All candidates were invited; most of the Democratic ones came and spoke;
most of the Republicans did not.
Here are links to each LAKE video of each candidate, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Deidra White
Final qualifying for November elections
Four Three contenders for Valdosta City Council District 2, none of them incumbent Deidra White.
Alvin Payton drew one challenger for District 4,
and Robert Yost drew two challengers for District 6.
Two out of three Valdosta School Board seats up for election are contested.
And we’re up to four contenders for Mayor of Hahira.
Plus 5 for the 4 Lake Park At Large seats,
and just 3 for the 3 Remerton seats.
-jsq
Lowndes County Board of Elections
2808 N. Oak St. P.O. Box 10130 Valdosta, Georgia 31604
Telephone: (229) 671-2850, Fax: (229) 333-5199
Email: elections@lowndescounty.com
QUALIFYING
November 5, 2013 – Municipal Election
* Individuals qualifying on Friday, August 30th are listed in blue *
City of Valdosta
City Council District 2
Sandra J. Tooley – 350 South St., Valdosta, GA 31601
(229) 834-0979, (229) 247-3307
ms2ly@bellsouth.net
John Hogan – 601 Lake Park Rd., Valdosta, GA 31601
(229) 247-8294, (229) 560-0084
hogantransport@gmail.com
*Calvin Graham, Sr. – 1701 Dedo Dr., Valdosta, GA 31601
(229) 247-6925
grah3219@bellsouth.net
Continue reading
Qualifying through today (29 Aug 2013) for November elections
Hahira now has three contenders for Allen Cain’s former District 2 City Council
place;
he and District 4 Rose Adams are running for Mayor against incumbent Wayne Bullard.
Four contenders now for four Lake Park At Large City Council places,
and two for three in Remerton.
Incumbent Deidra White has still not qualified for Valdosta City Council
District 2, although two other people have.
Tomorrow’s the last day to qualify.
-jsq
Lowndes County Board of Elections
2808 N. Oak St. P.O. Box 10130 Valdosta, Georgia 31604
Telephone: (229) 671-2850, Fax: (229) 333-5199
Email: elections@lowndescounty.com
QUALIFYING
November 5, 2013 – Municipal Election
* Individuals qualifying on Thursday, August 29th are listed in blue *
Continue reading
The stars all lined up for the homeless –Deidra White @ LCDP 2013-07-02
The homeless formerly living under the James Beck Overpass now have homes and most have jobs, said Valdosta City Council Deidra White at last night’s Lowndes County Democratic Party Annual 4th of July Barbecue.
White said the encampment under the overpass had been growing for some time, and people in her district, which contains the overpass, were increasingly concerned yet had had little success in dealing with the situation.
So I contacted many people in the community, homeless advocates, churches, governmental, civil, nonprofits; anyone that I’ve ever come across who has ever worked in any capacity helping with the homeless situation. And in a very,almost seemingly the stars all lined up a couple of weeks ago. Many people came together to do something about the specific eleven homeless persons who were living under the James Beck Overpass.
A private citizen donated property and said that they could stay on this property for a temporary time until we find a permanent solution. Members of the homeless coalition immediately began identifying potential employers….
She referred listeners to the recent newspaper stories for some details, and then continued:
Continue readingWater Plant Planning —Henry Hicks @ VCC 2013-03-07
Valdosta Utilities Director Henry Hicks gave a detailed history of
flood control
projects
and work on the
Withlacoochee Waste Water Processing Plant
at the Valdosta City Council Meeting last night during the
"Manager's Report" section
of
the agenda.
Several Council members expressed their distaste for the VDT’s recent reporting
on the subject, and thanked Hicks and other city employees for their work.
Hicks said
they had spent $4 million on repairs
to the Withlacoochee plant, and that didn't include the $40 million
they'd already spent on upgrades in general.
Also, it took three days to build the berm around the plant in 2009,
and FEMA wouldn't approve any improvements to it.
He said he would Continue reading
To Speak or Not To Speak @ VCC 21 April 2011
Can Council members answer in Citizens to Be Heard,
or can’t they?
One did; another says she can’t.
In Council Comments at the end of the 21 April 2011 Valdosta City Council meeting, Sonny Vickers talked about bids.
