Council Wright again said proper legal process had not been followed.
The local school boards that are responsible for this burden
should have sent a motion to the state board of education
asking for it [a feasibility study on consolidation].
That has not happened.
He called the state board of education and the Valdosta Board of Education
and no feasibility has been done.
The process has not been followed.
…
This is the law.
…
This is in black and white.
Here’s
the video:
Council Ben Norton, who hardly ever speaks, noted that he
was elected at-large and thus represents all of Valdosta, and said:
If this came to us with every legal T dotted and I crossed,
as Council …
Carroll stated already
is to put this referendum on ballot.
I encourage our citizens if that is the case …
to study carefully both sides of the issue
and I believe with all my heart that … our Valdosta citizens
can make the decision.
He never did say which side he was on regarding consolidation.
And of course once again it’s just Valdosta citizens voting on
an issue that affects the entire county.
And yes, he really did say “T dotted and I crossed” and he had to
be prompted for the name of his Council colleague.
Here’s
the video:
Excerpts from various questions from Council:
Deidra White: Which ones of
these legal issues have we seen together?
Robert Yost: …
this motion [to deny the referendum], if it fails … ?
Mayor Fretti: If this motion fails, we have to turn around and ask
for a motion in the affirmative.
On “the timing thing”:
Manager Hanson: That question will have to be answered by the Lowndes County
Board of Elections.
Attorney: There’s no time that’s stated; it’s a negotiation.
Manager Hanson: We could just advertise to make a work session on Tuesday
and a public meeting for the first [?] after that… a special session.
Here’s
the video:
This is a rare local government body that has
their agenda online in web-accessible form
(rather than entombed in a PDF).
Tonight’s agenda
includes this item:
17. A. Consolidation/board position – Mr. Lee – action required
Also this item:
18. B. Public forums on consolidation will be held Sept 8 (VHS PAC), Sept 20 (VMS) and Oct 25 (JLL) from 7-8:30 p.m.
I wonder will these be real forums, or the sort of fake forums VLCIA and
CUEE have foisted on the community?
CUEE’s
Kick-Off meeting
had no opponents speak, took questions only in writing,
and conveniently didn’t get to Rev. Rose’s question of what
would consolidation do to improve education.
LAKE
has published videos of the whole thing.
The only real dialog I’ve ever seen about education around here was
was the one held by the Lowndes County Democratic Party 2 May 2011.
LAKE has published videos of the whole thing.
According to the VBOE
web page tonights meeting is:
Council Deidra White wondered what would be the repercussions
if council took more time to decide this issue, since this was
the first time she had heard some of these arguments.
Attorney Talley said he wasn’t sure what the timeline was to prepare ballots.
Um, maybe he should talk to the Board of Elections.
Manager Hanson said there are different sections of the Constitution
that might apply.
Attorney Talley noted that the Home Rule Act did not apply,
even though it was cited in the petition, since the school system
charter is not in the City of Valdosta charter; it’s a separate pact.
Manager Hanson noted
qualifying for city elections is next week,
so
Council Robert Yost said he didn’t like the position council was in
of almost being required to vote one way to cover their rears from
litigation.
So of course I’ll be voting exactly how I feel it needs to be tonight, litigation or not.
He also seemed to say that he hadn’t heard anybody
say it was about consolidating county and city government.
It’s interesting that Yost seemed to be arguing against the referendum,
since
he has long been on record as for school system consolidation:
“We need one school system in this city and county,” said Yost. “But sadly that isn’t the case.”
That’s from when he was last running for Valdosta City Council back in 2009;
you can watch him say it on video.
At the time he also said the city should annex the whole county,
but claimed that was just a joke.
Has something changed his mind about either of those things?
Rather heated discussion as Tim Carroll seemed incensed that
Sonny Vickers thought consolidation proponents had a hidden agenda.
He mentioned Rusty Griffin, Walter Hopgood, and George Bennett.
It just bothers me when I hear “hoodwinked”.
Carroll repeatedly mentioned the number of citizens who had petitioned
asking to put the referendum on the ballot.
He said there might be issues between CUEE and VBOE, but not
with city council.
Here’s
the video:
5.a. We’re not actually going to deny, are we? —Tim Carroll @ VCC 25 August 2011
petition, education, referendum,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Council James Wright stated concerns that neither citizens nor
the city school board had initiated school consolidation,
and cited several statutes that he said indicated the local
board of education needed first to request a feasibility
study from the state and then to approve it, and that
has not happened in this case.
Here’s
the video:
5.a. school consolidation not initiated by school system —James Wright @ VCC 25 August 2011
petition, education, referendum,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Some backers of school consolidation have a hidden agenda
of consolidating the city and county governments,
said Council Sonny Vickers.
Council Sonny Vickers made a motion to deny the school consolidation
referendum, and then stated a number of reasons, among them
that unification would do nothing to improve education,
judging by many previous examples.
Plus he noted a hidden agenda of some of the backers of consolidation
who spent thousands of dollars: consolidation of the city and county
governments.
Here’s
the video:
5.a. motion to deny education referendum –Sonny Vickers @ VCC 25 August 2011
petition, education, referendum,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Council Robert Yost wondered could the council have voted down the
city school system’s millage?
The City Attorney said they were required to vote on it but could
have voted it down (I think that’s what he meant).
The mayor noted again that a vote against the petitioned referendum
would probably cost the city more money.
See for yourself.
Here’s
the video:
5.a. has common sense prevailed over precedent? –Robert Yost @ VCC 25 August 2011
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
