Elected officials need to adapt to new information and new circumstances, while all working together. Here are videos of Gretchen saying she will be nimble if elected, at VSU last Tuesday at an event organized by the South Georgia Young Republicans and others. Remember, this Special Election is tomorrow, Tuesday May 20th, because the seat is vacant. The winner will take office immediately upon certification of the election results. LAKE supports Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes County Commission District 5, with her calling for financial stewardship and community transparency for economic development.

Here’s a video playlist, followed by links to the individual videos with transcriptions.

Nimble –Videos of Gretchen at VSU
Primary and Special Election Candidates, Young Republicans (YR),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
VSU, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 15 May 2014.

• Question 1 posed by Scott James: Your top priority for economic development

  Video.

• Gretchen Quarterman Q1 Work together for economic development

  Video.

  Our community can come together and work together really well when there’s something going on about Moody. We need to do that when there’s something going on about anything in our community.

  When something that is is good is coming to the university, we need to work together to build up the university. We have the new health sciences building.

  We’re getting a new health sciences building designed at least for Wiregrass Tech. Let’s come together and do the things we do already very well. Let’s do them better.

  Let’s be a shining star for health care in south Georgia. We have South Georgia Medical. We just built a brand new building there. Let’s continue to train students to work in that industry to become a health care destination.

  My number one priority is to work together better. Thank you.

• Gretchen Quarterman Q2 Transparency and balance in taxes and services

  Video.

  I think that people would have a lot more confidence in the government if they knew what the government did and how they did it. I think the government needs to be transparent.

  I think that companies, if they’re going to think about relocating in our community… they want to know and have a high expectation of what services are they going to get from the government and what’s that gonna cost; what are their taxes going to be, and how will that get spent.

  And right now, it’s a mystery. I think of myself as a really well-informed citizen and I don’t know really how the money is spent. I have a vague idea, but I don’t really know.

  And I think that having that information available to people to say this much of your tax dollars go to support the 911 center. Today at the County Commission they hired a fellow who had worked 20 years at the 911 center. That’s the kind of guy that I want to have answering the phone when I call 911, who’s experienced and knows what he’s doing.

  I want to know how is my money being spent and I think everybody wants to know that.

• Gretchen Quarterman Q3 Be nimble about Moody

  Video.

  I’m not very nimble right now, because I’m wearing this boot. [She cracked her foot a few weeks ago.]

  But I think in terms of Moody we need to have a nimble mentality. We need to meet their needs.

  People who come to Moody are here for three to five years. They’re in transition. They come and move into our community. We need to have open arms and open hearts and an open community to welcome them in for the time that they are here. We hear that a lot that people say oh I love this community. They come here and then we see a lot of people who have served here come back and they retire here.

  Our community needs to be nimble in meeting their needs. They have very special needs because they are in transition, just like the students are. We need to have the right kind of housing for them. We need to have transportation so they can get around….

  When I was a young person my parents always had foreign exchange students living in our home. We were always having transition a different student every year; sometimes two in a year. And having Moody in our community is like that We have people come to us from different parts of the United States and they live in our community.

  We need to support that and make it so when people who have served here they say oh no, we really like that, we want to keep the base here. We need to motivate it from within.

• Gretchen Quarterman – Closing Statement

  Video.

  My name is Gretchen Quarterman, and I’m running for Lowndes County Commission District 5.

  I’ve been going to the County Commission meetings since about 2008, and I’ve been filming them since 2010. I think I’m really pretty well-informed about what goes on there.

  I’m running to serve. Definitely it’s my calling; it’s what I’m supposed to be doing. I ask you to support me with your vote. Thank you.

-jsq

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