Tag Archives: Transparency

SGMC absorbs Smith Northview Hospital

What could that $55 million or that $100 million have been used for that would have improved medical care around here?

Kay Harris wrote for the VDT yesterday, SGMC acquisition of Smith Northview official:

Beginning today, Smith Northview is an official campus of South Georgia Medical Center.
Officials from the Hospital Authority of Valdosta-Lowndes County and Ameris Health Systems gathered Wednesday at SGMC to sign the paperwork together to finalize the sale.
SGMC purchased Smith Northview for $55 million, with no assumption of debt. Hospital Authority Attorney Walter H. New said the purchase was financed through an 18-month bridge loan, which is anticipated to be paid in full in December when SGMC is expected to have a $100 million bond issue to pay for current and future projects on the main hospital campus.
Interim CEO for Smith Northview, Shamb Purohit, said, “This is a wonderful moment and we need to celebrate it.”

Yeah, well, he’s paid to say that. I say it’s a sad day. First Smith Hospital moved from Hahira Continue reading →

John Fretti resigned as mayor Tuesday, or, Roy Taylor got his way

Doubtless everyone knows this already, since the VDT and others have covered it well, including his guilty plea, the VDT’s call for him to resign, and his resignation. Here is John Fretti’s press release announcing his resignation. It seems appropriate that he sent it to News Talk 105.9 FM, where he so frequently appeared.

Personally, I thought he was not all that bad as mayor, even though he never did anything I asked him to. Given that I don’t even live in Valdosta, there is of course no reason that he should have, and he was always courteous when I appeared before the Valdosta City Council or met him elsewhere. Yes, I am well aware of many of the downsides, many of which I have written about in this blog, and Valdosta can do better.

If Valdosta is going to do better, somebody better needs to run. That’s why at the moment I’d prefer to write about the open race for mayor: qualifying is still open today and tomorrow (see next post).

I will say that whoever wins I hope will have less of this attitude:

“If they don’t say they’re against it, they’re for it.”

I think all citizens, but especially elected officials, should be willing to say what they’re for.

If people around here are too frightened to do so, then we’ve got a much bigger problem than who is mayor of Valdosta.

-jsq

Photographers stay to the back

After the County Commission meeting today, Chairman Ashley Paulk and I were chatting and he mentioned that starting at the next meeting everyone with a camera would be moved to the back of the room.

As I went out of the commission chambers, Continue reading →

Georgia hearing on open meetings law

GA Attorney General Sam Olens is trying to change Georgia’s open meetings law and there will be a hearing on it next week (30 August 2011).

Walter C. Jones wrote for jacksonville.com 5 August 2011, Sunshine law changes to come up in Georgia redistricting session Public records statute is part of redistricting session, says state AG.

Olens unveiled news of the hearing by the House Judiciary Committee while he was participating in a panel discussion hosted by the Atlanta Press Club.
Members of the club offered him suggestions on how to broaden the law to help them get documents from government agencies.
One reporter even suggested extending the open-records requirements to the governor. Current law exempts the governor’s office, but recent occupants have chosen to voluntarily comply in most cases.
Olens said he had to be realistic.
“The problem is I need a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate, and I need to get the bill passed,” he said. “Everyone should be subject to the Open Records Act … but you have to make a decision if you want to improve the law or you just want to whine.”

Good point.

AP reported more detail back on 1 March 2011, Georgia may change open meetings law: New attorney general offers many changes, tougher penalties Continue reading →

T-SPLOST projects as of 15 August 2011

Here’s what’s still on the agenda for T-SPLOST funding for our T-SPLOST region: Constrained Draft Project Listing, Southern Georgia

Most of Lowndes County’s boondoggle road widening projects seem to have been bounced off the list. This one is still on there: $8 million to widen old US 41 North.

Some of the other projects may also be boondoggles for all I know, but at least all the ones to widen roads right to the north edge of the county and thus drive development all the way into agricultural and forest areas are gone. Here’s the list: Continue reading →

Slides from LCC Lunch and Learn 11 August 2011

Lowndes County Clerk, Paige Dukes, provided a PDF of the slides from the presentation. They are available on the LAKE website.

-gretchen

“about as fruitful as trying to squeeze information out of the Kremlin”

Which organization was this judge referring to?

Schuster told the directors that he thought [that organization] was supplying “vague” information and he directed that henceforth the sides meet monthly in his office for updates on the liquidation process. In short, Schuster is learning first hand — just like members, the media and the public at large have learned — that prying information out of [that organization] is usually about as fruitful as trying to squeeze information out of the Kremlin.

No, not that city council! No, not that county commission! Not even the state board of corrections. (Although some of them might want to try that bureaucratic shoe on to see if it fits.) Here’s who: Continue reading →

An agenda! From the Industrial Authority!

Monday I remarked about the Industrial authority:

Here’s the agenda:
Just joking. They don’t publish their agendas!

Well, shiver me timbers and bless their little hearts! Their new executive director, Andrew Schruijer, remarked at Tuesday’s board meeting that the agenda for that meeting had indeed been posted since Friday. In Citizens to be Heard I readily admitted I didn’t look too hard for it, and expressed astonishment and pleasure at this positive development. Linked from their front page, there’s now an agenda page:

Agenda
Agendas will be posted one day prior to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority regular scheduled monthly meeting.

It has links to agendas for June, July, and August, each with an agenda in PDF. That seems a bit odd for some of those months, when there were several meetings. But, hey, it’s a start!

Here’s the aganda for yesterday’s meeting. That’s in PDF, so here’s a web-readable HTML version:

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Agenda Tuesday, August 16, 2011 5:30 p.m. Industrial Authority Conference Room 2110 N. Patterson Street

Continue reading →

VLCIA meeting tonight 19 August 2011

According to their web site, the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority board will be meeting tonight:

August 16, 2011 Industrial Authority Board Meeting 5:30 pm at the Industrial Authority Conf. Room

That’s at 2110 N. Patterson Street in Valdosta. Here’s the agenda:

Just joking. They don’t publish their agendas! Or their minutes.