{"id":6344,"date":"2013-10-26T11:20:30","date_gmt":"2013-10-26T15:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=6344"},"modified":"2013-10-26T11:24:19","modified_gmt":"2013-10-26T15:24:19","slug":"open-house-at-mildred-hunter-on-common-community-vision-vlmpo-2013-10-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/open-house-at-mildred-hunter-on-common-community-vision-vlmpo-2013-10-23.html","title":{"rendered":"Open House at Mildred Hunter on Common Community Vision @ VLMPO 2013-10-23"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n“We have broadband”, said Bill Slaughter, while other people had
\ndifferent opinions on that and other topics Wednesday night at
\nthe Mildred Hunter Community Center.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\nCorey Hull introduced the session and a small but vocal group of citizens
\ndiscussed all
\n
\nthe main topic headings<\/a>.
\nHe noted that there are more than twelve plans already in place
\nin the various cities and counties in the Valdosta Lowndes Metropolitan
\nPlanning Area.
\nYet there were many common themes in those plans, and VLMPO was looking
\nfor other common areas in these meetings and online,
\nand more specifically strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
\nIf you have a community group of any size, VLMPO can come talk to it.
\nThey’ve been to the Chamber, to Rotary, to churches, etc.
\nThey expect to wrap this process up in December,
\nwith common vision and goals for the next ten or twenty years.\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"Matt<\/a>
\nLocal officials present included Matt Martin,
\n
\nPlanning and Zoning Administrator for the City of Valdosta<\/a>,
\nand Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter.
\nMartin didn’t say much, but Bill Slaughter was quite vocal.
\nI thanked him for speaking up, even though I didn’t agree with everything he said.
\nHe helped clarify current county codes for stormwater retention,
\nand Martin helped clarify the city’s codes.<\/p>\n

\nAs a long-time participant in
\nlocal development (he’s CEO of Waller Heating and Air)
\nSlaughter said when people are buying houses all they look at is the up-front
\nprice; they won’t even take into account utility bill savings
\ndue to efficiency, and they don’t look at resale value.
\nThis was in the context of solar power.
\nOn the other hand, he also said they’d tried solar back in the 1970s
\nand people used it as long as there were subsidies and then it faded away.
\nI asked him if he was aware that solar was a lot cheaper now.
\nHe nodded but didn’t seem interested.<\/p>\n

\nSlaughter made a very good point that many municipalities
\nown their own electricity companies, which lets them implement
\nmany kinds of incentive programs that other local government
\ncannot.
\nI concured that that’s why it doesn’t work to say everybody
\nelse can do everything Austin, Texas has done, because Austin
\nowns Austin Energy, and Austin is a lot bigger than our local community.
\nThere are specific things Austin has done that can be implemented
\nelsewhere, but not everything.
\nSlaughter nodded his head at that.<\/p>\n

\nAbout the Internet, Slaughter said “We have broadband” and
\n“his researches” show that the only problem is when lots of people
\nuse it it gets slow connecting to the rest of the world.
\nIn answer to a question from Bill Branham, Slaughter said yes we have
\n4G (we do,
\n
\nbut that doesn’t mean everybody has it<\/a>)
\nand we even have 5G (which was quite puzzling,
\nsince
\n
\nthat isn’t expected anywhere until 2020<\/a>).
\nIt’s nice to see he’s defined away what only in February he called
\n
\n<\/a>
\n
\n“one of the number one issues”<\/a>.
\nI suppose that’s not surprising, considering that in that same
\nIndustrial Authority meeting VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer
\nremarked,
\n
\n“I don’t want to say we don’t have broadband.”<\/a>
\nThis is a common head-in-the-sand theme I’ve heard from others of our
\nlocal “leaders”, as they define away our problems!<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\nActual rigorous research shows that for
\n
\nincome, jobs, and creative workers we need
\nas many people as possible to use fast affordable Internet connections
\nadoption matters more than availability, and speed matters for creative workers.<\/a>
\nThat research demonstrated causality.
\nIn addition, a smaller study showed
\n
\na correlation of broadband fiber with higher house prices<\/a>,
\nwhich maybe means some people do care about fast Internet access
\nas part of a house purchase package.
\nAnd no, most people around here don’t have broadband;
\nmany don’t have Internet access at all because they can’t afford $60\/month.
\nEven those who do have 6 Mbps Mediacom links don’t really have
\nbroadband of a speed that creative workers need.<\/p>\n

\nMore on Bill Slaughter and transparency in
\n
\na separate post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nHere’s
\n
\na video playlist:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n