{"id":2784,"date":"2009-09-28T18:56:13","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T22:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2009\/09\/lowndes-county-political-forum-aauw-15-sep-2009.html"},"modified":"2009-09-28T18:56:13","modified_gmt":"2009-09-28T22:56:13","slug":"lowndes-county-political-forum-aauw-15-sep-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2009\/09\/lowndes-county-political-forum-aauw-15-sep-2009.html","title":{"rendered":"Lowndes County Political Forum, AAUW, 15 Sep 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"By Kenny R. Bush and John S. Quarterman, with videos by Gretchen Quarterman.\n

\nOn Sept 15, residents of Lowndes County gathered inside VSU\u2019s Whitehead\nAuditorium for a political forum concerning the upcoming 2009 General\nMunicipal Elections.\nIt was the competing Mayberrys, Hahira and Dasher,\nin the shadow of the big city of\nValdosta with its council and school board.\nThe 100 or so people who watched learned about the candidates.\nYou can too, by watching the videos of each speaker\n\nprovided by LAKE on YouTube<\/a>.\nPerhaps VSU can also be encouraged to release online the videos it took, which are\nprobably of higher quality.\n

Update: VSU TV rebroadcast schedule for this forum.<\/a>\n

\nPerhaps VSU can also be encouraged to release online the videos it took, which are\nprobably of higher quality.\n

\nThe event was sponsored by the American Association of University Women\n(AAUW) and moderated by Jim Peterson, chair of the Political Science\nDepartment at VSU. Before the forum began, the audience was provided\nnote cards and encouraged to write questions for forum participants.\nA three person committee then decided which four questions that would be asked\non stage for each set of candidates.\n

Valdosta City Council District 2<\/H3>\nThe forum began with the five candidates competing to be the newest councilman of Valdosta\u2019s 2nd district.\nWillie T. Head, the incumbent, is not running,\nbut five other people other are:\nDavid G. DeMersseman, David L. Dempsey, Rodney R. Flucas, Deidra A. White, and Dr. L. W. Williams.\n

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\n\n(All the other LAKE videos of this AAUW forum are also available online.)<\/a>\n

\nThe first question of the night concerned annexing land neighboring\nValdosta and if candidates believed it to be a good idea or not.\n\n\n

\nWilliams commented that he did not see any benefits in annexing nearby\nproperty. White admitted that she was not very familiar with the topic,\nbut promised that, if elected, she would look into it further and make\nan informed decision on the issue. Flucas said that annexing land around\nValdosta is beneficial to its economic growth, while also \u201cbridging\ngaps\u201d in the area.\n

\nDempsey felt that people should not be annexed into the city if they\ndidn\u2019t want to. Former tax commissioner DeMersseman, on the other hand,\nsaid that annexing is a great idea because of the tax benefits that come\nadding more tax payers to the population.\n

\nThe next question asked what the candidates would do to bring a transit\nsystem to Valdosta.\n

\nDeMersseman believed that a transit system owned by a private enterprise\nwould be both affordable and work well in “his” district. Dempsey\npointed out that the city once had enough money in the budget for a new\ntransit system, but it was cut back. He went on to say that the city\nwill need grants to afford a functional transit system, much like how\nthe transit system in Chapel Hill got started.\n

\nFlucas said that a budget assessment was needed to find the appropriate\nfunds for a new transit system. As the owner of several small businesses\nin downtown, White commented that a lot of her employees either walk\nor ride their bike to work. She believes that a bus system would be\nbeneficial to the people of Valdosta, but said that she is in favor of\nputting in the system at the “right time.”\n

\nWilliams said adding more bus stops to better serve all districts in\nthe community should be a priority.\n

\nThree of the VLD District 2 candidates had literature at the front table:\nDempsey’s was two single-sided 8.5×11″ pages, White’s was an 8.5×5.5″ double-sided card, and Flucas’s was a business card.\nDempsey davidldempsey.com<\/a>\nand White www.deidrawhite.com<\/a>\nincluded web addresses.\nDempsey’s had the most information and Flucas was the simplest.\nWhite’s combined information and simplicity.\nWe didn’t see literature for any other candidates for any position.\n

Valdosta City Council District 4<\/H3>\nThe incumbent Alvin Payton Jr. is running unopposed, and thus did not\nhave to speak, since by the rules of the forum such candidates\ncould make a statement offstage.\n

Valdosta City Council District 6<\/H3>\nThe next group on stage was incumbent Charles Robert Yost and challenger\nJohn E. Johnson Sr. for District 6.\n

\nTheir first question was on how to address the recent crime wave in the city.\n

\nYost revealed that a new stimulus plan would cover the hiring of seven\nto ten new police officers in the city. He also encouraged residents\nto take part in a neighborhood watch, saying that they are the key to\ncutting down crime.\n

