{"id":22004,"date":"2021-01-06T11:40:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T16:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=22004"},"modified":"2021-01-06T11:40:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T16:40:30","slug":"tax-assessors-appointed-sworn-in-lowndes-county-georgia-2020-01-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2021\/01\/tax-assessors-appointed-sworn-in-lowndes-county-georgia-2020-01-05.html","title":{"rendered":"Tax Assessors appointed, sworn in, Lowndes County, Georgia 2020-01-05"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>\r\nAfter many years of rising sentiment,\r\nthe voters in November 2019,\r\napproved changing Lowndes County from\r\nbeing one of only two of 159 Georgia counties that elected its Tax Assessors\r\nto appointing them, and the legislature agreed.\r\nFinally in September 2020 the Lowndes County Commission appointed three new\r\nAssessors, and on January 5, 2021, they were sworn in.\r\nTheir first official meeting is tomorrow.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Vote, Swearing, Judge, Assessors\" name=\"M:Vote-Swearing-Judge-Assessors\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/many.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/many.jpg\"  alt=\"[Vote, Swearing, Judge, Assessors]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#M:Vote-Swearing-Judge-Assessors\">Vote, Swearing, Judge, Assessors<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nApplying for the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2020\/09\/appoint-tax-assessors-3-water-3-road-1-pandemic-1-software-lcc-2020-09-21.html#-Board-of-Tax-Assessors-Appointing-Members-\">Board of Tax Assessors<\/a>\r\naccording to\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2020\/09\/appoint-tax-assessors-3-water-3-road-1-pandemic-1-software-lcc-2020-09-21.html\">\r\nthe agenda for the 21 September, 2020, Work Session and the Tuesday, 22 September Regular Session<\/a>\r\nwere\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lowndescounty.com\/AgendaCenter\/ViewFile\/Item\/2761?fileID=3528\">Mr. Gene Felts and Mrs. Gretchen Quarterman<\/a>.\r\nThe Tuesday voting was a bit more complicated.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Nominee Gretchen Quarterman at Lowndes County Commission\" name=\"Appointments:Nominee-Gretchen-Quarterman-at-Lowndes-County-Commission\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/gretchen-attending-lcc.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/gretchen-attending-lcc.jpg\"  alt=\"[Nominee Gretchen Quarterman at Lowndes County Commission]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#Appointments:Nominee-Gretchen-Quarterman-at-Lowndes-County-Commission\">Nominee Gretchen Quarterman at Lowndes County Commission<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHere is\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1eiqtqDBDbQ&#038;t=3m29s\">\r\nLowndes County&#8217;s own video of that agenda item in that Tuesday&#8217;s meeting<\/a>.\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1eiqtqDBDbQ?start=210\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<p>\r\nCounty Manager Paige Dukes said they had previously on August 25, 2020,\r\nadopted a required resolution.\r\nAugust is when they\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2020\/08\/education-extension-prisoners-fire-water-sewer-nelson-hill-wages-taxes-clerk-lcc-2020-08-24.html\">\r\nset the number of Tax Assessors at three (same as previously)<\/a>,\r\nand set staggered terms of 3, 4, and 5 years to start, with 3 years each afterwards.\r\nThat <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2020-08-24--lcc-packet\/#Resolution-Regarding-the-Number-and-Terms-of-Members-of-the-Board-of-Tax-Assessors\">\r\nResolution Regarding the Number and Terms of Members of the Board of Tax Assessors of Lowndes County<\/a> is on the LAKE website.\r\n<p>\r\nChairman Bill Slaughter nominated Felecia Williams to a five-year term,\r\nGary McMillan to a three-year term,\r\nand Barry Barr to a four-year term.\r\nCommissioner Mark Wisenbaker nominated\r\nGene Phelps to a three-year term,\r\nGretchen Quarterman to a four-year term,\r\nand Barry Barr to a five-year term.\r\nThe Chairman pointed out that he had already nominated Barry Barr to a four-year term,\r\nand Commissioner Wisenbaker agreed.\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Demarcus Marshall wondered if there was an easier way.\r\nThe Chairman said he would call the vote in order of terms.\r\nCommissioner Marshall seemed satisfied.\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Scottie Wisenbaker nominated James Puckett,\r\nthen asked if they could do each term separately.