Tag Archives: Valdosta City Council

Principles for which I live –Floyd Rose



Floyd Rose

spoke to the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
First he told the bus story, which is about how he became an activist
many years ago.
Then he said this part,
transcribed by George Rhynes:

“I came home to Valdosta in 1995, and I found just outside of these walls;
a plaque that read; the mayor and council shall make all appropriate
and necessary laws; for the control of slaves; and free men of color.

That plaque was removed reluctantly; at the urging of Mr. George Rhynes;
while the plaque; has been removed! I have discovered; that the policy
that gave birth to that plaque are still in place; and one of the policies
is the one that I told you about two weeks ago; or perhaps three weeks ago
now. That would not; and could not abide by; because it was designed only
for the purpose of controlling the citizens of this city and that I would
never be bought and I would never be bossed as a matter of conscience.

Now it was suggested; at the end of the last meeting; that some of us
come before you; ah making a grand stand; and somehow creating theater.
It was suggested that Floyd Rose just wants to be arrested. I have been
arrested before; I spent twenty-five long hours in solitary confinement
in the Lowndes County Jail; because of you; and anybody with any common
sense; would never want to go to the Lowndes County Jail to spend
any time. That is foolishness and it’s crazy!





Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 20 February 2011
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.


Rev. Rose continued:

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Radio theater by elected officials –George Rhynes



George Rhynes

posted the appended on his blog
the same day he

spoke on the same subjects
at the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.





George Rhynes speaking at the
regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Excerpts from his

blog post:

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“Using words like green, renewable, etc. does not magically make it so.” –Russ Anderson

Following up on his previous correspondence. -jsq



From: Russ Anderson
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:20:24 -0500
Subject: Re: Attn: Clarifications on my comments
To: blofton@industrialauthority.com, info@sterlingplanet.com, bmaddox@sterlingplanet.com

Brad,

I’m not saying the project is good, responsible, that it will actually happen, and def. not that you are in any way right in your opinions of “green” and “renewable”.

Furthermore, I really wish you could get beyond the talking point of “the agencies and groups endorsing similar projects”, because again that is a highly contestable and skewed figure as many local, regional, and national agencies, groups, and networks still voice heavy opposition to this issue and biomass incineration.

Using words like green, renewable, etc. does not magically make it so. I know all about framing language and tactics of those wishing to line their pockets and exploit subsidy and tax loopholes. The simple fact that you are so set in your opinion and mentality is quite alarming..

For example, I am more than willing to embrace control technologies and

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“our local gov’t officials are making decisions about things of which they have little knowledge” –Dr. Matthew Richard



Here is Dr. Richard

speaking before the Valdosta City Council.
He summarized in
a comment on this blog:

as i endeavored to point out at the last city council meeting, our
local gov’t officials are making decisions about things of which they
have little knowledge. my example: the brain has two types of cells:
neurons and glial cells. there are NO white blood cells; thus, the brain
has no immune system, relying on the the tiny diameter of the capillaries
themselves to keep infectious agents out. this is called the blood-brain
barrier. BUT, as dr. sammons pointed out, PARTICULATE MATTER is small
enough to make it through the body and into the brain. as dr. bob
gannon (dept. head of biology at VSU) told me again the other night,
this constitutes a major threat to health in the form of brain cancer.



Video by John S. Quarterman
of the regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 20 January 2011
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange

-jsq

Meeting video “increasingly popular” –AJC



Patrick Fox writes in the AJC, 18 Jan 2011,

Meeting access video grows among city councils:

Metro Atlanta cities want to air their business in living
rooms. Alpharetta agreed to spend $68,000 for a video recording system
in its council chambers. Dunwoody will shell out $93,000 for a digital
video recording system, enabling residents to view city council and
planning commission meetings live from home.

While not every city electronically records its council meetings, the
practice has become increasingly popular.



“It’s an overall trend of cities, going where people are to share
information, to keep people in touch,” said Amy Henderson, Georgia
Municipal Association spokeswoman.