\nJohnson agreed with Yost on the topic of hiring more police officers,\nbut put emphasis on implementing more programs to keep young people\nsupervised and out of trouble.\n

\nThe two candidates were also asked how the\ncity and county governments could work together for the\ngood of all Lowndes County residents,\n

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\n\n(All the other LAKE videos of this AAUW forum are also available online.)<\/a><\/smaller>\n

\nJohnson said that the key was to talk and to level the playing field.\nYost said he thought relations had improved with the new county chairman,\nalthough he also joked about annexing the entire county.\n

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\n\n(All the other LAKE videos of this AAUW forum are also available online.)<\/a>\n

\nThe next question asked whether the school systems should work more closely together.\n

\nJohnson said sharing a bus system between city and county schools could save money\nin the budget.\n

\n\u201cWe need one school system in this city and county,\u201d said Yost. \u201cBut\nsadly that isn\u2019t the case.\u201d\n

\nYost did add that he believes that Valdosta has a great school board.\n

\nNext up were the two candidates for Hahira\u2019s 1st district, Incumbent\nTerry C. Benjamin and challenger Wilmon J. Stanley.\n

\nThe first question addressed what they would do about\nwidening highway old North U.S. Highway 41. A recent county\nand GDOT effort to widen that road between Valdosta and\nHahira met with stiff resistance from more than 400 people, \norganized as car41no.<\/a>\n

\nBenjamin stated that something will be done about highway 41, but that\nthe previous plan was canceled because it would adversely affect too\nmany people. Stanley said that highway 41 should be improved, but not\nat the cost of taking homes. Neither candidate provided any reasons\nfor widening the road.\n

\nA brief confrontation occurred between the two candidates when Stanley\nsaid that council members should follow his example and visit residents\nat their homes to hear their concerns. He went on to say that he believed\nthe people of Hahira were not being heard. Benjamin responded by saying\nthat he had never heard Stanley bring up any issues he mentioned during\nany council meeting. He also included that the city recently fixed a\nlongstanding sewer problem.\n

\nThe candidates amicably characterized\nHahira as a Mayberry that didn’t have a crime wave because everyone knows\neveryone, people watch out for each other, and locals were likely to call\nthe police on anyone they didn’t recognize. Neither candidate recommended\nmore police. Benjamin said the city was working up a Citizens on Patrol\n(COPS) program to get people even more involved.\n

Hahira City Council District 4<\/H3>\nNext was supposed to be Hahira\u2019s District 4 candidates, however, only\nchallenger Thomas A. Simpson appeared on stage. Because incumbent Rose\nM. Adams or Marion C. Nelson did not show, the forum moved on.\n

City of Lake Park<\/H3>\nNobody showed up for any of the Lake Park positions.\nOr did they?\nPerhaps they were at the “make a statement” area.\nThis is a misfeature of the forum format.\nIf a given position had more than one candidate and nobody spoke,\nthe audience had no way of knowing who showed up or didn’t.\n

Lake Park Mayor<\/H3>\nIncumbent mayor Walter K. Sandlin is running unopposed.\n

Lake Park City Council Positions (4 each)<\/H3>\nAll four incumbents are running unopposed and so did not have to speak:\nAlbert R. Carter, Paul R. Mulkey, Eric Schindler, and Jeffery L. Spradley.\n

Dasher Mayor<\/H3>\nIncumbent Kenneth E. Allen is running unopposed.\n

Dasher City Council Post 1<\/H3>\nIncumbent Julian Q. Copeland Jr. is running unopposed.\n

Dasher City Council Post 2<\/H3>\nRunning for Post 2 in Dasher were Vivian R. Armstrong and incumbent\nRonnie Lieupo. The two were asked about what they would do for a possible\ntransit system in Dasher.\n

\nBoth candidates felt that Dasher had no need for a transit system,\nbecause they have no industry. Instead, Armstrong commented that she\nwould like to see an ordinance for residents who want to drive around\nin their golf carts, like Hahira has.\nThey characterized Dasher as the other Mayberry that looked up to Hahira,\nreferring to “the school” and “the church”.\n

VLD BoE: At Large District<\/H3>\nNext to take the stage was incumbent Jeana F. Beeland and Thomas W. Smoot, candidates for Valdosta\u2019s Board of Education At-Large District.\n

\nThe candidates were asked what they thought about the recent\ndecision by the Valdosta School Board superintendent Dr. Bill Cason\nnot to air President Barack Obama\u2019s speech on education during school hours<\/a>\nSeveral hundred people attended the Valdosta School Board meeting the day\nbefore; most of them were not present at this forum.\n

