Category Archives: T-SPLOST

T-SPLOST Lost!

Counties: green no, blue yes With all counties reporting, only Bacon, Clinch, Coffee, and Irwin went for T-SPLOST: voters defeated it in Region 11 by 38,514 no votes (58%) to 28,040 Yes (42%) votes.

Update 2017-03-27: And Atkinson, with final tally 38,731 no votes (58%) to 28,217 Yes (42%). Plus it’s back as a regional proposal.

Lowndes County voted 2 to 1 against. That’s the result of hard work by a broad coalition across the political spectrum, including everybody from Gretchen Quarterman to Nolen Cox.

The only regions to vote Yes were 7-Central Savannah River, 8-River Valley, and 9-Heart of Georgia, all 2 of 3 of them state border regions. Even 12-Coastal rejected T-SPLOST 58% to 42%. Atlanta metro Region 3, the real excuse for the whole failed exercise, resoundingly defeated T-SPLOST by a whopping 63% to 37%.

Georgia Sierra Club and Atlanta Tea Party have already drawn up Plan B for metro Atlanta. How about a Plan B for the entire state, with passenger rail from Atlanta to Valdosta and Savannah, bus systems in every metro area, and airport improvements?

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Candidate lists: vote today

Today’s the primary election: remember to vote!

I just posted videos of the two Democratic candidates for Lowndes County Commission District 4 (east side), Demarcus Marshall and Allen Lane. You may wonder, where are my videos of the two Republican candidates? Well, they weren’t at that baseball reunion, so I didn’t video them. Marshall and Lane I think were the only the two there who are in a contested primary race.

Update: And Chris Gay for Coroner.

Update 2: At another recent event, Doyle Kelly (incumbent) and Bob Dewar (challenger) spoke about why they are running for Tax Assessor Post 1.

I did video all the other candidates who were there, and I will post those videos later. A while back I went to a Lowndes County Republican Party (LCRP) meeting and volunteered to video the speakers, but was told that can’t happen there. I guess they’re shy.

Here once again is a list of All candidates for offices inside Lowndes County, Georgia in 2012. And here’s a post about candidates for the Public Service Commission and the legislature. Here’s how to find out who’s on your ballot and where to vote. Don’t forget the T-SPLOST referendum is on the same ballot today.

County Commission District 5 (west side of Lowndes County) has four Republicans running and no Democrats:

County Commission Super District 5

Bill Tucker (R)

2427 Westwood Dr., Valdosta, GA 31602
229-242-1900 (h)
tucker658@bellsouth.net

Jody T. Hall (R)

7288 Hall-Webb Rd., Hahira, GA 31632
229-794-1425 (h), 229-563-1762 (w)
jolan777@yahoo.com

Adam Rassatt (R)

4470 Plantation Crest Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602
229-834-7465 (h), 229-247-4301 (w)
adamrassatt@gmail.com

John P. Page (R)

P.O. Box 32, Hahira, GA 31632
229-834-3939 (h), 229-249-9797 (w)
jppage@att.net

I did see my neighbor Jody Hall at Valdosta Farm Days and took a video of him there.

-jsq

 

My Voter Page by GA Sec. State

Still confused after seeing the list of polling places? Want to know which precinct you're in? My Voter Page provided by the Georgia Secretary of State can tell you, along with a map and directions. It can also provide you with a sample ballot.

Hm, here's the T-SPLOST referendum wording:

SPECIAL ELECTION Referendum 1

Southern Georgia District T-SPLOST

(Vote for One)

Provides for local transportation projects to create jobs, improve roads and safety with citizen oversight.
Shall Lowndes County's transportation system and the transportation network in this region be improved by providing for a 1 percent special district transportation sales and use tax for the purpose of transportation projects and programs for a period of ten years?
  • YES
  • NO

Well, now that they mention it, I'd say T-SPLOST shall not improve the transportation system in this county or region, and that's why I'm voting against it.

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Precincts for 2012 elections

Polling Places, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2012 According to the Lowndes County Board of Elections, the current voting precincts for Tuesday’s 31 July 2012 Primary Election, including the T-SPLOST referendum, are as listed below.

These are not the same as the precincts for last year’s elections.

Precinct 1 Hahira Historical Society, 116 E. Lawson St., Hahira
Precinct 2 Old Pine Grove Elementary School Gym, 4023 Pine Grove Road, Valdosta
Precinct 3 Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3501 Bemiss Road Valdosta
Precinct 4 Northside Baptist Church Gym, 200 E. Park Avenue, Valdosta
Precinct 5 Jaycee Park Activities Building, 2306 Jaycee Shack Road, Valdosta
Precinct 6 Naylor City Hall, 8753 Georgia Highway 135, Naylor
Precinct 7 Wood Valley Community Center, 1907 Gornto Road, Valdosta
Precinct 8 Rainwater Conference Center, One Meeting Place, Valdosta
Precinct 9 New Clyattville Fire Station, 5080 Madison Highway, Clyattville
Precinct 10 Mildred Hunter Community Center, 509 S. Fry St., Valdosta
Precinct 11 Dasher City Hall, 3686 US Hwy 41 S. Dasher
Precinct 12 South Lowndes Recreation Center, 6440 Ocean Pond Ave, Lake Park


View Lowndes County Polling Places 2012 in a larger map

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WCTV T-SPLOST pro and con, 27 July 2012

Greg Gullberg has updated his WCTV story about T-SPLOST with a new video, this time interviewing private citizen John Gayle (for T-SPLOST) sitting at the Valdosta Mayor’s desk, Gretchen Quarterman (against T-SPLOST) at the Lowndes County Extension Office, and some other people.

