Category Archives: Law

Unnecessary lawsuit against local business in GA Supreme Court today

Why is the Lowndes County Commission spending our tax dollars to sue
a local company for collecting trash, in appeal at the Georgia Supreme Court this morning?
Why not just let Deep South Sanitation compete with

Advanced Disposal Services?
Perhaps we should “stop wasting taxpayer money”,
as

Gretchen said to the Commission a year ago.

From
DSS’s facebook page 5 May 2014,

LOWNDES CO & ADVANCED DISPOSAL VS DEEP SOUTH UPDATE:



Dear Friends of Deep South, we have been notified that a date for
the “APPEAL” has been set for Monday, May 19, 2014 @ 10am to be held
in Atlanta, Ga. before the Supreme Court. The Lowndes County
Attorney along with Advanced Disposal’s Attorney’s will have the
opportunity to argue their case. Our Attorney, Rob Plumb will speak
on behalf of Deep South and for the people. There will not be a
ruling on this day. We will post the results of the Court’s ruling
on our FB page as soon as we receive word.—As always, we thank
all of you for your prayers and support. God Bless America!

And from
DSS’s facebook page yesterday:

Appeals Court Tomorrow Morning @ 10am.



“Thank you” to every one for your thoughts and prayers. Cary and
Trevor just left headed to Atlanta. The appeal will be heard by the
Supreme Court and a ruling should come at a later date. Hopefully,
this will be the end of the lawsuit filed by the County and Advanced
Disposal. We will post any news on our FB page as soon as we get
word from our Attorney. Thanks again, your support means the world
to us.

As Gretchen said

a year ago to the Commissioners who voted for that unnecessary
lawsuit,



I wonder which one of you said “This will really attract
people to start or relocate business in our county when we sue one
of our local business owners.”

If I were considering a business move, I wouldn’t move to a county
that eats its own.

I ask that you drop the lawsuit and stop wasting taxpayer money.
Thank you.

We don’t have to be a county like that.
Let’s change some Commissioners and stop this waste of taxpayer money.

LAKE supports

Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes County Commission District 5.
Please vote tomorrow, Tuesday May 20th.
It’s not a primary: that’s Election Day for this Special Election
for District 5.
Your vote matters.

-jsq

Precincts changed yet again for May 2014 Special Election and Primary



Where can you vote on Tuesday May 20th,
Election Day for the Special Election for Lowndes County
Commission District 5, for the Lowndes County Board of Education,
for the elections for judges, and for the primaries for the Georgia
statehouse, statewide offices, and U.S. Congress?
Yes, precincts have changed yet again,
but you can find your polling place in

My Voter Page by the Georgia Secretary of State.
Or you can zoom and pan on the

VALOR GIS Election Boundary Map.

Whichever way you find your polling place,
it’s time to get out and vote.
If we don’t, why should Atlanta pay any attention to us poor rural
stepchildren?

Continue reading →

Local elections affect you most: time to vote



It’s time to vote,
today and tomorrow in early voting at
the Board of Elections, 2808 North Oak Street, Valdosta, or
Tuesday May 20th at
your polling place.
Turnout is very low for elections that will affect everyone in Lowndes
County and beyond.

Two of the Lowndes County Commission districts will be decided
May 20th (District 5 is a Special Election and District 2
has only candidates in one party): they will affect your
water, sewer, trash, rezoning, road building, and taxes.
All the Lowndes County School Board elections Continue reading →

Georgia Power wants more new water for Vogtle nukes than Savannah uses @ GA EPD 2014-05-08



Today is the last day to

comment to GA EPD about Georgia Power’s demand for
more new water for the Plant Vogtle nukes than Savannah uses.
As Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning said two years ago,
“water, more than air, is the issue of the future”.
Comments may be emailed to EPDComments@dnr.state.ga.us with the subject line “Plant Vogtle.”
See below for videos of what people said at a recent public hearing.

