Citizens still wanted to talk about solid waste after the
Commission adjourned the Tuesday 11 June 2013
Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Commissioners offered nothing but excuses.
Commissioner Page asked for
Mr. Wright
to stay behind so he could talk to him.
The Chairman adjourned; I didn’t hear or see any motion or second or vote.
Aren’t those required by state law?
The subsequent excuses included:
It’s not about right or wrong anymore.
Nevermind that most of the people in the room thought it was, as well as many of the citizens and voters in the county.
We have to follow the process.
Nevermind they didn’t hold the public hearing state law requires “before entering into a contract for the sale, lease, or management of a landfill or solid waste disposal facility owned by such county”.
One Commissioner first said the landfill was privatized long before he was on the Commission, then when I read that passage, said they had to go by the County Attorney’s opinion. Why do we bother having elected officials if staff determine all decisions?
And, as previously noted, the Chairman said he didn’t want Commissioners or staff answering because that might start a dialog which might not be orderly. This is the only Commission or Council among any I’ve ever seen or heard of that is so afraid of listening to its own citizens that it sets arbitrary time limits just to avoid doing that.
Oh yes, the Chairman also explained the Exclusive Franchise with Veolia has an annual review built into it, which comes up in December. When I pointed out (again) that it also has a termination clause for non performance, the Chairman said yes but only five or so citizens per some time period isn’t enough for that. I didn’t know how many petition signatures Cary Scarborough had just handed in, but however many they were, apparently none of those names counted.
Here’s the video:
Ajourn into trash excuses
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 June 2013.
-jsq
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