Tag Archives: Valdosta City Council

Mayor starts walking back gay pride comments on WALB

Rainbow flagsValdosta Mayor John Gayle starts practicing the non-apology apology by saying he’s sorry people aren’t happy while complimenting the content of the anti-bullying proclamation he wouldn’t sign. He continues to provide earned media for the South Georgia Pride Festival.

Lydia Jennings reported for WALB yesterday, Valdosta Mayor denies Gay Pride event proclamation,

Raynae Williams Asst. Director South Georgia Pride “I’m not asking him to proclaim that he’s for gay marriage, I’m not asking any of that. It’s just simply stating that we’re here and we’re apart of the community,” said Williams.

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle “Too many times we give up our strong beliefs to make people happy, and I’m sorry that my decision didn’t make a lot of people happy,” said Gayle.

The Mayor says he compliments the organization for bringing awareness and education to bullying and hate crimes against the gay community. The event will be September 15 at the John W. Saunders Park in Valdosta.

Well, he looks apologetic, and he said he’s sorry, Valdosta banner but he for sure ain’t signin’ that proclamation, which was against bullying and hate crimes not just for the gay community, but “for all sexual orientations, races and religions.” Is he not against bullying other races and religions?

Those rainbow flags seem quite festive, as do those Valdosta banners.

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Jobs at the City of Valdosta

Valdosta City Council James R. Wright reminds us there are jobs open at the City of Valdosta. Here’s the online list, which currently looks like this the table below.

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JobTypeApplication DeadlineSalary
Police Officer Full Time 7/30/2012  $32,042.46
Neighborhood Development Coordinator Full Time 8/10/2012  $35,773.66
Laborer (Streets) PartTime 8/15/2012  $18,068.18
Public Works Director Full Time 8/8/2012  $62,994.88
Operations Superintendent Full Time 8/8/2012  $35,773.66
Automotive Service Worker Full Time Open Until Filled  $21,961.67
Refuse Collection Driver Full Time Open Until Filled  $23,059.92
Heavy Equipment Mechanic Full Time Open Until Filled  $26,694.72
Heavy Equipment Mechanic PartTime Open Until Filled  $12.83/hour
Human Resources Director Full Time Open Until Filled  DOQ

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WCTV T-SPLOST pro and con, 27 July 2012

Greg Gullberg has updated his WCTV story about T-SPLOST with a new video, this time interviewing private citizen John Gayle (for T-SPLOST) sitting at the Valdosta Mayor’s desk, Gretchen Quarterman (against T-SPLOST) at the Lowndes County Extension Office, and some other people.

Vote No T-SPLOST 31 July 2012The major issue driving people to the polls and dividing them is the TSPLOST Transportation tax. The TSPLOST Transportation Tax is a hot issue here in Georgia.. because it effects everybody. Organizers say with an extra penny of sales tax—when you add all those pennies up over the next ten years— that could be almost 20-billion dollars for the state. One side says it will ease your troubled commute. The other says the measure is so flawed it won’t really help at all.

Another excerpt:

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Valdosta Mayor provides more earned media for group he doesn’t like

Valdosta Mayor Gayle continues to provide earned media to a group he doesn’t agree with, South Georgia Pride. He says people support him ten to 1 in refusing to issue a proclamation against bullying. Yet a local TV online poll is running 2 to 1 against his position. In addition to the obvious cultural issues, there are also economic issues involved.

Dean Poling wrote for the VDT today, Pride denied: Valdosta mayor denies LGBT event proclamation,

Gayle said responses are running 10-1 in agreement with his decision.

WTXL.tv (ABC 27) asks in a poll attached to a story by Jade Bulecza yesterday, Mayor turns down proclamation request from gay community,

Do you agree with Mayor Gayle’s decision not to sign the P.R.I.D.E. Proclamation?
Yes (32.4%)
No (67.6%)

That looks to me like 2 to 1 against the mayor’s position. Bulecza’s story included:

“Most of them (proclamations) are for the cancer society, the heart fund, you know things like this or either a pastor at a church for so many years and everything and this is the first one I get like this where my beliefs interfere with it,” said Mayor Gayle.

The mayor says he recognizes all the group does for the community. He says he welcomes everyone to Valdosta.

Since Mayor Gayle took office in January this is the only proclamation he turned down. The south Georgia group says they had a proclamation signed last year.

In less than a year in office the mayor has already found difficulty separating his personal beliefs from his office as mayor.

What was he asked to sign, anyway? The VDT story has the details:

The requested proclamation does not include an endorsement of gay marriage nor does it officially endorse the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lifestyle.

“The proclamation opposes bullying and hate crimes based on sexual orientation,” Williams said. “It says the city recognizes we’re here and we’re part of the community.”

In essence, the submitted proclamation would have noted that the South Georgia Pride Committee:

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Valdosta Mayor Refuses to Endorse LGBT Pride Festival

Proclaim your festival? Not if the mayor disagrees with it. Apparently he will inadvertently give you free TV coverage, though.

