Gretchen Quarterman continued
interviewing County Clerk Paige Dukes
about the owl on the historic Lowndes County Courthouse.
Q: “Are there other owls around town?”
A: “There may be!”
Paige suggests owl spotters. She says the owls cost about $20 each, and this one works for the county without any further expenditure.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
That owl on the top of the Lowndes County Courthouse:
where did it come from?
As the owl watched,
Gretchen Quarterman asked County Clerk Paige Dukes.
Q: “So Paige, why is the owl up there?”
A: “The owl is up there to deter any of the pigeons in the area from flying into the courthouse.”
The owl has been on the courthouse since 2007. More details in the video: Continue reading
Downtown Valdosta Farm Days begin two weeks from tomorrow:
Bringing the best of the country to the heart of the City!There’s a calendar on their website, along with how to become a vendor.Downtown Valdosta Farm Days is a bi-weekly farmers’ market featuring local farmers and artisans and also serves to educate the community about eating local, nutrition and food choices.
Downtown Farmers Market
First and Third Saturdays from May to September
9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Lowndes County Courthouse Square, Downtown Valdosta
More on this story as it develops.
-jsq
First, an excerpt from the paper paper story by David Rodock, “Farmers market proposal discussed by commission”, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, page 3A (it’s not online): Continue reading
On the front page of the paper VDT today County Manager Joe Pritchard
proposes further restrictions on citizens in public County Commission
meetings:
“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
The interesting commission meeting will be the next one.
Remember,
Chairman Paulk said they were still operating by the old rules
at the meeting that happened this week.
So next meeting they may actually refuse to let people speak
on certain topics.
On the Frank Barnas Newstalk105.9 WVGA radio show 25 Jan 2011 the morning before the County Commission meeting, County Commmission Chairman Ashley Paulk complained that Citizens Wishing to be Heard has been abused and meetings are not free; there are people to pay.
Chairman Paulk also invoked Tuscon and said:“In these times we’ve got to run efficient meetings.”
“You need to monitor people who are there.”So posting videos of the meeting to the web should be a good idea so everyone could see what is going on.…
“You want a little better control over who and where they are.”
And in the larger picture, should we be more concerned with a few dollars now or with the ability of citizens to be heard or for that matter with the long-term economics and health of the county?
5. Resolution Establishing Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be Heard and Consideration of Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be HeardToday I went by the county palace (hey, they call it that, too!) and asked Paige Dukes, the County Clerk, what was in the old resolution and what’s in the new draft resolution. She said there was no old resolution, and a bit later she sent me the new draft resolution, which is in the PDF below.
It’s a PDF of a scan of a paper page, so I don’t have the plain text. If somebody wants to type it in and send it to me, have at it.From: “Paige Dukes” <paiged@lowndescounty.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:32:35 -0500
To: “John S. Quarterman” <jsq@quarterman.org>
Subject: Resolution Draft 1.24.2011.pdf – Adobe Acrobat Professional
See you 5:30 PM tomorrow evening (Tuesday 25 Jan 2011) at 327 N. Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. They start on the dot or slightly early, and it’s a light agenda, so be on time and don’t blink or you’ll miss it.
-jsq
Carolyn Selby reminds the Lowndes County Commission at their regular meeting on 9 February 2010 that residents
asked the Commission to redesign Quarterman Road for slower traffic.
“You did throw us a bone by limiting the speed limit at 35 miles per hour. But it’s not enforceable We asked you to put in speed humps…. Nope. Couldn’t do that.She took pictures. She called 911, and they caught one of the dragsters. Neighborhood Watch in action.You designed a mile and a half straight-away, and they have come. Welcome to the Quarterman Road Drag Strip!
The Commission responds by looking at County Engineer Mike Fletcher: Continue reading