It’s great that the local cities and the county government
think they can negotiate how to share Local Option Sales Tax (LOST)
money this time without spending a lot of money suing each other
like they did back in 2002.
It’s not so great that they’re doing it at an unannounced time and place.
As required by state law, Lowndes County issued a letter to the
mayors of all the municipalities in the county, requesting they
attend a renegotiation meeting Monday, April 9 to discuss LOST
(local option sales tax) distributions.
“This has to be done and approved by the end of the year in
order to stay in place, so we have to start the process now,”
said Commission Chairman Ashley Paulk.
Well, that’s interesting.
When is this meeting?
Ah, the time of day wasn’t included in the article.
A little reading in local histories of the area or talking to people
who were involved even a generation or two back indicates that Lowndes
County has always been a cliquish sort of place, mostly run by old boys,
for reasons that made some sense in the early days (lack of resources,
mainly), but doesn’t so much anymore in these days of I-75 and I-10,
airport, railroads that still go everywhere, Moody AFB, VSU as a regional university, technical and community colleges,
two hospitals and medical industry, TitleTown, Grand Bay WMA, Wild Adventures,
and south Georgia sunshine we can export to Atlanta and points north.
Here are a few books about the old days, all available in local libraries
and possibly in local bookstores:
Continue reading →
Marching at the Industrial Authority 2012 Part 1 of 3:
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Motorcade against Corrections Corporation of America, Drive Away CCA,
CCA, VLCIA, Corrections Corporation of America, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
Valdosta City Council, Lowndes County Commission, incarceration, prison, private prison,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
They weren’t in, since they only meet once a month.
Before selling it off to a private landowner who
who two years later got a contract with private prison company CCA
to resell it for almost 100% profit,
the Industrial Authority acquired a road easement through county-owned wetlands
from Lowndes County:
Further, Grantor hereby conveys a Non-Exclusive Ingress and Egress Easement
in that certain 0.685 acre tract or parcel of land
situate, lying and being in Land Lot 153 of th 11th
Land District of Lowndes County, Georgia.
Said 0.685 acre tract being designated as “0.685 acres — Ingress/Egress
Easement reserved for future right-of-way extension”
as depicted on that certain map or survey
“Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority” dated
September 8, 2004 and recorded September 9, 2004 in Plat Cabinet A, Page 2659,
Lowndes County records, to which
map and survey is hereby referred in further aid of description.
An easement that a private landowner might have more difficulty getting
from the county.
Isn’t that convenient?
Heading out Drive Away CCA 2012 03 06
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Motorcade against Corrections Corporation of America, Drive Away CCA,
CCA, VLCIA, Corrections Corporation of America, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
Valdosta City Council, Lowndes County Commission, incarceration, prison, private prison,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Winn Roberson told us how he had the idea for the
motorcade against CCA,
from the private prison site past Valdosta City Hall to the Industrial Authority.
Starting up Drive Away CCA —Winn Roberson 2012 03 06 Part 1 of 2:
No private prison in Lowndes County,
Motorcade against Corrections Corporation of America, Drive Away CCA,
CCA, VLCIA, Corrections Corporation of America, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
Valdosta City Council, Lowndes County Commission, incarceration, prison, private prison,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
And how he wasn’t opposed to it just because it was down the street from him;
also because:
“Every step so far has dollar signs behind it.”
A private prison would give everybody from justices to jailers incentive
to keep more people in prison instead of rehabilitating anybody.
Valdosta City Council and Mayor, who may not have been following the private prison issue,
now know about it and are aware that they are all implicated in the private prison
decision, due to events at the Industrial Authority board meeting
and the Valdosta City Council meeting, both Thursday 23 February 2012.
After remarking that I’d rather be talking about the additional solar panels
recently installed on my farm workshop up here in the north end of the county,
I recapped the
case against a private prison
and referred the Valdosta City Council to
my LTE in the VDT of that morning
(Thursday 23 February 2012).
I remarked that I was disappointed the Industrial Authority
hadn’t done anything to stop the prison at its meeting earlier that same day.
Since they might be wondering what all this had to do with them, I pointed out that,
if I could use the word,
they were all implicated as mayor and council
in the private prison decision because
Jay Hollis, CCA’s Manager of Site Acquisition, in his Valdosta-Lowndes County, GA / CCA Partnership: Prepared Remarks of August 2010,
lavishly praised the Lowndes County Commission and Chairman and the
Valdosta City Council and mayor.
Although the mayor was different now, and maybe some of the council,
nonetheless it was the same offices of council and mayor, still implicated.
I asked for their opinions on that subject.
Per their custom, they did not offer any at that time.
So, maybe we’ll hear from them later.
Or maybe the Industrial Authority board will hear from them….
Valdosta Mayor and Council are implicated in the private prison —John S. Quarterman @ VCC 2012 02 23
VSEB, employment,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 February 2012.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.
John Robinson told the Valdosta City Council that he thought the
application for the
Valdosta Small Emerging Business (VSEB) Program
was too long and complicated compared to the one-page
application to do major construction work.
VSEB application is too long — John Robinson @ VCC 2012 02 23
VSEB, employment,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 February 2012.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.
They’re even quieter about it than the Industrial Authority,
but the Valdosta City and Lowndes County governments are in the
private prison deal just as deep.
Our Valdosta/Lowndes County site quickly became our primary due to its
local and regional workforce, collaboration of local leadership, site
characteristics, proximity to necessary services and infrastructure,
and accessibility to name a few.
So who is this local leadership?
We look forward to working closely with Valdosta/Lowndes leadership as we move forward in the months to come.
Finally, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a few folks that have been essential to the project:
As required by state law, Lowndes County issued a letter to the mayors of all the municipalities in the county, requesting they attend a renegotiation meeting Monday, April 9 to discuss LOST (local option sales tax) distributions.
