Tag Archives: VLCIA

Second prison guard pled guilty for assaulting strikers

Conspiracy, assault with injury, coverup: another Georgia prison guard pled guilty, all in response to a strike by prisoners for decent pay. And remember, private prisons have fewer guards per prisoner and less training.

WTXL wrote yesterday, Ex-prison officer pleads guilty in inmate beatings

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday Darren Douglass-Griffin pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of inmates and falsification of records in a federal investigation.

Douglass-Griffin admitted he and other correctional officers at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe assaulted and injured inmates in a series of incidents in 2010. He told prosecutors correctional officers beat three inmates in separate incidents to punish them. One inmate was beaten so badly he had to be taken from the prison in an ambulance.

Douglass-Griffin also said he and other officers tried to cover up the officers’ involvement by writing false reports and lying to investigators.

I say “another” because the federal Department of Justice entitled its PR of yesterday Second Former Georgia Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiring with Other Officers to Assault and Injure Inmates. DOJ didn’t say who the first to plead guilty was, but it did add:

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There is something you can do

Anybody who has tried to do much of anything around here has run into this phrase:

There’s nothing you can do.

I was reminded of that when I read this, from the Economist 12 May 2012, Hope springs a trap,

This hopelessness manifests itself in many ways. One is a sort of pathological conservatism, where people forgo even feasible things with potentially large benefits for fear of losing the little they already possess.

The article expands on that idea:

Development economists have long surmised that some very poor people may remain trapped in poverty because even the largest investments they are able to make, whether eating a few more calories or working a bit harder on their minuscule businesses, are too small to make a big difference. So getting out of poverty seems to require a quantum leap—vastly more food, a modern machine, or an employee to mind the shop. As a result, they often forgo even the small incremental investments of which they are capable: a bit more fertiliser, some more schooling or a small amount of saving.

It may seem that the article is about the poorest of people, but that “pathological conservatism” could as easily apply to the hopelessness many people seem to have about ever getting solar panels on their own roofs, or to attracting enough business to our area to employ our high school and college graduates, or that businesses will ever come to the south side.

Yet the point of the article is that field studies by MIT economist Esther Duflo show Continue reading →

Who will let the sun shine on Georgia?

Someone asked who to vote for who will represent the people more than the electric utilities, on Elect Georgia legislators and Public Service Commissioners who will let the sun shine on Georgia! OK, here’s my opinion.

Sec. State provides you with a sample ballot.

For PSC, vote for somebody who isn’t an incumbent (the incumbents are marked on the ballot). The election today is a primary, so you need to select a Democratic ballot (Steve Oppenheimer District 3 is not an incumbent) or a Republican ballot (Pam Davidson District 5 and Matt Reid District 3 are not incumbents).

For the legislature, here is a list of who voted for the nuke stealth tax as a charge on Georgia Power bills for electricity nobody will get for years if ever. On your ballot, see if somebody else is running against them. Around here, somebody is: Bikram Mohanty for State Senate District 8, Teresa Lawrence for State House District 174, and JC Cunningham for State House District 175, all Democrats, since the incumbents switched parties after being elected last time.

So, if you want solar and wind energy for jobs, energy independence, and profit in the state of Georgia, instead of Georgia Power’s bet-the-farm nuclear risk at Plant Vogtle and Southern Company’s natural gas fracking, that’s who I would vote for.

If, like me, you didn’t already vote early, today is the final day to vote in this primary, and you and I’ll be going down to the precinct polling place to cast a ballot. Today’s the day!

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Elect Georgia legislators and Public Service Commissioners who will let the sun shine on Georgia!

Solar PV prices have dropped so much they’re competitive with coal, natural gas, and nuclear. The only thing that stops Georgia from leading the country and the world in solar energy is our legislature and Public Service Commission kow-towing to the electric companies instead of serving the public. How about we elect Georgia legislators and PSC members who will change that?

