Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

VDT should dig deeper into county trash



The VDT should dig deeper into the finances of Lowndes County trash collection.
Nobody has ever seen an accounting of where where the money went for
the county’s former waste collection sites, so nobody knows whether
the county was really losing money or how much, and the county’s
version of how those sites had to be paid for doesn’t match state law..
Sure, Bill Slaughter defending a decision made when Ashley Paulk was chair
is amusing, but instead of transcribing what county officials tell it,
the VDT could find lots more under the county’s garbage with a little digging.

Jason Schaefer write for the VDT Thursday,

Concerns continue over garbage agreement:
Business owner argues case against County



The County is not required under Georgia law to issue RFPs to any
company for waste disposal services, according to Slaughter. That
decision was made in a good-faith effort to find the lowest possible
rate for garbage service for the citizens of Lowndes County, he said
Tuesday.

Is that the point of county government, to act like Wal-Mart?
Is money the only value the county government can name?


Everyone I talked to about the trash issue in 2012 who already
had a waste collection card said they’d be willing to pay more
to keep the sites open.
Maybe if the county had held public hearings they would have learned that.

And does anyone believe ADS’s rates are going to stay that low?
Look at

Wakulla, Florida, where it’s $196/year.
But the bigger question is why did the county privatize trash collection
anyway?

Continue reading →

If Effingham County can do it, why not Lowndes?





A county half the size of Lowndes has all its Commission
meeting documents online.
Why doesn’t Lowndes?
Is there something the Lowndes County Commission doesn’t want
us to know?
If not, why are they hiding the people’s business from the people?


contract change order

library board bylaw

applications to volunteer for board

board responsibilities

CPA agreement letter
Contract change orders,
library board bylaws,
applications to volunteer for boards,
board responsibilities,
CPA agreement letters,
invoices
with
itemized expenses,
zoning amendment applications,
deeds,


invoice


plats,
cell phone tower applications with maps,
and that

solar farm application:

the Effingham County Commission has
all this and more in its

meeting documents online along with its agendas and minutes.
The format is kind of clunky: one big PDF for all the meeting documents.
But it’s also easy for any competent County Clerk to assemble and post.

itemized expenses

zoning amendment application

deed

plat

cell phone tower applications with map
That way local citizens can get all this information without having
to guess what they need to find out, file an open records request,
wait at least three days (or years), see what excuse the county came up with
for not answering or try to deduce what was left out, etc.

With meeting documents online, you can just go to the web and look.
In Effingham County, with

half the population
of Lowndes County: Continue reading →

Exclusive franchise on photographing County Commission? @ LCC 2013-05-28



Does the county ordinance that adversely affects Deep South Sanitation
and no other company follow a pattern already set by the county?
The VDT posted pictures clearly taken not from the media box during
last night’s

Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission:
this one shows Gretchen videoing for LAKE from that media box.
Has the Lowndes County Commission granted an exclusive franchise
to the VDT for photographing, like the one it granted to ADS for trash collection?
Or has the Commission admitted its anti-videoing ordinance was actually
an illegal bill of attainder directed at LAKE alone?
If so, why is it still posted on the door?
And why is the county still planning to sue Deep South Sanitation
on account of an ordinance and contract that directly adversely
affects no other business?
Hm, could that also be an illegal bill of attainder?



In case you had any doubt the VDT’s pictures were taken during the actual
Commission meeting in session, this one is of

Steve Parker speaking in Citizens Wishing to be Heard.

Even the Cumming City Council, which

illegally ejected Nydia Tysdale for videoing an open meeting,
realized its error and she now

videos from the front row.
Only Lowndes County, Georgia continues to post a sign on the door
saying all videoing and photographing must be from the back of the room.
And then it lets one news organization violate its own ordinance,
but not another.

To quote

former Chairman Ashley Paulk: Continue reading →

Videos: trash, appointment, GEMA, juveniles, mowing, and wellness @ LCC 2013-05-28




Trash wasn’t on the agenda, but it was the biggest issue.
Like

last Regular Session
a Commissioner who happens to be a Christian minister
prayed for one thing
while

the Commission does the opposite.
Commissioners and staff also seemed confused about
a mowing contract but we don’t know why,
since none of us have seen what they were looking at.
A Board incumbent was reappointed without discussion.
In good news, county employees have lost 600 pounds.

Here’s

the agenda, with a few notes and links to the videos.
See also

the Work Session of the same morning.


