Continue readingFormer Lowndes County commissioner Richard Lee once told me “…the learning curve is very steep for first-time commissioners.” Our new county commissioners, Richard Raines and Crawford Powell, are living proof of the veracity of that statement. In case Bill O’Reilly is reading this, here’s a few examples.
Earlier this month a grant application for the purchase of 5,000 weather emergency radios was nixed by a 2 – 1 vote. The radios could’ve been a means for citizens residing in remote areas of the county to
Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission
The owl in Hahira: March 2011 LAKE meeting

Monthly LAKE MeetingThomas says:
When: 5:30-6:45 PM, Tuesday 1 March 2011
Updated meeting location
Where: home of Thomas Ieracitano
414 East Main Street, Hahira
229-251-2462
That’s on US 122, just east of the Masonic Lodge.
“Bring a lawn chair, laptop (I will have Mediacom wireless) and your own food and drink.”If it rains or there are too many bugs or something, we will move to:
Down Home Pizza
103 South Webb Street, Hahira
229-794-1888
Help cover food, water, transportation, incarceration, solar energy, biomass, and regular local government meetings: you never know when news will be made!
Popular topics lately on the LAKE blog, On the LAKE Front, include Continue reading
Lowndes County Commission meets tonight
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Meetings start on time, and remember if you want to speak you have to sign up before the meeting, so come early.
-jsq
Citizens and Sheriff Prine recognized @LCC, 8 Feb 2011




Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Tranquility Trail –James Wright and students @LCC, 8 Feb 2011

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Are all these medical associations and doctors lying? –Dr. Noll

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Era of good feelings at County Commission

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Some of us did wonder when next thing was Noll’s microphone went off. But that was apparently just a technical failure, which continued for a while during the meeting.
I commend Chairman Paulk for his recent civil and, as Commissioner Lee used to say, “adult-like manner.”
However, as County Manager Joe Pritchard reminded everyone later at the County Commission retreat, the county government is still having a bit of difficulty adjusting to all this recent transparency. Let’s help them by showing them by example on many topics that the road of respect goes both ways.
-jsq
Say no to grants and shut off debate on biomass –Nolen Cox, LCC, 8 Feb 2011

His other topic is that he thinks we need more oil, more nuclear, and biomass. His recommendation: “I would stop discusssing it.” He thinks it’s like global warming, which he thinks is a lie. He sums up:
Build the plant, employ people, get on with the program.It’s interesting that these are about the best arguments biomass proponents have. Perhaps he’s not aware that shutting off the debate was tried recently and doesn’t seem to be working too well. Here’s the video.
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Georgia native helps inspire Egyptian revolution: MLK in Arabic

When, at first, we went to print the comic book, a security officer blocked publication. So we called him and demanded a meeting. He agreed, and we read through the comic book over coffee to address his concerns. At the end, he granted permission to print and then asked: “Could I have a few extra copies for my kids?”Continue reading
“we can limit them to one area” –Joe Pritchard

“We cannot stop anybody from taking video of a session; but we can limit them to one area; it’s distracting to us and to citizens to have somebody running around the session trying to get different angles,” said Joe Pritchard, county manager.The only person I’ve seen running around the session trying to get different angles is Paige Dukes, County Clerk. Will she now be prohibited from coming out from behind the bar to take pictures of awards and such?
Why they can’t stop anybody from taking video, according to Georgia law, O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1-c.:
“Visual, sound, and visual and sound recording during open meetings shall be permitted.”Some courts do put some restrictions on visual recordings, such as prohibiting pictures of jurors. But the Lowndes County Commission is not a court. It is the only elected body for the entire county, and thus the only public forum at which citizens can peacefully assemble to petition their local government for redress of county-wide grievances.
Does the Commission really want to put more restrictions on citizens in its meetings,
even though a constitutional scholar is questioning
the constitutionality of
the rules they recently passed?
Rules which limit the number of speakers in Citizens Wishing to be Heard to 10
and
Continue reading