How about if we elect legislators who will stop approving nuclear boondoggles for Southern Company through a stealth tax on Georgia Power customers? How about we elect Georgia Public Service Commissioners who will stop giving Georgia Power a guaranteed profit through charging cost overruns (already $400 million) for the Plant Vogtle boondoggle to Georgia Power customers?

How about instead we fully fund the existing 35% state tax rebate for renewable energy? Last year Georgia legislators did double the money in that fund, but it’s still only $5 million a year and the funding for 2012 has already been used up. $5 million a year for power after it’s installed, while Georgia Power and Southern Company have already run $400 million over budget on nuclear energy that nobody will see for years, if ever! We need Georgia legislators who understand that Moore’s Law for solar means fast growth; growth in jobs, energy independence, and profit for Georgians.

To bring Georgia to the lead in renewable energy in this country and the world, all we really need to do is to pass something like SB 401 to modify that arrogant dinosaur of a 1973 Georgia Territoriality Electric Service Act that prevents you from getting financing to install solar generation and selling it through the grid at a profit, with the electric utility taking a cut and bragging rights.

It is time to let the south Georgia sun break through the clouds of power utility disinformation and regulatory capture. It is time for us to elect Georgia legislators and Georgia Public Service Commissioners who will let the sun shine on us in Georgia!

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Solar PV costs dropped 50% last year: time for south Georgia to lead in solar power

Solar energy continues to grow by leaps and bounds worldwide. Except in Georgia. Maybe we should change that. There’s an election going on right now.

Frank Jordans wrote for AP 11 June 2012, $257 billion invested in renewable energy in 2011,

Global investment in renewable energy reached a record of $257 billion last year, with solar attracting more than half the total spending, according to a U.N. report released Monday.

Investment in solar energy surged to $147 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 52 percent thanks to strong demand for rooftop photovoltaic installations in Germany, Italy, China and Britain.

Large-scale solar thermal installations in Spain and the United States also contributed to growth during a fiercely competitive year for the solar industry. Several large American and German manufacturers fell victim to price pressure from Chinese rivals that helped to halve the cost of photovoltaic modules in 2011.

Lower solar PV module price should mean more people can afford to install solar electricity, which should mean more jobs for people to install it. How much lower? According to the report:

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5.c. Cameron Lane widening for industrial park on US 84 W @ LCC 2012-07-23

While the Industrial Authority has been busily spiffing up its various Industrial Parks, everyone may have forgotten they have some competition west of town. Back in December 2010 Attorney Jack Langdale convinced the Commission in case REZ-2010-15 to rezone about 542 acres from R-1 to I-S, M-2, M-1, and P-D, which they did with fifteen conditions, which you can see in their minutes from 14 December 2010. As I recall it, one of the most convincing arguments was that the Langdales' own Kinderlou Subdivision is next door, so they wouldn't be doing anything to damage that, thus other neighbors could rest assured. Anyway, the next step was before the Commission at their Work Session this morning, for a vote tomorrow evening at their 5:30 PM Regular Session.

County Engineer Mike Fletcher presented agenda item 5.c., about Cameron Lane.

In December of 2010 the Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning case for the industrial park located off of highway 84, state route 38 west, near Wetherington Lane. The developers are beginning their master plan for the industrial park and will be utilitizng Cameron Lane as an entrance off of State Route 38 into the park. The developers are requesting to demolish Cameron Lane and rebuild a boulevard type entrance to serve the industrial park.

Attached are plats in front of you that show the existing and the proposed layout. The developer will be responsible for the acquisition of the the additional right of way that is required, as well as all engineering and construction costs for Cameron Lane. The new infrastructure will be built to county standards amd then will be brought back before the Commissioners for executive acceptance of infrastructure.

Commisioner Raines wanted to know if the county needed to deed the road over to the developer while all this was being done. Fletcher assured him the contractor would be responsible for everything.

Here's the video:

5.c. Cameron Lane widening for industrial park on US 84 W @ LCC 2012-07-23
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 July 2012.

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Industrial Authority meets tonight @ VLCIA 2012-07-17

According to their website:

The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority's Regular Monthly Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 5:30 PM at the Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street.