\r\nThe Chairman asked to just nominate for given terms.\r\nCommissioner Wisenbaker then said Picket for a three year term.\r\n<p>\r\nThe Chairman then reviewed the nominations.\r\nHe read them in the same order.\r\nHere they are, with the votes, as near as I can tell from the video:\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\nFelecia Williams: 5 years, 4:0 (Commissioner Wisenbaker did not vote)\r\n<li>\r\nBarry Barr: 4 years, 0:0\r\n<li>\r\nGary McMillan: 3 years, 0:0\r\n<li>\r\nGretchen Quarterman: 4 years, 4:0 (Commissioner Clay Griner did not vote)\r\n<li>\r\nGene Phelps: 3 years, 1:0 (Commissioner Wisenbaker)\r\n<li>\r\nJames Puckett: 3 years, 3:0 (Orenstein, Marshall, Griner)\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"4:0 vote for Gretchen Quarterman, Tax Assessor, 4-year term\" name=\"Appointments:X40-vote-for-Gretchen-Quarterman-Tax-Assessor-4year-term\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/gretchen-lcc-vote-4-0.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\" height=\"336\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/gretchen-lcc-vote-4-0.jpg\"  alt=\"[4:0 vote for Gretchen Quarterman, Tax Assessor, 4-year term]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#Appointments:X40-vote-for-Gretchen-Quarterman-Tax-Assessor-4year-term\">4:0 vote for Gretchen Quarterman, Tax Assessor, 4-year term<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHere is a summary by the newspaper of record.\r\nTerry Richards, Valdosta Daily Times, September 23, 2020,\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostadailytimes.com\/news\/local_news\/county-adds-more-full-time-firefighters-appoints-new-tax-assessor-board\/article_870e2be9-03ce-5726-86de-ae115d517ef9.html\">\r\nCounty adds more full-time firefighters; Appoints new tax assessor board<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\n&mdash; Named three people to the Lowndes County tax assessors board\r\n&mdash; Felecia Williams to a five-year term, Gretchen Quarterman to\r\na four-year term and James Puckett to a three-year term.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nPreviously, all members of the tax assessors board had been elected,\r\nunlike the rest of the state where assessors were appointed by\r\ncounty commissioners. In 2016, Lowndes County voters narrowly\r\napproved a measure to move to the county-appointed system starting\r\nthis year.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nThe assessors will take their positions Jan. 1, and all future\r\nappointments will be for three-year terms.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nMeanwhile, the newly-appointed Assessors took various required online classes.\r\nWhile they still could, before they took office, they had several meetings\r\nwith county staff and with the Assessors&#8217; staff.\r\nOnce in office, they can&#8217;t meet in a quorum without pre-announcing it as a public meeting.\r\n<p>\r\nActually, the new Assessors were sworn in on Tuesday, January 5, 2021.\r\nHere is\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/EVlnOJvUgY8\">\r\nLAKE video of that three-minute process<\/a>.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EVlnOJvUgY8\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Swearing in: Gretchen Quarterman, Felecia Williams, James Puckett, Judge Detria Carter Powell\" name=\"SI:Swearing-in-Gretchen-Quarterman-Felecia-Williams-James-Puckett-Judge-Detria-Carter-Powell\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/0-swearing.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\" height=\"338\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/0-swearing.jpg\"  alt=\"[Swearing in: Gretchen Quarterman, Felecia Williams, James Puckett, Judge Detria Carter Powell]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#SI:Swearing-in-Gretchen-Quarterman-Felecia-Williams-James-Puckett-Judge-Detria-Carter-Powell\">Swearing in: Gretchen Quarterman, Felecia Williams, James Puckett, Judge Detria Carter Powell<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"margin-left:1em;display:inline-block;vertical-align:top\">\r\n<p style=\"float:left;text-align:center;padding-left:0.25em;padding-right:0.25em;width:315px;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Judge Detria Carter Powell\" name=\"SI:Judge-Detria-Carter-Powell\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/1-judge.