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Videos and transparency –John S. Quarterman



Here

I discuss with the mayor
about the Valdosta City Council videoing their entire meetings and putting
them on the web for everybody to see.
The mayor indicated costs of streaming was an issue;
I recommended putting it on YouTube or Vimeo and letting them handle that part.
I think the AJC article he mentioned is this one:

Meeting access video grows among city councils,
by Patrick Fox, 18 Jan 2011.

This comment by the mayor was amusing:

The worst thing you could do would be to have one camera in the back
that has room audio.

Touche, Mr. Mayor! :-)
What do you think, is a noisy video from the back
of the room more useful than no video at all?
Can you see him waving his arms around?

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“An error was made” –Luana Goodwin

This LTE appeared in the VTD 23 Jan 2011. -jsq

I wonder if there is any way for the Industrial Authority, County Commission
and City Council to now do the right thing for Lowndes County.
How can they save face?

Reading the scientific data makes it clear that an error was made,
and clearly this data wasn’t made available to those who have been
charged with finding appropriate industry for us,
industry that will raise the quality of life for the citizens of Lowndes County
by providing good jobs.
They can be excused for an industry that provides only a few jobs.
Jobs are jobs, after all. But how can we help them apologize to all
of us and thank those citizens who have spent so many hours
of their own time gathering information and providing a forum to educate us?
I wish it were possible.

Luana Goodwin

Valdosta

Farmers grow renewable energy? –James Wright



Grow crops to burn for fuel, or for food?
Valdosta City Council member

James Wright brings up
an article about farmers growing plants for biomass fuel.
These things get passed around by council members, and I’m pretty sure
this one that came to me indirectly is it:



November 12, 2010 – Incentivizing Renewable Biomass Production,
by New Energy Farms, Leamington, Ontario.
What they’re mainly recommending is

Miscanthus,
which is a genus of clump grass.




The above video was already posted as part of

After all the citizens left –Valdosta City Council, 20 Jan 2011.

Now call me old-fashioned, but I prefer local farmers growing food

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After all the citizens left –Valdosta City Council, 20 Jan 2011



Want to know what your city council really thinks?

Stay through the entire meeting
and you’ll get some clues; or watch these videos by some who did stay.
City Manager, Attorney, and each council member say what’s on their minds.
Much of it addresses some of the questions asked by citizens earlier:
cracks in the MLK monument, biomass,
council members answering questions from the audience, etc.
What they didn’t talk about may indicate what various citizens
didn’t succeed in conveying to the council.

It’s not like what they were saying was a secret.
The VDT reporter was there.
They were finishing up the agenda with the sections
“7. City Manager’s Report”
and
“8. Council Comments”.
You can see them adjourn at the end.
Some of them groused about the time citizens take up in “Citizens Wishing to be Heard”.

But remember, almost none of those citizens bothered to stay around
to listen to them.
Among the stay-latest: two cameras for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, providing you these two views:

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“I don’t feel my interests were adequately represented” –Matt Flumerfelt



First-time speaker Matt Flumerfelt notes the Valdosta City Council
and the Lowndes County Commission both disclaim responsibility for the
Industrial Authority even though both appoint its members,
and he thinks that may make VLCIA’s contract for the biomass plant
challengeable on constitutional grounds.
He also sent LAKE the appended article on 20 Jan 2011.

Video by John S. Quarterman of the regular meeting
of the Valdosta City Council, 20 January 2011,
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Faith In Technology Is What Got Us Into This Mess

by Matt Flumerfelt

Many people in the Valdosta-Lowndes County community have faith that the
proposed Biomass incinerator won’t harm anyone or anything, but faith in
technology is what got us into our current environmental mess in the first
place. Those old enough to remember the nuclear power debate will remember
how many people gave assurances that nuclear power was safe, yet we see
today how difficult nuclear waste is to dispose of and how much damage it
has caused when things go wrong, which, human nature being what it is, they
inevitably do. The recent gulf oil spill would not have happened if

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