In this video George goes into many years of evidence regarding jail violations.issue another Executive Order and STOP the jail deaths in the Valdosta, Lowndes County Jail. (30 Jail deaths from 1994-2009) Today the general public is told that the public does not have a right to know under the law.
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Requesting such a hearing before January 24 would give the opportunity to have all this information presented and for questions to be asked and answered.Except that’s not the way it works around here. Public hearing locally means the chairman or mayor or whoever says “Who wants to speak for?” and maybe somebody speaks. And then “Who wants to speak against?” and maybe somebody speaks. It doesn’t mean that the Commission or the Council or the Authority presents anything for the public to consider.
Witness the
hearing the Lowndes County Commission
held in December on the documents related to the Comprehensive Plan.
The only reason the public knew anything about what was in those documents
was that Gretchen got them from somewhere else after the Commission
refused to supply them in response to an open records request.
The Commission never distributed any of the relevant documents
to the public.
Only one citizen spoke, perhaps because nobody else knew what
to speak about.
Almost none of the local municipalities or boards or authorities routinely present to the public the information that is in the packets they see before the discuss or vote. There are rare exceptions, such as the VLMPO and other organizations or projects administered by the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC). SGRC is a state agency, not a local agency. Why does Lowndes County and all its municipalities and boards avoid transparency?
Why can’t you, the public, see what’s in a rezoning request before Continue reading
Kim Isaza wrote for MDJOnline yesterday, Cobb EMC’s pursuit cools on coal-fired power plant
Cobb EMC’s interest in building the coal-fired Plant WashingtonSo can somebody come up with an 850 MW solar plant to propose by 24 Jan 2012?appears to be dead, and the company has begun soliciting bids for its future power supplies.
The electric cooperative has already spent $13.5 million toward permitting for the coal plant, which would be a new direction for the company from simply delivering electricity to also generating it.
On Jan. 24, Dean Alford, a spokesman for the Power 4 Georgians consortium of EMCs behind Plant Washington, is slated to address the Cobb EMC board, presumably in an effort to save the plant, for which his company, Allied Energy, got a no-bid development contract from P4G.
The Cobb EMC board could decide at that meeting whether to put any more money toward the project.
Many details of the 850-megawatt Plant Washington, including exactly why it is needed and any firm idea of what it will cost to build and operate, have been kept quiet, sparking critical questions from EMC members and environmental groups. It was proposed under former EMC head Dwight Brown, who is facing 34 criminal charges of theft and racketeering relating to his leadership at EMC.
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David Rodock wrote on the front page of the VDT today, Gov. suspends `Quitman Ten’ officials,
On Tuesday, Deal issued his order prior to the Brooks County Board of Education’s first meeting of 2012. Dr. Nancy Whitfield-Dennard, Elizabeth Diane Thomas and Linda Faye Troutman were notified of this suspension at approximately 4:30 p.m., according to sources.That’s a bit more context than the TV stations provided.
The VDT also says who gets to serve instead:
Following the governor’s suspension this week, Brooks County school board member Brad Shealy, who is also an assistant Southern district attorney, was appointed to serve as president of the board with board member Larry Cunningham serving as vice president. Shealy served many years as the school board president prior to Whitfield-Dennard being named president last year.That seems to be the same Brad Shealy who used to be chairman until the recent election.
The VDT adds this context: Continue reading
Another issue here is that there will be no public hearing on this issue unless someone ASKS for it. Without a hearing, it just goes forward with no other public information about being presented. Anyone may ask for a hearing, but I would especially think that there are people who really need a functional system that is not just focused on people who have access to Medicaid as a payment source due to illness or disability. Requesting such a hearing before January 24 would give the opportunity to have all this information presented and for questions to be asked and answered.
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Jade Bulecza wrote for WALB yesterday, Governor orders Brooks Co. School Bd. suspensions
That would be the same Joe Mulholland who’s been on TV saying things like Continue readingSuperintendent Debra Folsom got the governor’s order Tuesday suspending the three board members.
“This is all new territory for us,” said Folsom. “We’re consulting our attorney to see what the next steps we will take to fill the positions.”
December 20 a review commission made up of the attorney general and two school board members from across Georgia were appointed by the governor to review the case.
