Local Realtor Doug Gilford has gained notoriety as the blogger and
videographer who filmed the unlawful removal of Desert Freedom Press
Publisher Jennifer Jones, from a June 28th town council meeting. The
video has been viewed almost two hundred thousand times on
Gilford’s YouTube channel.
Yesterday afternoon, around 3:30 Gilford was at the counter in Town Hall,
filing an open records request for town hall feed surveillance tape
when Assistant Town Manager Al Johnson confronted Gilford. Apparently
feeling threatened, Gilford set his camera on the counter but didn’t hit
record, when suddenly Johnson snatched it from across the counter. When
Gilford called for police assistance, he ended up being arrested instead
of Johnson.
Well, I suppose there are several morals here, such as never set your
camera down, never go into a public office alone, etc.
Now here’s a T-SPLOST project I like:
upgrading the railroad that runs
from Valdosta to Moody AFB
and on to Ray City and Nashville in Berrien County,
and Willacoochee in Atkinson County.
This proposal is to aid freight, but with this upgrade to the track,
the same track would be even more readily usable for passenger rail.
That same track was used for passenger travel up into the 1950s.
My mother used to catch the train at Barretts (just north of Moody) to go visit her relatives in Pearson (a bit east of Willacoochee).
It’s true the project sheet talks about “potential customers in the region”:
This project will provide for more efficient train operations along
the rail corridor to accommodate the increase rail traffic serving the
existing and potential customers in the region.
However, rail promotes development in existing population
centers and at stations, unlike all along automobile roadways.
This project is also another example of how
the economic area of Moody AFB includes
Continue reading →
One short stretch of road vs. a three-line bus system to connect Wiregrass Tech, Five Points, Downtown,
Moody, East Side, South Side, West Side, and the Mall.
Road and bridge proponents usually mutter that a bus system won’t pay back
for years, if ever.
And that’s right: bus systems usually operate at a loss because local
governments subsidize them for the social and economic benefits they bring,
such as these:
This project will provide mobility options for all travelers; improve
access to employment; and help mitigate congestion and maximize the use
of existing infrastructure by promoting high-occupancy travel.
Employment, safety, and less sprawl, all from a bus system.
What road and bridge proponents don’t ever mention is:
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The actual resolution is a model of such things:
simple and easy to read, yet complete enough to cover the territory,
and leaving no doubts as to the board’s position.
Congratulations to LCBOE on that resolution!
Playlist, called meeting, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 30 August 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Here’s a
video playlist
for the whole meeting: teacher hiring, board member training,
and a statement against school consolidation, with additional
comments by many citizens.
Many of these videos have already been published in the
VBOE 29 August 2011 category in this blog.
Videos of entire VBOE 29 August 2011 meeting
education, referendum, consolidation, statement,
Work Session, Valdosta Board of Education (VBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 29 August 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
The playlist also includes other video material,
such as
Continue reading →
Georgia has gained enough population in the past ten years to add
a congressional seat. This means redrawing the Congressional
district lines not only to balance population, but to also add
another representative in Congress. Lowndes County has been split
between the first and second districts, and all spring rumors of
where we might end up were circulating. Eventually we saw a draft
map that had Lowndes completely in the 8th District,
along with
other counties along Interstate 75. That map made some sense south of Macon.
Some communities of interest were preserved (most of the Lowndes-Valdosta
MPO was in the same district) and the hospitality corridor of I-75
was in one district, along with the rural farms that surround it.
Valdosta to Macon is easier to traverse than Valdosta to Savannah,
or Valdosta to Columbus.
But then Congressman Jack Kingston stuck out his green tongue.
This is the clearest statement of the football argument I’ve heard.
This is the same speaker who already mentioned
quality of education, property taxes, and property values,
so this is just one argument among many.
The speaker is associated with FVCS, and if I went to VHS,
I’d know his name right away; I’m an LHS graduate.
The first thing they’ll do is sell that stadium.
They’d be crazy not to do….
They’re not going to pay upkeep on two stadiums.
Look at Tallahassee, Macon: all the schools play at one stadium….
…
Don’t let those people run the show.
Don’t let them take the power away from us.
…
If one day it makes good economic sense for y’all to
make the decision to sell that property to Valdosta State
and build another stadium and we can come out ahead,
I think that’s a great idea.
Like my granddaddy said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
By “those people” I don’t think he means the Lowndes County Board
of Education; I think he was referring to CUEE.
Research quality of education, property taxes, and property values
after school consolidation, and you’ll find down, up, and down,
said this speaker.
Didn’t get his name; sorry.
I don’t have kids, but I have plenty of friends that do.
that are in Valdosta city school system,
and they like the direction that the school system is going.
They like the quality of education that their children are getting at this time.
My grandfather used to say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
It ain’t broke, so why are we going to let them try to fix it?
Do the research; I’ve done the research.
Do the research on other communities that have consolidated two systems.
When you get a big huge system, the quality of education goes down.
Check it out. Research it.
Property taxes go up.
Property values go down.
Do the research.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it @ VBOE 29 August 2011
education, referendum, consolidation, statement,
Work Session, Valdosta Board of Education (VBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 29 August 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
This is the same method used in 2003 when former Mayor
James H. Rainwater died before the election.
Council appointed David Sumner interim mayor.
According to the VDT 31 August 2011:
At that time, Councilman David Sumner assumed the role of mayor, but had
to resign his council seat to do so. He had already qualified to rerun
for his seat in the November 2003 election, was re-elected to his seat
and stepped down as mayor at the end of 2003, re-assuming his duties as
a newly elected councilman at the beginning of 2004.
If they don’t appoint Vickers interim mayor tomorrow,
the Valdosta City Council will probably appoint somebody else.
According to the VDT today:
Vickers is among those being considered for appointment by council,
along with Dexter Sharper and David Sumner, who are also former council
members. Vickers pointed out that he did not submit his name for
consideration, but rather it was mentioned in conversations with other
council members.
Classrooms are festooned with college pennants. Hallway placards proclaim:
“No Excuses!” Students win prizes for attendance. They start classes
earlier and end later than their neighbors; some return to school on
Saturdays. And they get to pore over math problems one-on-one with newly
hired tutors, many of them former accountants and engineers.
If these new mores at Lee High School, long one of Houston’s most
troubled campuses, make it seem like one of those intense charter schools,
that is no accident.
In the first experiment of its kind in the country, the Houston
public schools are testing whether techniques proven successful in
high-performing urban charters can also help raise achievement in regular
public schools. Working with Roland G. Fryer, a researcher at Harvard who
studies the racial achievement gap, Houston officials last year embraced
five key tenets of such charters at nine district secondary schools;
this fall, they are expanding the program to 11 elementary schools. A
similar effort is beginning in Denver.
Charter schools were supposed to be pilot projects, so why not
adopt what works there in public schools?
However, this still seems to be all about test scores.
Maybe some public schools could look farther afield,
Continue reading →
Local Realtor Doug Gilford has gained notoriety as the blogger and videographer who filmed the unlawful removal of Desert Freedom Press Publisher Jennifer Jones, from a June 28th town council meeting. The video has been viewed almost two hundred thousand times on Gilford’s YouTube channel.