Mary Landers wrote for SavannahNow.com 7 May 2014,

Nukes thirst for Savannah River water, Continue reading →

Follow the law and be aware what the citizens want –Judge Ellerbee @ Lake Park 2014-04-28



Apartments are expensive to local governments, developers don’t sue
unless there is actual discrimination (which there isn’t in this case),
water use is a big issue,
and the primary responsibility of elected officials is to the citizens
who elect them:
Judge Wayne Ellerbee made these and other points relevant to many
rezoning requests as he spoke for some of the opponents at
the

Lake Park Brookhaven rezoning.

He pointing out that the question before the Lake Park City Council was
the rezoning,
but the developers needed to take into account the effects on the
entire city of Lake Park.
He mentioned studies from the University of Georgia
saying that the most expensive zoning Continue reading →

ICLEI and sustainability

Have you heard there’s a U.N. agency going around getting
local governments to sign “Agenda 21” into ordinances that
will take away your private property through eminent domain?
If not, you’ve avoided the propaganda put out by
fossil fuel companies to subvert sustainability.
If you have, here’s why it’s bunk.

There is an organization that promotes measures for
sustainability to local governments.
Sustainability as in arranging for local resources to
be available for us and our children and grandchildren.
Clean air, clean water, forests, education, and private property
rights including not letting developers or big corporations
damage your private property.
Are you against any of those things?

An organization promoting sustainability with local governments is called

ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability.
ICLEI says it is:


the leading global network devoted to local governments engaged in
sustainability, climate protection, and clean energy initiatives. The
organization was formerly known as the International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives.

ICLEI has heard about the conspiracy theories and has written up

a rebuttal. Continue reading →

Citizens, lawyers, and developers @ Lake Park 2014-04-28



“A molehill to cover up an eyesore” pretty much summed up the neighbors’
opinions.
Some of the usual local lawyers seemed surprised at the number
and sophistication of the rezoning opponents, as you can see in
these videos of the public hearing for the

Brookhaven apartment building proposed rezoning.
The Lake Park City Council took its duties to its citizens seriously,
holding a separate zoning meeting just for this one subject.

Here’s

a video playlist:



Citizens, lawyers, and developers

Rezoning Public Hearing, Lake Park City Council (Lake Park),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

Lake Park, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 April 2014.

Attorney Tom Kurrie’s apparent

suggestion that the neighbors wanted to discriminate against
the elderly and children Continue reading →

Videos: Candidates Forum, Hahira Historical Society @ Hahira 2014-04-26



Hear your potential elected officials speak for themselves,

last Saturday at the Hahira Historical Society.
These videos are presented without commentary, except for a special
prize to the candidate who spoke the longest by far,
Richard Raines, who first promised to be brief, then spoke for
14 minutes.
He made some other promises, too,
and left without listening to his opponents.

Candidates and others may use these videos as-is or they may edit,


provided they cite the source:
Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Contente

Here’s a table of contents by what they are running for. Continue reading →

Ashby, Mass. grilled pipeline company



A tiny town of about 3,000 people grilled pipeline reps for two hours.
Why didn’t the pipeline companies fix the leaky pipelines they had
before building new ones, their Board of Selectment wanted to know
among many other good questions.
Representatives from Kinder Morgan and its subsidiary
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP)
said stuff happens and those were bigger issues and basically
don’t worry your pretty little heads.
The locals weren’t buying it. Continue reading →

Local governments can regulate land use –the anti-fracking activists who just won the world’s largest environmental prize

There is something we can do about that proposed fracked methane pipeline.

Lindsay Abrams wrote for Salon today,

The real secret to beating the Koch brothers: How our broken political system can still be won:
A duo of activists has quietly bested the energy lobby, helping ban fracking in 172 towns. Here’s how they did it,



You probably haven’t heard of Helen Slottje, or, for that matter, of her
husband, David. But in the past few years, the former corporate lawyers
have become arguably two of the most powerful opponents of fracking in New
York — not to mention the most successful. As the (sort of) public face
of the duo’s efforts, Helen Slottje on Monday was honored with the
Goldman Prize, the world’s largest environmental prize.

OK, what did they actually do? Continue reading →