“They heard evidence from the prosecution and from the accused and the conclusion of that they made a determination and forwarded that to the governor’s office whether to suspend or not to suspend the three school board members,” said South Georgia District Attorney Joe Mulholland.
December 30, the review panel unanimously made their decision.
Here are the notices about public transportation that was supposed to be done some time ago. I am trying to figure out how the county will compensate private providers for all this transportation.Good question. I can’t answer it, but maybe I can point at some related information that might help.
She was referring to two public notices in the VDT of that same day,
Exhibit 8B,
which is about the MIDS service,
which is one of the ones in the list in
Exhibit 8A.
If you call MIDS, a small van will pick you up and deliver you,
all for a flat fee, if I understand it correctly. It’s the closest
thing we have to a bus system around here.
It looks like MIDS comes up for renewal about every two years, according to the agendas: Continue reading
Matthew McDermott wrote for Treehugger 6 January 2011, Over Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy Owned By Citizens & Farmers, Not Utility Companies
Germany’s promotion of renewable energy rightly gets singled out forNot only is that more distributed, but it also may be a faster way to get solar deployed:its effectiveness, most often by me as an example of how to do things well versus the fits and starts method of promotion common in the US. Over at Wind-Works, Paul Gipe points out another interesting facet of the German renewable energy saga: 51% of all renewable energy in Germany is owned by individual citizens or farms, totaling $100 billion worth of private investment in clean energy.
Breaking that down into solar power and wind power, 50% of Germany’s solar PV is owned by individuals and farms, while 54% of its wind power is held by the same groups.
In total there’s roughly 17 GW of solar PV installed in Germany—versus roughly 3.6 GW in the US (based on SEIA’s figures for new installations though the third quarter of 2011 plus the 2.6 GW installed going into the year).Nothing prevents Georgia Power or Colquitt Electric or any of the other power companies operating in Georgia from leading the solar pack. For example, power companies concerned that solar doesn’t produce at night could still deploy solar peak load generation, thus dispensing with natural gas peak load generation.Remember, Germany now produces slightly over 20% of all its electricity from renewable sources.
While the power companies are not leading, private organizations such as Tabby Solar, founded by a pair of doctors, are forging ahead anyway.
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Knoxville News editorial of 14 March 2010, Chalk two up for open government
So eventually CCA will have to surrender at least some of the records, although there is still haggling in court over which exceptions CCA can use for which records. (And there’s always the old “we didn’t keep them that long” trick.)CAA[sic] maintained it wasn’t the functional equivalent of a government agency, but the Appeals Court rejected that claim and the Supreme Court refused even to hear it.
“With all due respect to CAA[sic],” Appeals Court Judge D. Michael Swiney wrote in his opinion on Friedman’s case, “this Court is at a loss as to how operating a state prison could be considered anything less than a governmental function.”
The Tennessee Supreme Court had already ruled about government contractors:
“When a private entity’s relationship with the government is so extensive that the entity serves as the functional equivalent of a governmental agency, the accountability created by public oversight should be preserved.”I wonder if Georgia will accept a Tennessee precedent?
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Mary Carr Mayle wrote for SavannahNow 27 September 2011, Solar firm establishes energy trust
Two area doctors, co-owners of the Tabby Power Solar Co. in BullochInteresting angle, that: they’re not directly selling the power to the county; they’re using some of their income to buy bonds for the county. And they’re inviting others to do the same:County, have formed the Georgia Energy Trust Fund to direct part of their company’s proceeds to the county.
And, while it will take more than a few generations – some 350 years, in fact – Savannah dermatologist Dr. Sidney P. Smith and Brunswick pathologist Dr. Pat Godbey hope the trust fund will eventually generate enough money to pay all of Bulloch County’s budget and create a prototype other rural Georgia counties can follow.
Initially, the doctors are donating 1.5 percent of the gross receipts from their six-acre solar farm in Pembroke to the trust, which will invest in state bonds for the county. The county will then receive half of the earned interest, with the other half reinvested for the county.
Other county solar installations, both private and public, will be able to contribute to the fund, he said.Will Georgia Power (or somebody) sue? We’ll see!
And they didn’t wait for North Carolina or New Jersey to do it first:
Smith believes the Georgia Energy Trust is the first trust fund of its kind in the country.Sounds like a plan to me!“It will lead to financial independence in the counties in which it is enacted.”
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