Here's the (content-free) agenda:

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street

General Business

  • Call to Order
  • Invocation
  • Welcome Guests

Minutes

  • Regular Meeting, May 22, 2012
  • Executive Session, May 22, 2012

Financial

  • Review Compiled Balance Sheet and Income Statements for May 2012

Executive Director's Report-Andrea Schruijer

Public Relations & Marketing Update-Meghan Duke

Existing Industry/Project Report-Allan Ricketts

Business/Industrial Park Update- Allan Ricketts

Attorney Report

Citizens to Be Heard

Adjourn General Session into Executive Session

Adjourn Executive Session into General Session

Adjourn General Meeting

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Ahead of schedule, under budget, and same officers again: Video Playlist @ VLCIA 2012-06-19

The Industrial Authority board at their 19 June 2012 meeting decided to renominate the same officers for another term at the 19 June 2012 Industrial Authority meeting. All their business park projects are ahead of schedule and under budget, although it seems odd to be cutting down trees to detain water. They’re under budget for the entire year, and next year’s budget is less than that for the the fiscal year just being completed. They have hired a website contractor, and they’ve already made extensive changes to their Valdosta Prospector website. The 100% VSEB native grass landscaping project is underway.

They meet again tonight.

Here’s the agenda. A few notes below on a few specific videos from last month’s meeting.

Here’s a video playlist:

Video Playlist
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett, Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton Attorney, Tom Davis CPA, Allan Ricketts Project ManagerS. Meghan Duke Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 June 2012.

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Valdosta-Lowndes Prospector website @ VLCIA 2012-06-19

Lots of interesting detail; room for improvement in marketing and high level presentation: Valdosta-Lowndes Prospector website.

S. Meghan Duke gave a lengthy presentation of the GIS website Valdosta-Lowndes Prospector, at the 19 June 2012 VLCIA meeting. Chairman Roy Copeland wanted to know (5:21) whether it showed at the top the industrial parks VLCIA has spent so much time and effort developing, maybe by age, size, in alphabetical order? She indicated you could do all those things, but they didn’t necessarily crop up without somebody selecting filters that caused them to crop up. However they are featured properties, and whenever they are updated, updates show up. Project Manager Allan Ricketts said he’d heard good reactions so far. Executive Director Andrea Schruijer said they could feature parks or whatever through facebook and twitter, too. And yes, they have a floodplain overlay, among many other overlays.

Here’s the video:

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Unemployed need public transit to get to jobs: T-SPLOST doesn’t help

If you're unemployed, you may not be able to afford a car: then how do you get to work even if you can find a job? As our own Industrial Authority's Community Assessment of last October said, we need public transportation to promote business by getting employees to jobs. T-SPLOST doesn't do that: it would widen more roads and build no public transportation.

Peter S. Goodman wrote for Huffington Post today, Unemployment Problem Includes Public Transportation That Separates Poor From Jobs

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — In the two months since he lost his job driving a delivery truck for a door company, Lebron Stinson has absorbed a bitter geography lesson about this riverfront city: The jobs are in one place, he is in another, and the bus does not bridge the divide.

Stinson lives downtown, where many of the factories that once employed willing hands have been converted into chic eateries. The majority of jobs are out in the suburbs, in the strip malls, office parks and chain restaurants that stretch eastward. Most of this sprawl lies beyond reach of the public bus system, and Stinson cannot afford a car.

The report Janus Economic did for VLCIA 11 October 2011, Community & Economic Assessment: Lowndes County says:

There is a plan for a public transportation system in Valdosta-Lowndes County but it currently lacks funding for implementation. Under current budget constraints it will be difficult to implement such a project, but businesses in the industrial parks and outlying areas may want to implement a limited transportation system if they discover that employee attendance is an issue.

That would be the plan for $7.5 million for a four line bus system that got cut first pass from the T-SPLOST project list, while widening a few miles of Old US 41 North got raised from $8 million to $12 million and is still in the final list.

T-SPLOST would promote more sprawl of exactly the kind we don't need. Let's not do that.

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