Greg Gullberg reported for WCTV yesterday, Valdosta Mayor Refuses to Endorse LGBT Pride Festival,

Raynae Williams, Assistant Executive Director of South Georgia Pride One of the top members of “South Georgia Pride” called Eyewitness News reporter Greg Gullberg shortly after leaving the mayor’s office Wednesday morning. She had requested a proclamation for their upcoming festival. But as she says in this Exclusive Interview, the mayor denied their request.

“It made me feel like I did not matter to the City of Valdosta. That I was not a part of anything,” said Raynae Williams, Assistant Executive Director of South Georgia Pride.

They are planning their annual Festival this September. She wanted a mayoral proclamation to recognize the event.

“Our organization is working to educate people on tolerance and against bullying and hate crimes,” Williams said.

John Gayle, Mayor of ValdostaBut Valdosta Mayor John Gayle stands against homosexuality.

“I just don’t approve of that life style. It goes against what I believe in and if I sign that proclamation then I’m endorsing that. And I can’t do that,” said Mayor Gayle.

There’s more in the report, including this:

“I was kind of shocked when I asked how many proclamations have been denied. We are the only one,” said Williams.

And this:

Below is the link to a petition. Their goal is to reach 100 signatures.

http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-of-valdosta-ga-sign-the-proclamation-against-discrimination-and-hate

Maybe we should ask him to proclaim a No T-SPLOST day….

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Sustainable public housing for Valdosta?

A group of Valdosta City Council members recently visited Sustainable Fellwood in Savannah, and may be considering it as a model for affordable fair housing in Valdosta. There’s also a model much closer than Savannah.

Here’s how one blog described Sustainable Fellwood, 17 November 2009:

Fellwood is a project which aims to demonstrate that highly efficient and healthy buildings can be built affordably. The project will include a four acre park and a community garden. Preserving the local oak tree canopy will be another important step. The development team is taking steps to reduce stormwater run off and utilize native landscaping. Energy Star appliances, reflective roofs, and high efficiency windows are all included in the plans. The project will be registered with the EarthCraft Coastal Communities certification, and it is a pilot LEED — ND neighborhood. It is developed using the principles of smart growth for walkable and diverse communities.

Jan Skutch wrote for SavannahNow 16 May 2012, Sustainable Fellwood celebrates final two phases,

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Grants, Taxes, and a Fair Housing Committee! @ VCC 2012-07-19

Hot topic Impediments to Fair Housing returns to the Valdosta City Council tonight:

5.a. Consideration of a request to establish a Fair Housing Committee.

I’m told they’re going to appoint members to that committee tonight. More about that from their 5 April 2012 meeting.

They will also consider bids, grants, and taxes, and make a couple of award presentations.

Here’s the agenda.

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AMENDED AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, July 19, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
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Strategies for Lowndes County? —John S. Quarterman

My op-ed in the VDT today. -jsq

Our high schools and college graduates mostly have to go somewhere else, because jobs here are few and many of them don’t pay enough for a decent living. Should we not care enough about our families and our community to come up with strategies that grow existing businesses and attract new ones that will employ local people?

We need discussions and strategies that involve the whole community, going beyond just the usual planning professionals, to include all groups and individuals with information or opinions, whether they got here generations ago or last week: for fairness and for freedom.

Sometimes we see local strategy. Winn Roberson organized Drive Away CCA. Ashley Paulk verified there was no business case for a biomass plant in Lowndes County after many people successfully opposed it. School “unification” opponents, out-financed 10 to 1, still defeated that referendum 4 to 1.

How do we go beyond opposing things and move on to sustainable strategies that build clean industry?

The Industrial Authority focus group meeting I attended Wednesday was refreshing, because their consultants asked the opinions of people some of whom previously had to picket outside. The previous day, VLCIA Chairman Roy Copeland said this strategic planning process was a long time coming. I agree, and while nobody can say what will come of it at this point, I hope it does produce a real Economic Development Strategy.

Building on the Valdosta City Council’s annual consideration of affordable housing,

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2006 and 2011 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing, Valdosta

What’s this AI everyone is talking about related to fair housing? Now you can see for yourself.

Copies of the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing, City of Valdosta, are now available for 2006 and December 2011 on the LAKE website. I retrieved both of them today from Document Central on the the City of Valdosta’s Document Central. It is my understanding that the 2006 version has been there for some time, and the 2011 version was put there today. The 2011 version is a draft that has not yet been approved by HUD.

I have not read either version of the document yet, so I don’t have much to say about it yet. The point is that you can read it yourself. I’ve also pulled all the 2011 maps into separate web pages to make them easier to work with. No doubt the Valdosta City Council and staff, as well as the community steering committee formed by Council James Wright would be interested in feedback. Or you can comment on this post.

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Map of Azalea City Trail: path of Saturday afternoon’s bike ride

Here’s a map of the Azalea City Trail, which is the path of (Saturday 12 May 2012) sponsored by Valdosta Bike Co-op.

Oddly, the City of Valdosta doesn’t seem to have such a map anywhere on its web pages, nor does the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA).

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