{"id":3682,"date":"2013-05-29T16:25:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T20:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=3682"},"modified":"2013-05-29T16:51:25","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T20:51:25","slug":"exclusive-franchise-on-photographing-county-commission-lcc-2013-05-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/exclusive-franchise-on-photographing-county-commission-lcc-2013-05-28.html","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive franchise on photographing County Commission? @ LCC 2013-05-28"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n
\n<\/a>
\nDoes the county ordinance that adversely affects Deep South Sanitation
\nand no other company follow a pattern already set by the county?
\nThe VDT posted pictures clearly taken not<\/em> from the media box during
\nlast night’s
\n
\nRegular Session of the Lowndes County Commission<\/a>:
\nthis one shows Gretchen videoing for LAKE from that media box.
\nHas the Lowndes County Commission granted an exclusive franchise
\nto the VDT for photographing, like the one it granted to ADS for trash collection?
\nOr has the Commission admitted its anti-videoing ordinance was actually
\nan illegal bill of attainder directed at LAKE alone?
\nIf so, why is it still posted on the door?
\nAnd why is the county still planning to sue Deep South Sanitation
\non account of an ordinance and contract that directly adversely
\naffects no other business?
\nHm, could that also be an illegal bill of attainder?<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\nIn case you had any doubt the VDT’s pictures were taken during the actual
\n Commission meeting in session, this one is of
\n
\nSteve Parker speaking in Citizens Wishing to be Heard<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nEven the Cumming City Council, which
\n
\nillegally ejected Nydia Tysdale for videoing an open meeting<\/a>,
\nrealized its error and she now
\n
\nvideos from the front row<\/a>.
\nOnly Lowndes County, Georgia continues to post a sign on the door
\nsaying all videoing and photographing must be from the back of the room.
\nAnd then it lets one news organization violate its own ordinance,
\nbut not another.\n<\/p>\n

To quote
\n
\nformer Chairman Ashley Paulk<\/a>:<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>
\nMr Quarterman, The County Commission wishes from this day forward that any filming be done from the media area in the back corner of the room.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\nThe next day, the Commission
\n
\npassed an ordinance<\/a> that wasn’t on the agenda and wasn’t read to the public.
\nIn response to an open records request by somebody else,
\na copy of the notice that’s still posted on the meeting room door
\nwas returned.
\nIt says it’s a notice, not an ordinance. It reads:\n<\/p>\n

\n


\n

NOTICE<\/u><\/H2>
\n<\/center>
\nAny person videoing or photographing a meeting of the Board of
\nCommissioners of Lowndes County shall remain in the area designated
\nfor videographers and photographers in the back of the Commission
\nChamber and shall ensure that any video or photography equipment is
\nlocated in the area desginated for videographers and photographers,
\nunless otherwise permitted by the presiding Commissioner.<\/p>\n

\nAny person failing to comply with this Notice shall be subject to
\nremoval from the Commission Chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n
 <\/td>\n\n
\n[signed]
\n
\nAshley Paulk
\n
\nChairman, Board of Commissioners
\n
\nSeptember 13, 2011\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\nWe already documented exceptions
\n11 October 2011<\/a> when several other people photographed and apparently
\nvideoed from various places in the room,
\nwith Chairman Paulk looking straight at one of them as she
\npointed her camera at him; that’s Commissioner Richard Raines to Paulk’s right.
\nNow the VDT does the same thing.\n<\/p>\n

In case you’re wondering,
\n
\nthe pictures I took 14 May 2013<\/a> were before<\/em> the meeting started,
\n
\n<\/a>
\nas you can tell by Commissioners still wandering around the room.
\nLAKE has been careful to scrupulously follow the notice or ordinance
\nor whatever it is.\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd it appears that nobody except<\/em> LAKE is required to follow
\nthat ordinance.
\nWhich brings to mind this:\n<\/p>\n

\n“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed.”
\n
\n—U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A bill of attainder is “A legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.”<\/a>
\nFounding father James Madison, who probably wrote that clause, said
\n
\nin Federalist number 44, 1788<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\n“Bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, and laws impairing the
\nobligations of contracts, are contrary to the first principles of
\nthe social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation. …
\nThe sober people of America are weary of the fluctuating policy
\nwhich has directed the public councils. They have seen with regret
\nand indignation that sudden changes and legislative interferences,
\nin cases affecting personal rights, become jobs in the hands of
\nenterprising and influential speculators, and snares to the
\nmore-industrious and less-informed part of the community.”\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hm,
\n“impairing the obligations of contracts” as in Deep South Sanitation’s contracts
\nwith its customers?
\nAnd “jobs in the hands of enterprising and influential speculators”
\nlike
\n
\nthe investors from New York City that own ADS<\/a>?
\nAs
\nSteve Parker put it:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>
\n…taking a family-owned Lowndes County business that pays taxes in Lowndes County,
\nand moves that money to a company headquartered in New York.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/a>
\nIt was Commissioner Richard Raines
\n
\nwho made the motion to pass the anti-videoing ordinance<\/a>;
\nit was Raines
\n
\nwho moved to pass the Solid Waste Ordinance<\/a>,
\nand
\nit was Raines
\nwho moved to pass the Exclusive Franchise Agreement for Residential Solid Waste Collection Services with Advanced Disposal Services of Central Alabama, Inc.<\/a>
\nCommissioner Richard Raines, who yesterday prayed for
\n
\n“the freedoms we enjoy”<\/a>. The freedoms four people complained
\nlater in that same meeting his solid waste ordinance and exclusive franchise infringe upon<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n


\n<\/a><\/p>\n

We know
\n
\nthe county plans to enforce<\/a> what could well be an illegal bill
\nof attainder against Deep South Sanitation,
\nbecause
\n
\nthe Chairman refused to even explain<\/a>
\nthe
\n
\ncivil action lawsuit against DSS<\/a> with preliminary hearing
\n
\n14 June 2013<\/a> at 9:30 AM.
\nCongratulations, DSS, on joining the club of very few organizations
\nthat’s had the Lowndes County Commission pass an ordinance against it!\n<\/p>\n

\nIs this the kind of local government we want,
\nwhose “sudden changes and legislative interferences,
\nin cases affecting personal rights”
\naffect specific individuals or groups?\n<\/p>\n

\n -jsq<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does the county ordinance that adversely affects Deep South Sanitation and no other company follow a pattern already set by the county? The VDT posted pictures clearly taken not from the media box during last night’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission: this one shows Gretchen videoing for LAKE from that media box. Has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,70,8,2,19,20,88,733,478,3,479,133],"tags":[6329,2392,773,8704,8728,8701,8699,609,10,8709,3574,8702,8710,91,12,7,8734,8799,4,8772,8700,8773,6342,6,8742],"class_list":["post-3682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-ethics","category-georgia","category-government","category-history","category-law","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-media","category-solid-waste","category-transparency","category-trash","category-vdt","tag-28-may-2013","tag-bill-of-attainder","tag-deep-south-sanitation","tag-economy","tag-ethics","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-grant","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-history","tag-james-madison","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lcc","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-media","tag-regular-session","tag-solid-waste","tag-transparency","tag-trash","tag-u-s-constitution","tag-valdosta","tag-vdt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3682","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=3682"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3690,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3682\/revisions\/3690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}