The candidates were almost unanimous on SPLOST VII and how to prevent JK situations, but more varied on other questions. Roy Copeland, billed as “Valdosta attorney” (but perhaps known better to LAKE readers as VLCIA board member and former Chairman) was the moderator, assisted by Valdosta Fire Chief and Thirty Club member J.D. Rice. They took questions from the audience and recognized their host, Pastor Floyd Rose of Serenity Church. You may wonder as I do why city council candidates were answering about graduation rates.

Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT 21 October 2013, ‘Let the games begin’. Here’s the list of qualified candidates. As usual, nobody showed up from the smaller cities, although at least one Valdosta candidate, Richard Miller, spoke up for the smaller cities about SPLOST.

Valdosta City Council District 2

• Sandra Tooley opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, how to improve graduation rate, closing statement
• John Hogan opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, how to improve graduation rate, closing statement
• Calvin Graham Sr. opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, how to improve graduation rate, closing statement

Valdosta City Council District 4

• Alvin Payton Jr. opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, What does “Valdosta is part of Lowndes County” mean, how to improve graduation rate, closing statement.
• Junior S. Jackson opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, closing statement.

Valdosta City Council District 6

• Robert Yost opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, What does “Valdosta is part of Lowndes County” mean, closing statement.
• Richard Miller opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, how to improve graduation rate, closing statement.
• Joseph Wheeler opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, what do you mean by service oriented? closing statement.

Valdosta School Board District 1

• Lizzie Shumpard opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, how to improve graduation rate, greater social services in schools, closing statement.
• Edgar Tooley opening statement, intergovernmental cooperation, how to improve graduation rate, greater social services in schools, closing statement.
• James Nelson opening statement, how to improve graduation rate, greater social services in schools, closing statement.

Special Questions

How to prevent JK situations in schools

This was asked separately to the school board candidates and the city council candidates.

SPLOST VII

Suzan Prinze, Chair of the pro-SPLOST committee, spoke for SPLOST VII. All candidates were asked for their position on SPLOST, and all were for except Joseph Wheeler for Valdosta City Council District 6.

SPLOST VII was also a topic at 30 Club last year, although with a few fewer projects on it (no library, no auditorium), and with city candidates instead of county ones. Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT 23 October 2012, Lowndes candidates take part in political forum.

Here’s a video playlist:

30 Club Candidate Forum
Candidates Forum, 30 Club (30Club),
J.D. Rice,
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 October 2013.

See also Videos, AAUW Candidates’ Forum @ AAUW 2013-10-15.

-jsq

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