Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

The end game is …. —Karen Noll

Received yesterday on

“the qualified voters voting thereon in each separate school system proposed to be consolidated”. -jsq



Questions abound: Why is it that Lowndes County residents will not be
voting on the most important issue to face their school system since
its inception in 1950?

If I lived in the county I’d be mad that CUEE and the Chamber of Commerce
chose to leave my vote out of such a very important decision.

Quick fact: Consolidation alone will not save money & Consolidation alone
will not improve academic success, according to

the Vinson Institute report commissioned by CUEE and the Chamber.


Further Query: Why would CUEE and the Chamber of Commerce spend $50
grand to collect the signatures for the petition causing the City of
Valdosta to spend thousands of tax dollars (2 staff dedicated to task &
4 temps hired) to verify the signatures on the petition?

Continue reading →

Not clear houses are more important than agriculture —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 12 July 2011



If somebody puts a subdivision next to your field, beware of trash,
and the same if you buy a lot in it.
For that matter, why do we need more houses?

Some of what I said:

To expand a little bit on that subdivision next to
our west field,
one of the builders continued to push trash into our field
until I had to sue him for trespass in
Superior Court to get him to stop.

I meant to say in Magistrate’s Court.

I called code enforcement multiple times and
they did nothing to help stop it.
Now that there’s a new fire chief perhaps things are better,
but anybody who’s got a field nearby might want to watch for that.

Anyone who hopes to buy houses in the subdivision might want to
watch to see if there are any dumpsters in there,
because the subdivision near us, the trash was buried in the yards;
you can ask anyone who owns one of those lots.

As far as needing houses for Moody, there are usually ten houses
for sale in that subdivision, and roughtly 10 or 15 more that are for rent.
So it’s not clear we actually need more houses.

As far as lot size, this is the same issue as came up last year
with Glen Laurel on Old Pine Road.
…
The room was filled with people
for the same reasons that you’re hearing now.
At that time the commission decided to say ….

You can

see for yourself what happened in May of last year:

Continue reading →

Joe Pritchard notified of euthanasia violation March 2011


Joe Pritchard told us in May:

“We were not able to substantiate … accusations other than that … castration of pig.”

Yet he was notified in March of a euthanasia violation and missing drugs.

This PDF
contains an inspection report dated “03-18-11” from the Ga. Dept. of Ag.
Animal Protection Section.
The images contain excerpts related to a euthanasia violation. -jsq


Recordkeeping – Page 186 on 01-26-11 was

missing on the Euthanasia paperwork. Total of 36cc

unaccounted for. Violation 40-13-13.08 [11] issued.

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Sprawl is not fiscally prudent —Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 12 July 2011



David Rodock wrote in the VDT 13 July 2011,

Citizens speak against Cat Creek crowding:

Gretchen Quarterman also spoke against the proposition, citing that
extending residential areas further out into undeveloped Lowndes County
would create greater strain on an already tight fiscal operating budget.



She referred to a report County Planner Jason Davenport
commissioned from
Prof. Jeffrey H. Dorfman of UGA,

Local Government Fiscal Impacts of Land Use in Lowndes County,
December 2007,
in which he recommended development close in to existing services
for the most benefit to all parties.
As

Prof. Dorfman has said,



“Local governments must ensure balanced growth, as
sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin*

* Or at least big tax increases.”

He noted

“The same growth done more densely and contiguously saves both money, farmland, and provides environmental amenities.”

Prof. Dorfman has even quantified national averages for

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Traffic on Cat Creek Road at Nottinghill —Thomas E. Stalvey Jr. @ LCC 12 July 2011



Schoolchildren, safety, and farmland: three topics that often seem forgotten in discussions of development.
Opposing the
proposed rezoning for Notthinghill,
neighbor Thomas E. Stalvey Jr. noted
that traffic on Cat Creek Road
is already a problem, and adding a subdivision would make it worse.
He noted that it’s traffic routed down Cat Creek to Moody that
accounts for a lot of it.
He said school children stood out on the road and they were already in danger.

“If we put 49 more houses out there, it’s just going to up the risk.”

He explicitly linked road widening to development:

Continue reading →

I was hurt … from holding the loop stick while the pig pulled, jerked, and squealed out of pain —statement of Amanda Jordan

In this PDF of a statement of 5 May 2010 from
Amanda Jordan, she alleges inappropriate use of euthanasia,
improper boarding of horses, improper castration of a pig,
and resulting physical injury to an employee.
She asks for:

“I feel that some detailed financial, paperwork, and computer investigation
should be conducted within the Lowndes County Animal Services office.
Taxpayer’s dollars are spent to keep these animals of Lowndes County safe,
and I’m sure if the citizens of Lowndes County were aware of some of these
things they may be very hurt and disgusted with the Board of Commissioners for
not making sure the right measures are being taken to do what is right for this office.”

Here is a transcription. -jsq



My Name is Amanda Jordan. From June 2005 to December 2007, I worked for the
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Office with the Animal Services Division.
Linda Patelski was the director and my direct supervisor during that time.
I enjoyed my job as a shelter attendant dearly.
It was such a pleaser to see animals get adopted to new homes
or returned to their owners if they were picked up by Animal Control officers.