Lowndes County Commission

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Losing our individual freedom of choosing –Carl Johnson Jr. @ LCC 2013-05-28



A veteran said he was concerned about losing our freedoms
right here in Lowndes County because of the Commissions’
recent trash collection decisions,
in yesterday’s

Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Excerpts from what Carl Johnson Jr. said:


Carl Johnson Jr.
As I drove into town today I drove by… Brown’s produce.
Right across the way was Mr. Carter’s produce.
Both of them same business.
Why not just take Mr. Carter’s business,
and say, well, we’re going to give it all to Mr. Brown….
We think it’s in the best interests of the county.
That’s not the American way of life.
Competition in everything is the strength of America….

[Applause]


Walter Elliott, Attorney for Lowndes County
He said he didn’t know the intricacies of the law,
but he asked the Commission to reconsider.
Attorney for Lowndes County Walter Elliott looked on stone-faced.
County Manager Joe Pritchard, as usual, paid no attention to citizen speakers.

There’s more in

the video: Continue reading →

A county that eats its own –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-05-28


“Stop wasting taxpayer money” said Gretchen Quarterman
in yesterday’s

Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.


Gretchen Quarterman
I sort of wish that I had been able to observe the executive session
where you discussed the pending lawsuit against Deep South
Sanitation. I wonder who asked the question “Is it beneficial to all
concerned?” 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.

[Applause]



Bill Slaughter and Gretchen Quarterman were inducted into Valdosta
Rotary on the same day (12 September 2012); that’s John Page,
already a member, standing behind them.
County Attorney Walter Elliott is also a member.
The Rotary Continue reading →

We like doing business with Deep South Sanitation –Duane Roark @ LCC 2013-05-28



A 47-year local resident got up to say he liked Deep South Sanitation
after he tried the monopoly company, and he likes having a choice.
This was in yesterday’s

Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Duane Roark said he was a satisfied customer of the recycling
centers the county closed,
and he didn’t like it when he heard

he had to do business with ADS.
Nonetheless, he signed up, but he wasn’t happy
because of

numerous mistakes
so he switched to Deep South Sanitation, where the CEO answers the phone
and delivered a can that same day.
DSS: a man with one truck: what harm is he doing?


Duane Roark
We like that we have a choice….

And he’s got my vote.

[Applause]

Some of the incumbent Commissioners may find votes hard to come by.

More in

the video:

Continue reading →

Why are we running a family owned business out of business? –Steve Parker @ LCC 2013-05-28



Private citizen Steve Parker spoke up as a satisfied customer
of Deep South Sanitation, and a dissatisfied former customer of the
other trash company,
wondering “What’s wrong with competition?” in yesterday’s

Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.


Steve Parker
Mr. Raines said it beautifully,

wanting freedom in his prayer.
I agree with him, wanting the freedom to make a choice,
so I hired Deep South.
Now I’m told that it’s been the position of the board to dismantle
Deep South, to tell him to cease and desist, and to take away his
business license which he got from the previous board.
I know a lot of you inherited this issue, by the way.
But at the same time, what is the greater good being served to the county?
Why are we taking a family owned business and running them out of business
in effect?

What’s wrong with competition?
I’m in the financial business
and if somebody would give me an exclusive
to every client in Lowndes County that would be a pretty good day for me.

He continued Continue reading →

Judging appointments, grants, and bids @ LCC 2013-05-28



Fast as a speeding “next” until the juvenile court judge
showed up and asked for help getting a grant to save money
by putting fewer children in jail.
One candidate for a board showed up (late) to speak,
and I continue to predict

he’ll be reappointed tonight:
that’s when they vote:
tonight at 5:30PM in the Regular Session.
Meanwhile, here are videos of this morning’s
Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

Here’s

the agenda, with a few notes and links to the videos.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Juvenile Justice grant would reduce costs more than the grant –Judge Council @ LCC 2013-05-28



Would you rather spend upwards of $91,000 a year to lock up
a juvenile offender or spend less money to prevent that?
Juvenile Court Judge Council advocated the former at this morning’s

Lowndes County Commission Work Session.



6.a. 2013 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program Application

This is about a potential new grant Emergency Director Ashley Tye said
he had been working on with Judge Council, applying to the

Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program
which was approved by the legislator and governor this year.
(Governor’s Executive Order of 16 April 2013
directing the assembly of the Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Funding
Committee to allocate to counties the
funding of $5 million approved by the legislature.)
Lowndes County would act as the applicant agent or grant administrator
on behalf of the juvenile justice department,
and Judge Council would serve as the implementing agency,
working with several groups such as LODAC
(
Lowndes Drug Action Council, Inc.).
If the grant is accepted, it will be awarded quickly, running
from June to June.
It’s a reimbursement grant: make the expenses, submit a report, and
get reimbursed from the grant.


Judge James F. Council, Jr.
(who Continue reading →