\nBeeland said that she would have shown the speech to students and that\nschools should be more flexible when it comes to matters concerning the\npresident. Smoot said that from “what was advertised earlier, it looked likely to\nbe the right decision” and that “the president changed his speech from what he advertised”.\nOn a question about school consolidation (Valdosta with Lowndes County),\nSmoot said he liked it economically, but not educationally.\nBeeland said there had been discussion on that subject “for a very long time”\nand that it was important for a school board member\nto “maintain our focus on educating children.”\n

VLD BoE: Super Ward East District 7<\/H3>\nSuper Ward East District 7 candidates Debra H. Bell, Christopher Brandon,\nand Christopher Burgman were also asked about their thoughts on the\npresident\u2019s speech.\n

\nBoth Burgman and Bell said that the president should be heard when he\nis addressing the students of the nation. Burgman went on to say that\nthe current councilman made a rushed decision by not even consulting\nwith other board members before not allowing the speech to be seen.\n

\nBrandon said that students should have been given the choice whether or\nnot to watch the speech.\n

\nAnother question the group addressed was on how they would reduce dropout rates.\nBurgman said that parents need to become more active in their children\u2019s academics to prevent them from dropping out,\nand even recommended emphasizing scholastics over athletics.\nBoth Brandon and Bell agreed with Burgman. Brandon added that schools should promote more after school programs to keep students active in school.\n

VLD BoE: Super Ward West District 8<\/H3>\nThe last group to go on stage was the candidates for Super Ward West District 8.\nIncumbent Ricky Rowe is not running.\n

\nOnce again, candidates were asked their opinion about preventing President Obama\u2019s speech in school.\nBoth Kelly C. Wilson and Dr. Chassitty L. Loving believe that the president should be heard.\n

\nThe candidates were then asked if they thought that activities like sports, music, and theatre were too exaggerated over academics.\nWilson said that athletics, music, and drama made students well-rounded and, if anything, motivated them to do better in class. Loving agreed that, while it is important to be well-rounded, academics should come first.\n

VLD BoE: District 4 (to fill the unexpired term of Mike Pitts)<\/H3>\nCandidates Micah I. Hollimon and Dean R. Rexroth were not on stage.\n

VLD BoE: District 2 (to fill the unexpired term of Joseph Brown)<\/H3>\nThe only candidate, Vanassa L. Flucas, was not on stage.\n

Lowndes County Referendum, Vote YES or NO<\/H3>\nNobody spoke about this referendum\non expanding the Lowndes County Commission from its current 3 members\nwith a nonvoting chair by adding two overlapping districts for 5 members\nand a nonvoting chair. However, Dennis W. Marks distributed a one-sheet\nargument to “Vote NO on Expansion Referendum.”\n

\n

Updated<\/H2>\nVideo link changed to\n\nplaylist.<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Kenny R. Bush and John S. Quarterman, with videos by Gretchen Quarterman. On Sept 15, residents of Lowndes County gathered inside VSU\u2019s Whitehead Auditorium for a political forum concerning the upcoming 2009 General Municipal Elections. It was the competing Mayberrys, Hahira and Dasher, in the shadow of the big city of Valdosta with its […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[49,602,11,88],"tags":[1516,6029,6030,6031,937,1615,6032,6033,6034,8790,6035,6036,6037,6038,6039,6040,6041,6042,6043,1380,3434,8701,8791,6044,6045,6046,6047,6048,6049,8792,1567,7,6050,6051,6052,6053,6054,6055,6056,6057,6058,6059,6,6060,6061,4451,6062],"class_list":["post-2784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections","category-hahira","category-lake","category-lowndes-county-commission","tag-aauw","tag-albert-r-carter","tag-alvin-payton-jr","tag-ashleigh-kenny","tag-barack-obama","tag-candidates","tag-charles-robert-yost","tag-christopher-brandon","tag-christopher-burgman","tag-dasher","tag-david-g-demersseman","tag-david-l-dempsey","tag-dean-r-rexroth","tag-debra-h-bell","tag-deidra-a-white","tag-dennis-w-marks","tag-dr-bill-cason","tag-dr-chassitty-l-loving","tag-dr-l-w-williams","tag-eric-schindler","tag-forum","tag-georgia","tag-hahira","tag-jeana-f-beeland","tag-jeffery-l-spradley","tag-john-e-johnson-sr","tag-julian-q-copeland-jr","tag-kelly-c-wilson","tag-kenneth-e-allen","tag-lake-park","tag-laverne-gaskins","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-referendum","tag-marion-c-nelson","tag-micah-i-hollimon","tag-paul-r-mulkey","tag-ricky-rowe","tag-rodney-r-flucas","tag-ronnie-lieupo","tag-rose-m-adams","tag-thomas-a-simpson","tag-thomas-w-smoot","tag-valdosta","tag-vanassa-l-flucas","tag-vivian-r-armstrong","tag-walter-k-sandlin","tag-willie-t-head"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-IU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2784","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=2784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}