Continue readingAGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, November 10, 2011
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
George Rhynes complimented Ashley Paulk for having provided
information about people in jail when Paulk was Sheriff,
and noted that unfortunately that had not been the case since.
He asked if someone could point him to where he could get such
information.
Chairman Paulk reminded him that the Sheriff is a constitutional
officer, and the Commission did not direct him.
George Rhynes responded:
Everywhere I go, I hear that. I go to Brooks County, and they inform me of the same thing.Chairman Paulk noted:
… by state law.They agreed on that, and George said he thought nonetheless:
Seems like somebody in the state of Georgia would know how to get that information, if it is open.
George also said: Continue reading
As
previously noted,
Chairman Ashley Paulk last night told Matt Portwood
he didn’t think the Lowndes
County Commission should be meddling in school affairs.
Here’s the part the VDT didn’t quote:
And I feel like there’s somebody meddling in their affairs; I wish they wouldn’t have.That’s pretty interesting considering that Brittany D. McClure reported for the VDT 4 November 2011 that FVCS makes campaign contributions public:
Ashley Paulk, Lowndes County Commission chairman contributed $200So it’s not like the public doesn’t already know Ashley Paulk’s opinion on this subject, and it seems he was reminding us of it: he contributed money to FVCS, a group actively lobbying to prevent the school consolidation promoted by CUEE.
Chairman Paulk also noted:
We do have county residents who live in the city.Seems like he’s confusing two excuses for the Commissioners not speaking about school consolidation: Continue reading
Here’s the agenda:
Continue readingLOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Commissioner Crawford Powell wanted exemptions or exceptions
to Lowndes County’s travel policy for
“department heads, elected officials, County Manager”.
Commissioner Richard Raines just wanted the limits raised.
Commissioner Joyce Evans preferred they
…make a statement that we should not exceed a certain amount per day.Chairman Ashley Paulk said exceptions were a problem and indicated they would be a bad idea. Powell and Raines are the same Commissioners who thought accepting a federal grant for NOAA Weather Radios would be “wasteful spending” of tax dollars and who refused a federal grant for an emergency vehicle. Spending local taxes seems fine with then when it comes to their travel expenses. They finally adopted a total of $75/day for meals. I hate to agree with Frank Barnas, but GSA standard for trips to Atlanta is $56/day.
At the Monday 24 October 2011 County Commission Work Session, County Manager Pritchard said the county’s travel policy had been discussed during their retreat and during budget preparations, with changes for mileage reimbursement, meal limitations, and use of tax forms. .
This is the policy we have been acting under since the adoption of the budget. I just wanted to bring it back before you to make this adoption public.Joyce Evans expressed a concern about it saying the County Manager or his designee could approve expenses. She seemed to want the designee part removed.
Crawford Powell said:
Without discussion, the Lowndes County Commissioners at their regular
meeting two weeks ago on 11 October 2011. approved an intergovernmental
agreement with South Georgia Medical Center to guarantee more than $100
million in bonds, for expansion of SGMC facilities, to include 96 new
private rooms in the Dasher Heart Center, the 5 story parking deck,
now under construction and due to be completed in early 2012, and Life
Safety and Generator Equipment updates.
If one had not been at the work session and heard the presentation at their work session the day before, one would have no idea what this agenda item was about, since the Commission does not post such presentations anywhere the public can see them. Fortunately, LAKE was there and videoed it.
Here’s the video:
Lowndes County Commissioners approve intergovernmental agreement with SGMC
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-gretchen
Here’s an interesting presentation by a group of 4-H people
to the Lowndes County Commission in their Regular Sessino of 11 October 2011.
Hm, first they said the pledge, and what’s that I see?
Why look, it’s a camera!
Here during the 4-H presentation, she’s moved up to the second row from the front, right side:
What seems familiar about that location? Continue reading
Mayor Sonny Vickers said he thought it was important for children
and grandchildren and proper for the City Council to take a stand
against school consolidation, and City Manager Larry Hanson read
the statement (transcript appended).
For:
James Wright District 1 
Hoke Hampton District 3 
Alvin Payton District 4 Ben Norton At Large Didn’t Have to Vote: 
Sonny Vickers Mayor |
|---|
Against:
Robert Yost District 6 
Tim Carroll District 5 Missing: 
Deidra White District 2 |
|---|
That means Ben Norton changed his vote since since their last non-binding vote related to school consolidation. (Nonbinding because they didn’t have any authority to decide whether the referendum went on the ballot or not.) Council Deidra White of District 2 was absent throughout the meeting, which I find rather odd since she seemed quite aware when I spoke to her the previous day that this vote was going to occur. Back in August she voted against putting the referendum on the ballot. Yes, I know the motion was not exactly the same, so the votes are not exactly comparable. In any case, this time there was no tie and thus no need for the (new) mayor to break a tie.
Here’s the video:
Valdosta City Council voted to oppose school consolidationo
education, consolidation, resolution,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Here’s the statement transcribed as accurately as I could from the video: Continue reading
Land Development Regulations (LDR) that people ought to pay attention to,
scheduled for tonight’s Valdosta City Council (VCC) meeting.
But the one many people are going to see is this one:
6.a) Consideration of a Position Statement on School Consolidation.Some people are confused, because VCC has no formal authority over any school system. They didn’t have any formal authority to decide whether to put the school referendum on the ballot, either. According to the Lowndes County Board of Elections, once Continue reading
Nolen Cox seems to think CHIP grant recipients don’t work.
Chairman Paulk declined to let Mrs. Cox speak because he said in a letter to the Commission she called them idiots. When he let Nolen Cox speak, Cox said:
I think it’s interesting that the comments about the CHIP grant comes after the vote. Y’all must be an all-wise group.Chairman Paulk referred to that as sarcastic. Cox disagreed. Paulk said it was in his opinion and he decided such things there.
Cox asserted that:
to get a $300,000 grant it takes about $420,000 of tax money accumulated from citizens.He didn’t cite any source for those figures. He did claim the Commission was luring people into homebuying while home prices are going down.
Somebody had to work for the money that they didn’t get to give to somebody who didn’t work.Sounds like he was saying CHIP grant recipients don’t work. I wonder how they pay their mortgages then, since CHIP grants as near as I can tell only help with down payments?
I guess he didn’t hear Carolyn Selby’s point that CHIP grants turn renters into property tax-paying owners. Seems like that would help keep Nolen Cox’s property taxes low.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