As rewarding as it was, I also had other jobs that were not
as pleasurable.
Euthinizing animals were sometimes heartbreaking.
While some animals were injured, sick, or feral, others were perfectly
healthy and just needed a home.
Due to the lack of space in the facility they had to be euthanized.
I recall a full term pregnant female dog came into the office.
Normally, this would be a reason to put a dog down due to the
inability of space to house a mother dog and her puppies.
Because this particular mother dog was some sort of small breed
and her puppies expected to be small breed Linda Patelski
(the director) decided we must keep these puppies for adoption.
Even with the risk of diseases they were saved for the adoption room
as other healthy dogs were put to sleep to accompany the space
for the puppies.
The shelter also has

Continue reading →

There are problems at the animal shelter. They have not been resolved.

I think it’s time to ask: what did they know, and when did they know it?

Let’s construct a timeline:

  • 2011-05-20 euthanasia violation
  • 2011-05-20 statement from Heather Terry
  • 2011-05-23 County Manager Joe Pritchard

    tells the Commission and the public    :



    “We were not able to substantiate … accusations other than that … castration of pig.”

    That was even though

    WCTV already reported there had been several
    euthanasia violations last year.

    Pritchard also said they (the county in its previous investigation,
    presumably the one of 2010    )
    examined the character of those testifying for
    the complaints and he said they found biases.

  • 2011-05-24 County Commission Chairman Ashley Paulk

    tells the Commission and the public:



    “Whatever problems there are, they’re going to be resolved.”

  • 2011-05-24 The VDT quotes County Manager Joe Pritchard

    as saying    :



    “It’s no longer a case of an individual making a claim, as it will be evident by the physical evidence provided by the security cameras.”

    and:

    “You take that policy, coupled with the updated standard operating
    procedures, added to the technical verification and I think that
    addresses the issues. My purpose is to eliminate any problem or potential
    problem.”

  • 2011-05-31 statement by Director Linda Patelski saying two people fired for euthanasia violation of 20 May 2011

Continue reading →

To pacify the community? —Susan Leavens

Received yesterday on
Arrests for speaking in an Arizona town. -jsq

I really feel like the Lowndes County Commissioners meetings are more
to pacify the community then to actually listen to the concerns of
the citizens which I’m sure most counties are the same. I feel quite
positive matters of concern actually never leave that room, I’m pretty
certain if the room were full and more individuals showing concern for
their community maybe things could change slightly. I have gotten the
impression that they really don’t want to hear people’s opinions. I
was once under the impression that there job of commissioners where
to also hear from the residence of the county. It certainly has shown
me how transparency issues and intimidation also go hand in hand. When
you think of a member of county government it’s a position of power
and power some obviously let go to their head. But after reading the
article it appears no matter where in this country when you oppose them
you obviously could be removed in handcuffs. You’re only allowed to have
your 3 to 4 minutes to speak after interruptions and snide remarks. First
Amendment right allows us to have freedom of speech… but broken down,
it allows us our time at the podium less freedom of speech if Mr. Paulk
decided to stop us. I wonder how the rest of the commissioners feel about
his antics toward people being heard. Maybe they don’t have concerns
in the matter but you have to wonder if they feel intimidated as well
and just choose to say nothing.

-Susan Leavens

GA Dept. Ag. can’t enforce, but Lowndes County can

One reason LAKE permits anonymous posts is that occasionally
some useful information like this comes in that way;
received yesterday on

Graphic horse case. -jsq

Ga. Ag Equine Division is authorized to impound animals if animal cruelty is suspected.

However, if you take the time to read the state law (Ga. Code Section), you’ll see that local animal control and law enforcement are also authorized to impound horses/equine.

Counties need to understand that Ag is REGULATORY – they are NOT a criminal office. They cannot legally conduct a criminal investigation, nor file criminal charges.
Criminal investigations, and charges, have to be handled by local law enforcement.

The below excerpt is from “The Ga. Animal Protection Act” – which is – a state law.
.

4-11-9.2. Inspection warrant; impounding of animals

(a) At any time there is probable cause to believe that a violation of this article or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this article has occurred, the Commissioner, his or her designated agent, or an animal control officer who is an employee of state or local government may apply to the appropriate court in the county in which the animal is located for an inspection warrant under the provisions of Code Section 2-2-11.

(b) Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other peace officer shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this article and Code Sections 16-12-4 and 16-12-37.

Continue reading →

drug testing —Susan Leavens

Received 28 June 2011. -jsq

the attached is the drug test every employee had after the GDA turned
the statements over to the county manager… he “Joe Prichard” stated
some employees were interviewed EVERYONE even Linda was Drug tested…
she was the only one that showed concern for the drug test, she stated
because she mixed the pentasol she may test positive to the drug.
But all employees were certified to euthenis and we get it all over our
fingers and some of us have even had the syringes explode from the
needles and get in our eyes and mouth and we were not scared of testing
positive. And “all” employees were interviewed not “some”! And I might
add we all passed! Notice it is also under reasonable suspicion not
random…

-Susan Leavens