Videos of Lowndes County "Your Top 50 Answered" Lunch and Learn

The latest Lowndes County Lunch and Learn was yesterday, with County Clerk Paige Dukes answering the top 50 questions the county receives. Code Red! Road paving! Tax Assessment! CHIP grants! Some of these things affect all of you, and many of them could help you specifically. Gretchen was there and videoed most of it, as well as asking some followup questions.

Among other surprising answers was that the new Commission districts as shown on the maps on the county website have still not been approved by the Department of Justice. All of the Commissioners and several of the staff travelled to Atlanta a few weeks ago to tweak the lines. Paige assured us that tweaking would be completed in time for next year's Commission elections.

Paige noted Carmella Braswell is the go-to person for many questions about what to do if you want to sink a will or put up a building. She addressed the CHIP grant in question 3, in the second video below, noting Carolyn Selby's comments at a previous Commission meeting:

The county cannot use taxpayer funds for an individual project like this, however, the Commissioners have approved for the past several years an annual CHIP application, which is a grant program from the Department of Community Affairs, and there are funds available for downpayment assistance, which is what most citizens use the program for, as well as rehabilitation. And you can again go through Ms. Braswell to figure out how to apply for that.

Currently, we have a waiting list, the program's been so successful. But I think since its inception we have helped over 70 families with down payment assistance.

And as Ms. Carolyn Selby ... was here and stated ... this is taking someone who is a renter, and making a taxpayer out of them.

There seemed to be resistance to divulging the list of roads to be paved, or even the list of criteria for how a road gets or stays on the list. Paige noted most people ask only about their specific road.

Did you know Lowndes County has the only elected Board of Tax Assessors in Lowndes County? That's an example of one of many areas of local government that is outside the purview of the Board of Commissioners, although they may get questions about it anyway.

Paige recommended signing up early for the County's Code Red emergency alert system, instead of waiting until a storm is already here, because it can take a day to get on. For general emergency preparedness, she said the state has provided comprehensive recommendations in ready.ga.gov.

Here's Part 1 of 2:

Videos of Lowndes County "Your Top 50 Answered" Lunch and Learn Part 1 of 2:
Top 50 Questions,
Lunch and Learn, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Below is the announcement, found on the county's front webpage.

On Thursday, October 13, 2011, Lowndes County will hold the third session on local government education. The Lowndes County Lunch & Learn series has been developed as a tool to provide citizens with additional information regarding Lowndes County Government. During this session, staff will answer the top 50 questions asked by you! A pamphlet will be given to all attendees with contact names and phone numbers of county departments. Citizens are also encouraged to have their own questions that they would like answered. To attend, please call or email, County Clerk, Paige Dukes, 229-671-2400 or [email protected]. Registration will be accepted on a first come, first served basis; the class can accomodate 30 people. Attendees are welcome to bring their own lunch or sandwiches, chips and a drink will be provided for a cost of $5.00. The event will be held on the 2nd Floor of the Administration Building, 327 North Ashley, from 12:00 noon until 1:00 p.m. Please join Lowndes County in this exciting opportunity to learn more about county government!

Here's Part 2 of 2:

Videos of Lowndes County "Your Top 50 Answered" Lunch and Learn Part 2 of 2:
Top 50 Questions,
Lunch and Learn, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

It's too bad the battery on the LAKE camera ran out as they were discussing the 20+ local appointed boards and commissions. There were also more questions. That's a LAKE camera. If the county videoed its own events, it could ensure the whole event was recorded.

However, the county did provide this nifty PDF handout.

-jsq