Tag Archives: Health Care

Want to help stop racism? End the failed war on drugs!

If we’re tired of arguing over pieces of cloth, how about we do something about one of the main tools of racist oppression in the U.S.? Legalize drugs, thus stopping paying for 75% of the U.S. prison population, which is far more black than white, and is often rented out for literally pennies. Remember, slavery is not illegal in the U.S., as long as it is punishment for some crime. Second clause, 13th Amendment:

except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted

More black men are in jail, prison, probation, or parole now than were enslaved in 1850, as Michelle Alexander has noted. Anyone who says Continue reading →

Videos: Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27

They vote tonight at 5:30 PM on what you can see them discussing yesterday morning in these videos.

They got a Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise for trash collection, including use of the county’s collection facility at 345 Gil Harbin Industrial Blvd. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked what about recycling; Chairman Bill Slaughter said there would be recycling at the collection centers. Which means yes ADS’ price went up and service reduced since no curbside recycling collection anymore.

County Manager Joe Pritchard asked County Engineer Mike Fletcher to report and to be added to the Regular Session emergency Nankin Road Repair due to a water-eroded box culvert. And it’s a single-source no-bid, this time for Rountree Construction.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker had a few remarks about the letter to support plans to “renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc.

The body armor request from two weeks before got Continue reading →

Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27

Finally on the agenda for the meeting right now this morning: Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise. That’s some improvement in the ongoing county trash situation previous versions of the County Commission caused.

If the Commission can sign a letter to support plans to “renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc., maybe it can sign a letter of support for expanded public transportation in Lowndes County. Arbor Trace is low income housing. Bus systems typically include many low-income riders.

Even the agenda item PDF doesn’t say, but FY 2016 HEAT Grant for the Sheriff’s Department is about Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic “to combat impaired and aggressive drivers,” with the purpose of reducing traffic fatalities. And the Juvenile Court wants to continue with its 2015 Request for Proposal (RFP) Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program.

Also on the agenda is saving money with an AT&T telephone discount and a Wine and Liquor License – VHS Corporation – 2418 Rocky Ford Road liquor license.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 27,2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

VSU President’s Committee votes to divest from fossil fuels

Students, staff, faculty, and administration all say divest from fossil fuels. What will the VSU Foundation do now? One year after the committee was appointed 10 April 2014, it made a decision 8 April 2015:

S.A.V.E. applauds the decision by the President’s Special Committee on Campus Sustainability to support fossil fuel divestment. Leadership and stewardship are part and parcel to Valdosta State’s role as an institution of higher education and we call on VSU to honor these ethos by divesting from fossil fuels, ending its profiteering from ecological harm, environmental destruction, and human suffering.

Benjamin Vieth, the representative of Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.) on that Committee, sent the above announcement after approval by S.A.V.E. Among other organizations included on that committee, Continue reading →

LCDP Cash Mob at Stan’s Quality Meats 2015-03-03

At 12:30 PM Tuesday (tomorrow) LCDP Chair Tom Hochschild will be there with signs and supporters, he tells me. Plus in addition to supporting this local business he recommends people make a small donation to the Lowndes County Food Bank for those less fortunate. -jsq

LCDP PR 26 February 2015, LCDP Cash Mob at Stan’s Quality Meats & Grocery Outlet,

The Lowndes County Democratic Party’s first-ever Cash Mob! 8AM to 8PM next Tuesday March 3, in line with our March Monday 2 meeting topic, “Democratic Party Values: Supporting Local Business”. facebook event.

For this Cash Mob, we are asking Continue reading →

HB 170: counties vs. cities? @ LCC 2015-02-10

Yesterday a Georgia House subcommittee did exactly what Valdosta urged it not to do about distributing HB 170 funds. Given that LMIG mismatch between cities and counties to replace the previous mismatch of forced double taxation on cities and counties, is the legislature trying to cause dissension between counties and their cities, or is it just that inept? We know Valdosta’s position. What will the Lowndes County Commission do?

Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson wrote to bill’s sponsor: Continue reading →

HB 170 voted out of subcommittee; what will Lowndes County Commission do? @ LCC 2015-02-06

How long will the Lowndes County government and ACCG wait to act, while the Georgia legislature moves on its stealth transportation tax hike for Atlanta that would defund local school boards and city and county governments? A House subcommittee has made some changes to the bill, but it would still force local governments to raise taxes, and it adds an unrelated repeal of an electric vehicle tax credit to its boondoggle for trucking companies and Atlanta. Do we want our local public schools to be defunded like wildlife programs were through the state’s wildlife license plate revenue tax taking? If not, now’s the time to lobby against HB 170, before the full House Transportation Committee meets Thursday. Yet there’s still nothing about HB 170 on the county’s agenda for this evening’s voting Regular Session.

Valdosta has already Continue reading →

Videos: Hospital, transportation, water, incarceration, taxes, Internet, and military @ LCC 2015-02-06

Commission and staff followed up on safety on Val Del Road that John Page brought up in Citizens Wishing to Be Heard a month ago. Appointed board and agency openings: they have a list, but you can’t see it, for the Bad Dog Board or any other. The Chairman had “support” for a referendum to appoint Tax Assessors, although “this is not a vote”. About Internet access, County Manager Joe Pritchard discussed a map of a “skeletal framework” of city and county, VSU, SGMC, Georgia Military College, Wiregrass Technical College, “the outlying cities”, as well as the industrial parks, for DSL, cable modems, etc. This discussion has come a long way in the year since Chairman Bill Slaughter said “We have broadband”.

They seem to want the county to be Continue reading →

Video: SPLOST Facility Update with boatramp @ LCC 2015-02-05

The Naylor boat ramp might be finished this fall, and here’s a list of other SPLOST expenditures, from yesterday’s Lowndes County Commission Annual Planning Meeting.

County Manager Joe Pritchard asked Chad McLeod Project Manager and Mike Fletcher County Engineer to come forward, saying “Turn in your book to that tab….” A book you, the taxpaying public reader, do not have. The county can publish board packets on their new website if they want to.

McCleod presented current facilities for SPLOST VII, after a long introduction by Pritchard, who said McLeod was the county’s liaison with Parks and Rec (VLPRA) and the Sheriff’s Department and other offices. McLeod said VLPRA projects are built by the county and turned over to VLPRA for administration, except for two projects at Freedom Park, which are being managed by VLPRA due to House Bill 489. He listed dollar amounts. I couldn’t catch all of them, but here are some of them: Continue reading →

The rest of the videos @ LCC 2015-02-05

The rest of the videos from Thursday are up, as they meet again this morning at 8:30 AM. The new videos are about Revenue and Tax Update, SPLOST Facility Update (including boat ramp), Budget Management, Solid Waste Management, Litter Control, and an unscheduled Closed Session.

All yesterday’s videos are added now to the original post.

-jsq