Vote No T-SPLOST 31 July 2012The major issue driving people to the polls and dividing them is the TSPLOST Transportation tax. The TSPLOST Transportation Tax is a hot issue here in Georgia.. because it effects everybody. Organizers say with an extra penny of sales tax—when you add all those pennies up over the next ten years— that could be almost 20-billion dollars for the state. One side says it will ease your troubled commute. The other says the measure is so flawed it won’t really help at all.

Another excerpt:

Continue reading →

Ashley Paulk opposes T-SPLOST

In his Tuesday T-SPLOST story WCTV reporter Greg Gullberg noted that current Lowndes County Chairman Ashley Paulk said "the Commission is not taking a stance." Indeed, but Ashley Paulk himself took a stance against T-SPLOST as far back as April 2011, when he said:

I think what disturbs me, is when you've got to put something in the law that's a stick, carrot and stick, you don't do what I've said you're going to get punished….

Right now if I had to vote for it I could not find the interest to get out there.

He also said:

Right now, I do not have a good or warm fuzzy feeling about this. That could change.

He said he'd tell us if it changed. Last time I checked with him, his position had not changed.

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“Poor people and middle class people will pay more. And that’s just not fair” —Gretchen Quarterman about T-SPLOST on WCTV 2012-07-24

Gregg Gullberg reported for WCTV yesterday, Georgia Voters To Decide… What Can An Extra Penny Do For You?

Poor people and middle class people will pay more. And that s just not fair “Sales tax falls unfairly on the poor and middle class,” said Gretchen Quarterman, who is running for Chair of the Lowndes County Commission. “So as a percentage of their income, poor people and middle class people will pay more. And that’s just not fair.”

The current chair says the Commission is not taking a stance. But we did talk to Valdosta Mayor John Gayle by phone.

“Valdosta is a growing city. And TSPLOST gives us the means to keep it on track. The entire region can benefit from improved transportation,” said Mayor Gayle.

Each region will hold its own independent election, so there is no need to worry how a different region will vote. Residents will vote on this tax next Tuesday, July 31st.

As Gullberg promised on-air, the WCTV online story contains a list of T-SPLOST projects and more information. Here’s the WCTV video.

And here’s more about how T-SPLOST doesn’t include any public transportation projects that would help people get to work, about the two I-75 interchange projects, about GDOT changes to costs of projects and about how we can make a Plan B.

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TSPLOST — There are ways to get more road ‘bang’ for buck

MJDOnline editorialized today, The TSPLOST — There are ways to get more road ‘bang’ for buck. Most of it is about Cobb County, but some of it may sound familiar:

THOSE PUSHING the TSPLOST have bungled the job despite their gargantuan $8 million war chest. They have muddled their message (is it congestion relief or a jobs program?) and even managed to fumble the project list. Cobb voters don't know whether they're voting for a rail line or a bus line. And even though the proposal now specifies the latter, the overwhelming suspicion is that if the TSPLOST passes they'll be stuck paying and paying and paying for the former instead.

Better to vote down this TSPLOST and hope and pray that it also fails region-wide, than possibly come back in two years with an improved project list that can get the public's buy-in. As it is, the bulk of the Cobb projects on the current list would likely be on a future local Cobb road SPLOST list if there were no such thing as a regional TSPLOST. Which begs another question: Why should Cobb abdicate control over its road program to the Atlanta Regional Commission or a regional roundtable in the first place? Who knows better than Cobb residents what our transportation needs are?

What do you think? Does GDOT in Atlanta know better than we do what we need around here?

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I think voting on a Saturday is super extra great and convenient —Gretchen Quarterman

Gretchen reminded us to vote early yesterday. She got on TV to do that.

Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV yesterday, Voting On Saturday For First Time In Ga. History

For the first time ever, Georgia voters statewide were able to cast their ballots on a Saturday. And for some it was their best chance.

Gretchen on WCTV “I think voting on a Saturday is super extra great and convenient,” said Gretchen Quarterman, Georgia voter. “To vote on Saturday is particularly convenient. You can just fit it in your errands.”

“It gives the opportunity for voters to get out and vote for those who have to work and it’s an inconvenience for them during the week,” said Sarah Stewart, Georgia Voter.

The extra day comes after the Georgia legislature shortened the early voting period for the Primaries. They took it down from 45 days to only 21.

In Lowndes County, plenty of people are taking advantage of early voting.

So what was Gretchen doing there?

Continue reading →

T-SPLOST losing statewide, but not in Region 11

It sounds like good news for T-SPLOST opponents, until you look at the details.

Eve Chen wrote for 11Alive yesterday, 11Alive Poll | T-SPLOST would not pass today

Among likely voters surveyed by SurveyUSA for 11Alive News, across the state, 48% said they would vote against T-SPLOST and 36% said they would vote for it if the primary were today; 16% were still undecided. The margin of error was 3.4%.

But look at the details. The big No regions are Atlanta metro and northwards (see Question 1). In our Region 11 it’s Yes 41%, No 33%, Not Certain 26% so there’s work to be done. Do we want to end up stuck with projects we don’t need after Atlanta votes down its region in a referendum that was designed to pass in Atlanta?

My favorite is question 6:

How likely is it that the state government would properly handle the funds if the transportation tax increase is passed?

In region 11, Very 17%, Somewhat 24%, Not Very 25%, Not At All 21%, Not Sure 14%. Trust problem, GDOT?

And nobody is buying the scare tactics. See Question 4, for which every region says by around 2 to 1 that traffic would stay about the same without T-SPLOST. Question 3 indicates few even think T-SPLOST would improve traffic. We also know a Plan B is possible. How about a Plan B including public transportation for south Georgia to help people get to work?

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