Then Deidra White said she would attend any meeting where she could hear and reply to citizens’ concerns, but she can can’t say anything about Citizens to be Heard because there’s a Council policy.
That’s interesting, considering that in the previous Valdosta City Council meeting, in Citizens to be Heard, Council Sonny Vickers responded to Dr. Mark George saying that he had already told everyone that he was for the biomass plant. Does this mean that Council supporters of the biomass plant can speak Continue reading
Equal opportunity criticizer —John S. Quarterman
Leigh Touchton
remarked:
…apparently Yost thinks your criticism of people not staying is something he can use to good effect to nullify the need to publicly address citizen complaints.Well, good luck to him: it doesn’t seem to be working that way.
I think I’m an equal opportunity criticizer.
Remember
I pointed out that the council is not a law enforcement body
and gave a recent example of that.
And I pointed out that the mayor of little old Gretna
put out a proclamation saying no biomass
and the great city of Valdosta could go ahead and do that
instead of waiting for somebody else to make the decision for them.
And yes,
I criticized the protesters for not staying.
I’m not surprised various people choose to ignore part of what I said
and pick up on other parts; life’s like that.
I understand that some people don’t like to take a strong position in public. Clearly not everybody has to be an advocate for or against any given topic.
However, my opinion is that anybody who runs for elected office should be willing to say in public what their opinion is. Sure, sometimes it’s good to say “I’m thinking about it” or “I’m studying it” or even better “I’d like to know more about X”: that could promote a dialog. Even “I’m working on it behind the scenes” would be a useful public statement. But elected officials refusing to take any position is ridiculous, and I see nothing wrong with laughing out loud at the ridiculous.
-jsq
Public criticism —Leigh Touchton
Leigh Touchton posted a comment with a report from
last night’s Valdosta City Council meeting:
I won’t stay to the end in the future because if they are going to make public attacks on citizens and then go into Executive session so they don’t have to hear a rebuttal, then I don’t care to listen to their bombast. Yost apparently thinks your public criticism of the activists not staying (and also the Tea Party left right after one of their members read from the Bible about how laws and regulation are a sin–I had difficulty keeping from laughing out loud—we’re in a recession because laws and regulation were thrown away and banks made a video called Banks Gone Wild…but I digress)…apparently Yost thinks your criticism of people not staying is something he can use to good effect to nullify the need to publicly address citizen complaints. Here’s his position, distilled:Continue reading“You won’t stay to the end, I’m offended. You called our important work boring, I’m offended. (much redness of face, some veins popping out) You come in here and talk to us like that then I’m not going to address your complaints, I’m offended.”Well I’m offended that a grown man elected to represent Valdosta acts like that.Let me go back and educate the gentle readers out there who haven’t
What happens at the end of a Valdosta City Council meeting?
This:
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Adjournment!
Little joke there.
But adjournment is not the end of interacting with the city government at a city council meeting.
For example,
Council Deidra White stopped on the steps of City Hall
to talk to people.
Three people were there.
All of us lived in the county outside Valdosta.
Not a single person who lives in Valdosta stayed
to talk to her.
Among other things, she said she thought she made clear at the end of the last Council meeting that the mayor didn’t speak for her. That was at the end of the meeting, in the “Council Comments” item on the agenda. However, apparently nobody stayed to hear that, either.
-jsq
Deidra White Birthday Party and Benefit for Diane
Deidra White threw a party at Bas Bleu in downtown Valdosta.
The band lineup kept changing, but it included both amateurs such as
Deidra, Stan White, Charles F. Simons (who is Valdosta Chief of Police
when he’s not playing lead guitar), and professional musicians such as
Joe Smothers of Skannyardle and Brady Carrington and Rory Hoke of The Moore Trio.
The occasion was Deidra’s birthday and a benefit for Diane:
Right now, one of our own Diane, age 48, who is the “Mom” of the kitchen staff at The Bleu Cafe is fighting her own battle against this disease.So on Deidra’s birthday, this Saturday, we’re going to celebrate health and being alive while we raise money to help Diane with expenses while she is unable to work.
Here are a few clips of the band:
That’s the whole playlist. You can pick out individual videos through this link to the playlist.
-jsq