Flattery! —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 13 September 2011

The VDT picked up that I referred to Ashley Paulk's personal attention of the day before as flattery. Sorry, elected officials who can't even get recognized by the Chairman: bring a camera next time; then he'll notice you!

First I pointed out that the Mayor of Hahira was in the room. The Chairman had recognized the new Mayor of Valdosta, his replacement on the Valdosta City Council, and the Chair of the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce, but not the Mayor of Hahira. I didn't want anyone to think the County Commission doesn't care about Hahira!

Then I commended the voting Commissioners for their comments

the day before on the first rezoning case. I forgot to say their names, but Commissioner Powell had wanted to be sure details of the case were recorded in case anybody wanted to review it years hence, and Commissioner Evans wanted to to note the Planning Commission would probably want to review the case again before the County Commission voted on it. I do think it's good to see the system actually working!

Oh, yes, I pointed out that the unknown ordinance the Commission passed first thing even though it wasn't on the agenda (assuming it had something to do with the Chairman's gracious decree of the previous day), was passed despite the Commissioners understanding neither all the relevant issues nor all the relevant laws, and that I intended to continue discussion on those points. More on them in future posts.

On the subject of Commissioner Raines' remarks against the current viability of solar, I said while I didn't agree with him, I nonetheless thanked him for saying what he did, because it started a discussion on that subject, such as Dr. Noll's remarks just before mine.

Continuing with some solar points, I noted Georgia has two solar panel manufacturers: MAGE Solar, a German company whose North American headquarters are in Dublin, and Suniva, a homegrown company in Norcross which is so successful they've had to open a second plant. I neglected to note that the second plant is in Michigan, because nobody in Georgia apparently tried to attract it. Jerome Tucker had organized a talk by that company at Lowndes High School in which they explained the many related local jobs that could be developed, from architects, to transport, to installation, and more.

I also recommended interested parties join the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Network of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, organized by ReKasa Deen and headed by Dr. Dennis Marks.

Wrapping up, I suggested the Commission adopt (certainly not because Valdosta already has this!), as an addition to the County Manager Comments already on the agenda, an item for Commissioner Comments after Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, so if Commissioners wanted to say more than a few words about subjects citizens raise, they'd have a good opportunity to do that.

Finally, I suggested getting a clock. The Chairman pointed at something not visible in front of him and said it was the official clock. I said but nobody out here can see it.

Maybe if we take up a collection we can donate them a clock.

Here's the video:

Flattery! —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 13 September 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq