some are still unanswered because they were not actually in his area of expertise.

The document covers all the cities in Lowndes County as well as the unincorporated area. I did get some questions about Valdosta projects answered by Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin in a telephone conversation.

Questions I had about Conservations of Sensitive Areas were answered in detail. For example: Continue reading →

Industrial Authority held unannounced meeting last night

The VDT has a story this morning about an Industrial Authority meeting last night, Two new industries announced by Kay Harris. That’s a bit of a surprise, since they didn’t have that date on their own web page and they didn’t post an agenda. Also, I saw both VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer and their Chairman Roy Copeland speak Monday night, and neither of them said a word about their meeting date being changed to the next night.

Here’s some irony in the VDT’s story:

Schruijer also discussed the Authority’s plans to move ahead with the Strategic Planning Process right after the first of the year. Following the Community Assessment which was conducted over the summer, the next phase is a full fledged commitment to begin the planning process.

The intention, according to Schruijer and Copeland, is to include community partners in the process as the assessment showed that many in the community think that the various entities work at odds with each other, rather than on the same page, when it comes to economic development.

Why ever would people think that?

According to VLCIA’s website: Continue reading →

December LAKE meeting: El búho al Cazador

The owl lights in Valdosta Tuesday evening.
El Cazador, 1600 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia What: Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: 5:30 PM, Tuesday 6 December 2011
Where: El Cazador
1600 North Ashley Street
Valdosta, GA 31602
(229) 333-0554
That’s the old Margarita’s at the corner of College Street. They’re open until 10PM.

If you follow the LAKE blog, On the LAKE Front, you know what we cover, from elections to gardening, connecting the dots. What else do you want to investigate?

If you’re on Facebook, please Like the LAKE facebook page. You can sign up for the facebook meeting event, Or just come as you are.

jsq

ZBOA: Zoning Board of Appeals 6 December 2011

According to Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin today:
This is a reminder that your next meeting for the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) is this coming Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 2:30pm. Attached is a copy of the meeting agenda and also the draft minutes from both the October and November meetings.

Just like the November meeting, there are again NO public hearing items for December. However, we still need to meet (& have a quorum) to approve the Minutes and also elect officers for 2012.

ZBOA does not explicitly post its agendas, but the above appears to be the entire agenda for next week’s meeting.

Here are backgrounders on Who is ZBOA? and On What Basis Does ZBOA Decide?

-jsq