{"id":1830,"date":"2011-06-29T11:25:14","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T15:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/06\/return-cameras-or-im-going-to-pursue-it-through-the-sheriffs-office-ashley-paulk-lcc-28-june-2011.html"},"modified":"2011-06-29T11:25:14","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T15:25:14","slug":"return-cameras-or-im-going-to-pursue-it-through-the-sheriffs-office-ashley-paulk-lcc-28-june-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/06\/return-cameras-or-im-going-to-pursue-it-through-the-sheriffs-office-ashley-paulk-lcc-28-june-2011.html","title":{"rendered":"Return cameras or I&#8217;m going to pursue it through the Sheriff&#8217;s office &mdash;Ashley Paulk @ LCC 28 June 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chairman Paulk threatened the Humane Society with legal action last night:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n&#8230;the Humane Society provided<br \/>\ntwo county employees with undercover cameras as a gratuity.<br \/>\n<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\n<br \/>\nI want those two undercover cameras returned by my two employees,<br \/>\nor there will be some administrative action.<br \/>\n<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\n<br \/>\nI&#8217;m making this a public record.<br \/>\n<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\n<br \/>\nIf I don&#8217;t get those cameras back and the gratuity<br \/>\nI&#8217;m going to pursue it through the Sheriff&#8217;s office.<br \/>\n<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\n<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/98706376@N00\/5884777606\/\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6032\/5884777606_64689dc4b0_m.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nNeeds to be public record in the VDT.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The picture shows Ashley Paulk (center)<br \/>\nmotioning to VDT reporter David Rodock (foreground)<br \/>\nas he directs the VDT to publish what he just said.<br \/>\nMechelle Sullivan is on the right, and<br \/>\nCounty Manager Joe Pritchard looks on from left.<br \/>\nVoting Commissioners Evans, Raines, and Powell<br \/>\nare just visible between Paulk and Sullivan.<\/p>\n<p>\nThe VDT did take dictation and publish that this morning, adding<br \/>\nthis quote from Chairman Paulk:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n&#8220;It&#8217;s a gratuity.<br \/>\nYou can&#8217;t give a government employee something in order to get something in return.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not legal.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Other things are also not legal, yet never seem to be pursued.<\/p>\n<p>\nSpeaking of pursued, Chairman Paulk encountered a group of<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nanimal enthusiasts outside in the parking lot, including<br \/>\nMechelle Sullivan and some people associated with the Humane<br \/>\nSociety, and once again he demanded to get those cameras back.<br \/>\nI know this because I saw it.<\/p>\n<p>\nJust before his remarks from the podium about cameras, Chairman Paulk said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nIf there&#8217;s anybody with the Humane Society<br \/>\n&mdash;<br \/>\nyou know my background with sixteen years in law enforcement<br \/>\n&mdash;<br \/>\ncan give me a<br \/>\nsworn affidavit with any facts about this animal shelter,<br \/>\nnot accusations, but<br \/>\na sworn affidavit<br \/>\nthat they&#8217;ll stand up in court and swear to,<br \/>\nbeyond the shadow of a doubt,<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll be ready to take them.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mechelle Sullivan responded:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nWhen do you want to sit down and talk?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\nHere&#8217;s what he was reacting to.<br \/>\nContinuing<br \/>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/enforcement-is-still-an-issue-mechelle-sullivan-lcc-28-june-2011.html\"><br \/>\nher address to the Lowndes County Commission about animal code enforcement<br \/>\nissues,<\/a><br \/>\nMechelle Sullivan remarked:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n&#8220;In my opinion the animal control should be headed up<br \/>\nby someone who encourages to pursue cruelty and neglect,<br \/>\nand who supports them in their efforts.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\nDavid Rodock quoted her in the VDT this morning:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/archive\/x1488643190\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/archive\/x1488643190\/g2580000000000000004a164cd5bdad9d9f753cc603ee571b92000b9066.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\n&#8220;With all due respect, I have never felt that Linda Patelski<br \/>\nwas right for that job.<br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been shocked to learn of the allegations.<br \/>\nI think it took guts for shelter employees to come forward<br \/>\nto report wrongdoing knowing that they would put themselves in jeopardy<br \/>\nto lose their jobs.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That&#8217;s apparently only on paper not online so far.<br \/>\nAs usual, I encourage anybody who doesn&#8217;t have a VDT subscription to buy one.<\/p>\n<p>\nMechelle Sullivan reminded Chairman Paulk that when he was sheriff she had<br \/>\ntalked to him about possibly putting the shelter and animal control<br \/>\nunder the sheriff&#8217;s office, which &#8220;I think would be wonderful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nI believe at the very least the employees in question should be put<br \/>\non administrative leave in order for there to be an outside investigation.<br \/>\nI believe with the right management the shelter could be the shining star<br \/>\nin the community.<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nI would like to see management that is proactive, rather than reactive.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>She gave examples, &#8220;there are so many things we could be doing.&#8221;<br \/>\nThen she asked the Chairman,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAs a concerned citizen, I respectfully ask that you resolve this situation.