At Monday’s Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting,
LCDP Chair
Gretchen Quarterman introduced Kay Harris as chairman of the Library Board.
You can see that board in action a few weeks ago
in these previous videos.
Kay Harris said she was not there as editor of the newspaper,
since as such she wouldn’t be allowed (presumably by the newspaper)
at a partisan meeting.
She was there as chair of the library board.
She said this is her fifth year on that board, and
her second year as chairman.
She said the county put her on that board to move along the
library project, which had been in process for some time.
She said she had led negotiations with the City of Valdosta
for the Five Points process.
She mentioned the
Five Points Steering Committee,
of which she is also a member.
About the current library building and how the new one would be better,
she said,
The library board heard citizens at length about a problem that was
apparently news to the board,
later considered the problem at length,
came up with an interim solution,
and formed a committee to examine it longterm.
Citizen concerns about rules against after hours library use
Concerns were raised about hours at the southside library at the monthly meeting
of the South Georgia Library Board, 18 September 2012.
Apparently rules have recently been changed for
all library branches
so that meetings can no longer be held after library hours.
This is a problem for volunteer groups composed of working people.
It was unclear what the latest version of the rules is.
And the library board appeared
unfamiliar with the hours of its own libraries.
However, they did at the end of their meeting
extensively consider the issue
and apparently come to an interim solution with
a path to a more general solution.
The rules change may have been due to
one incident at one branch
(not the southside branch)
for which the library board knew the sponsoring organization.
Questions were raised as to why a blanket rules change ensued.
One citizen pointed out that
taxpayers pay for the library buildings
so it’s not clear why they should be prevented from using them;
school buildings, too.
Another consideration was
elderly parent care, because it’s hard to get help for that
any time other than during the day.
Kay Harris wanted to be sure everyone who wanted to speak had spoken.
At least one citizen left
a written statement for the record,
which is always a good idea.
Then all the citizens who had spoken left the meeting,
apparently uninterested in anything else the library board was doing.
Interestingly,
a southside library support group
was in one of the regular report items.
Transparency
After the other citizens left, one of the library board (his nameplate
said Ray Devery)
asked whether Gretchen could stay.
Kay Harris without hesitation said yes and moved on to approval of the minutes.
Congratulations to Kay Harris on knowing the open meetings law
and sticking to it!
Speaking of the minutes, where are they so the taxpaying public can see them?
Regarding the planned Five Points library, Kay Harris clarified
that staff are not supposed to help promote that
“in any way, shape, or form.”
During paid hours.
After hours is different.
South Georgia Library Board
southside library hours,
Monthly Meeting, South Georgia Library Board (SGLB),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 September 2012.
Rubberstamping library architect
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 July 2012.
It would be easier for people to vote for SPLOST VII if they knew
what they were getting.
So far, that’s difficult to tell from what’s been published.
Many questions remain to be answered.
The county projects penny sales tax collections through SPLOST VII
to total at least $150 million during a six-year period, a sum that
could fund a library complex, an auditorium, the installation of a
mandated public safety radio system, an array of municipal water and
sewage improvements, new equipment for police officers and
firefighters, and road maintenance projects.
There is not adequate funding for these projects if the SPLOST
referendum does not pass, according to city and county planners.
$150 million is not $35 million.
$150 million divided by six is $25 million, not $35 million.
Update 2012-09-27 8:50AM: Added video, stills, and notes about the County Palace and Internet access.
The seventh Special Local Option Sales Tax, SPLOST,
will be on the November ballot.
Not to be confused with the just-defeated
bogus regional transportation T-SPLOST,
or last year’s successful
educational ESPLOST,
or the
currently renegotiating property-tax-relief LOST,
SPLOST VII will follow up on SPLOST VI
in supporting local infrastructure projects.
There is a campaign in Lowndes County to rally for the tax called
SPLOST, or the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. It could
bring in as much as $35 million, but that is only if voters say it’s
worth the extra pennies.
After
briefly discussing or at least hearing items at
the previous morning's Work Session,
the Lowndes County Commission voted on them at its Regular Session of
Tuesday 11 September 2012.
Here's
the agenda,
and the copy below has links to the corresponding videos or
previous blog posts.
Here's a
video playlist.
After no changes since
the previous morning's Work Session,
the Lowndes County Commission
at its 11 September 2011 Regular Session
did the right thing and denied a rezoning
that would have put many houses in a wet area next to many people
who did not want it.
One speaker against the rezoning said some of the adjoining land
had been in his wife's family since her Indian ancestors.
Rezoning denied: REZ-2012-12 Parker Place, 4842 Parker Place Rd.
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 September 2012.
Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, you have handed, or were placed at your seats,
a revised alcohol beverage brown bagging ordinance.
There were some changes that came about, wording changes,
yesterday, after our work session.
Ah, that passive voice!
I guess it was the ordinance elf that made those changes and left paper
copies at each Commissioner’s seat.
The ordinance elf didn’t put a copy of that draft on the web where
the rest of us could see it, however.
John Page, recent winner of the Republican Primary for
Lowndes County Commission District 5,
spoke as a citizen wishing to be heard in
yesterday’s Commission meeting.
He said he was resigning from his appointed post on the Planning Commission
effective 31 December 2012
because he sees it as a conflict with his upcoming elected position as a
County Commissioner, plus he said he does not have time to do both.
(Since there is no Democratic or other candidate for District 5,
Page will be the Commissioner.)
Page recommended
his primary runoff opponent Jody Hall
as his replacement on the Planning Commission.
Update 2012-09-20: Fixed video embedding.
Here’s
the video:
Resigning from Planning Commission; suggest appoint Jody Hall —John Page
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 September 2012.
I commend John Page for both of his decisions, and for announcing all this
in a public meeting in front of a video camera.
Maybe as a County Commissioner he will support transparency.
And I commend Jody Hall for being willing to serve on the Planning Commission.
Maybe as a Planning Commissioner he will support transparency.
Kay Harris said she was not there as editor of the newspaper,
since as such she wouldn’t be allowed (presumably by the newspaper)
at a partisan meeting.
She was there as chair of the library board.
She said this is her fifth year on that board, and
her second year as chairman.
