In Monday night’s kabuki theater, after the usual stylized performances, the Lowndes County Commission once again approved the rezoning. The numerous opposition speakers supplied the broad dramatic gestures, all to no avail.

Collage @ LCC 12 June 2023

On the validity of the previous decision, Commissioner Demarcus Marshall moved to declare invalid the previous decision. Long silence. Eventually Commission Clay Griner asked for clarification from County Attorney G. Walter Elliott to clarify that he thought this was necessary. He said he thought it was. Motion passed 3 to 2. Two of the three were Marshall and Griner; I think the third was Joyce Evans, with Scottie Orenstein and Mark Wisenbaker against. Hard to be sure because they did not raise their hands.

On the actual rezoning case, they did raise their hands, and the vote was also 3 to 2 split the same way as the last time they voted on this rezoning decision: Clay Griner, Mark Wisenbaker, and Scottie Orenstein for, and Demarcus Marshall and Joyce Evans against.

Then they adjourned, after 55 minutes of kabuki theater.

At the beginning, Chairman Bill Slaughter did introduce something I haven’t seen before in meetings of this Commission. He said each side (for and against) got ten minutes, each side would also get two minutes of rebuttal.

That is still a remarkably small amount of time. I’ve seen other Commissions and Councils listen to everyone who wanted to speak, even if that required continuing into the wee hours of the morning.

Below are links to each LAKE video for each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the board packet, the agenda, and the LAKE Videos: Howell Road Halfway House approved in split vote @ LCC Regular 2023-04-11; follow more see also links back from there.

• 1. Call to Order 2. REZ-2022-10 Validity of April 11, 2023, Decision
  

  Video.

  The speakers in the public hearing portion didn’t know what this item was about.

• 2.b. REZ-2022-10 The Campus Transitional Facility, 2193 Howell Road
  

  Video.

• 3. Meeting Adjournment
  

  Video.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:

Videos: Lowndes County Commission again approved Howell Road Halfway House rezoning 2023-06-12
Special Called Meeting, Lowndes County Commission, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, June 12, 2023.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

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