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>His reaction was as quoted at the beginning of this blog post.<br \/>\nListen to the video for yourself.<\/p>\n<p>\nSo he wants the Humane Society to produce evidence beyond a shadow<br \/>\nof a doubt, yet he threatens legal action against their current<br \/>\nattempt to gather more evidence.<br \/>\nVery interesting.<\/p>\n<p>\nHere&#8217;s<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J3zEfuUDIBs\"><br \/>\nthe video:<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J3zEfuUDIBs\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<small><br \/>\nReturn cameras or I&#8217;m going to pursue it through the Sheriff&#8217;s office &mdash;Ashley Paulk @ LCC 28 June 2011<br \/>\n<br \/>\nRegular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),<br \/>\n<br \/>\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 June 2011.<br \/>\n<br \/>\nVideos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.<br \/>\n<\/small><\/p>\n<p>\n-jsq<\/p>\n<p>\nUpdate: appended is a more complete transcription by Gretchen.<br \/>\nSome words are unclear, for example, did he say &#8220;pursue it&#8221; or &#8220;file a suit&#8221;. The meaning is clear either way. -jsq<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nMechelle Sullivan:<\/p>\n<p>\nIn my opinion, the animal shelter should be headed up by someone<br \/>\nwho encourages the officers to pursue animal neglect and supports<br \/>\nthem in their efforts.<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd with all due respect, I have never felt that Linda was the right<br \/>\nperson for <em>that<\/em> job.<\/p>\n<p>\nUm, in fact in the past when Ashley was the Sheriff, we even talked<br \/>\nputting animal control under the sheriff, that would be wonderful.<\/p>\n<p>\nUm. In regards to the the shelter itself, I do have to say I&#8217;ve<br \/>\nbeen shocked for the allegations. Um and to read everything that&#8217;s<br \/>\ngoing on in the paper here.<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd I was horrified and I know that Linda has been &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\nI think it is &#8230; of the shelter to employees &#8230; would put themselves<br \/>\nin this strenuous awkward situation and in jeopardy of losing their<br \/>\njobs.<\/p>\n<p>\nI believe at the very least, the employees in question should be<br \/>\nput on administrative leave, in order for there to be an outside investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\nI believe with the right management the shelter can be a shining<br \/>\nstar in this community. And I believe we can make a difference in<br \/>\nthe lives of animals and people, but I do believe it needs to be<br \/>\nthe right people in the right positions.<\/p>\n<p>\nUm. I would like to see management that is proactive rather than<br \/>\nreactive.<\/p>\n<p>\nThere are so many things that a shelter can work with rescue<br \/>\norganizations, be out in the community&#8230; there are so many things<br \/>\nwe can do.<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd I believe that shelter should be a safe haven for animals, in<br \/>\nwhich it will be their last days, many of them beloved pets&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\nAs a concerned citizen, respectfully ask that you ask that you<br \/>\nresolve this situation.<\/p>\n<p>\nAshley Paulk:<\/p>\n<p>\nMs. Sullivan, I&#8217;ll give you a couple of comments.<br \/>\nWe&#8217;ve know each other a long time.<\/p>\n<p>\nIf there is anybody with the humane society, you know my background,<br \/>\n16 years in law enforcement, that will give me a sworn<br \/>\naffidavit, any facts about the animal shelter, not accusations,<br \/>\na sworn affidafit that will stand up in court. Swear to it.<br \/>\nBeyond a shadow of a doubt, I&#8217;ll be glad to take it.<\/p>\n<p>\nMechelle: We need to sit down and talk.<\/p>\n<p>\nAshley: But I&#8217;m not going to fire someone on accusations.<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd also, the Humane Society provided two county employees<br \/>\nwith undercover cameras. That&#8217;s a gratuity.<br \/>\nThat&#8217;s a very dangerous situation.<br \/>\nI want those two undercover cameras returned by my employees,<br \/>\nor there will be some administrative action.<br \/>\n&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\nMechelle: Like I said, I&#8217;m not speaking for the Humane Society.<\/p>\n<p>\nAshley: I&#8217;m just saying, I&#8217;m on the public record. &#8230; I want to clarify<\/p>\n<p>\nMechelle: I&#8217;m just speaking based upon my experiences over the years.<\/p>\n<p>\nAshley: If I don&#8217;t get those cameras back, that gratuity I&#8217;m<br \/>\ngoing to file a suit with the Sheriff&#8217;s office.<br \/>\nWhoever in this room with the Humane Society needs to be aware.<br \/>\nIt needs to be public record in the VDT&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>\nMechelle: By the same token&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>\nAshley: If anyone will make a sworn affidavit, I will take it.<\/p>\n<p>\nMechelle: Well, I&#8217;ll call you.<\/p>\n<p>\nAshley: It needs to be facts. Thank you.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chairman Paulk threatened the Humane Society with legal action last night: &#8230;the Humane Society provided two county employees with undercover cameras as a gratuity. &#8230; I want those two undercover cameras returned by my two employees, or there will be some administrative action. &#8230; I&#8217;m making this a public record. &#8230; If I don&#8217;t get [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,324,48,40,2,20,3810,88,3,133],"tags":[4181,679,3573,8720,8701,10,3922,8702,8710,91,12,7,8734,4103,812,4,652,6],"class_list":["post-1830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-animals","category-code-enforcement","category-community","category-government","category-law","category-lcc-28-june-2011","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-transparency","category-vdt","tag-28-june-2011","tag-ashley-paulk","tag-camera","tag-code-enforcement","tag-georgia","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-humane-society","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lcc","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-mechelle-sullivan","tag-ordinance","tag-regular-session","tag-sheriff","tag-valdosta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}