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  width=\"300\" height=\"169\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/small\/1-judge.jpg\"  alt=\"[Judge Detria Carter Powell]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#SI:Judge-Detria-Carter-Powell\">Judge Detria Carter Powell<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"float:left;text-align:center;padding-left:0.25em;padding-right:0.25em;width:315px;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Felecia Williams\" name=\"SI:Felecia-Williams\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/2-williams.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  width=\"300\" height=\"169\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/small\/2-williams.jpg\"  alt=\"[Felecia Williams]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#SI:Felecia-Williams\">Felecia Williams<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"float:left;text-align:center;padding-left:0.25em;padding-right:0.25em;width:315px;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"James Puckett\" name=\"SI:James-Puckett\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/3-puckett.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  width=\"300\" height=\"169\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/small\/3-puckett.jpg\"  alt=\"[James Puckett]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#SI:James-Puckett\">James Puckett<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"float:left;text-align:center;padding-left:0.25em;padding-right:0.25em;width:315px;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Gretchen Quarterman\" name=\"SI:Gretchen-Quarterman\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/4-quarterman.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  width=\"300\" height=\"169\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/small\/4-quarterman.jpg\"  alt=\"[Gretchen Quarterman]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#SI:Gretchen-Quarterman\">Gretchen Quarterman<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>\r\nThere was an audience.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Afterwards: Commissioner Orenstein, Assessor Puckett, Assessor Quarterman, Chairman Slaughter, Appraiser Hrobar\" name=\"Audience:Afterwards-Commissioner-Orenstein-Assessor-Puckett-Assessor-Quarterman-Chairman-Slaughter-Appraiser-Hrobar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/20210105_103913.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/20210105_103913.jpg\"  alt=\"[Afterwards: Commissioner Orenstein, Assessor Puckett, Assessor Quarterman, Chairman Slaughter, Appraiser Hrobar]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/assessors\/2020-01-05--swearing-in\/#Audience:Afterwards-Commissioner-Orenstein-Assessor-Puckett-Assessor-Quarterman-Chairman-Slaughter-Appraiser-Hrobar\">Afterwards: Commissioner Orenstein, Assessor Puckett, Assessor Quarterman, Chairman Slaughter, Appraiser Hrobar<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nThe first official meeting of the new Tax Assessors is 9AM, tomorrow, Thursday, January 7, 2021, at 302 N. Patterson Street, First Floor, Valdosta, GA. 31603.\r\nPhone: (229) 671-2540.\r\n<p>\r\nMaybe soon Lowndes County will update its\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowndescounty.com\/193\/Board-of-Assessors\">Board of Assessors web page<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-style:italic\">Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research.  You can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/donate\">donate to LAKE today<\/a>!<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After many years of rising sentiment, the voters in November 2019, approved changing Lowndes County from being one of only two of 159 Georgia counties that elected its Tax Assessors to appointing them, and the legislature agreed. Finally in September 2020 the Lowndes County Commission appointed three new Assessors, and on January 5, 2021, they [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,88],"tags":[8314,258,8607,11257,8704,11255,8701,10,11256,489,3950,8702,12,7,8734,7552,8644,8609,7875,6],"class_list":["post-22004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-lowndes-county-commission","tag-assessors","tag-bill-slaughter","tag-chief-appraiser","tag-detria-carter-powell","tag-economy","tag-felecia-williams","tag-georgia","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-james-puckett","tag-joyce-evans","tag-judge","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-probate-court","tag-scottie-orenstein","tag-silas-hrobar","tag-tax-assessors","tag-valdosta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-5IU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22004"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22008,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004\/revisions\/22008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}