And I feel like there's somebody meddling in their affairs; I wish they wouldn't have. —Ashley Paulk @ LCC 7 November 2011

As previously noted, Chairman Ashley Paulk last night told Matt Portwood he didn't think the Lowndes County Commission should be meddling in school affairs. Here's the part the VDT didn't quote:

And I feel like there's somebody meddling in their affairs; I wish they wouldn't have.

That's pretty interesting considering that Brittany D. McClure reported for the VDT 4 November 2011 that FVCS makes campaign contributions public:

Ashley Paulk, Lowndes County Commission chairman contributed $200

So it's not like the public doesn't already know Ashley Paulk's opinion on this subject, and it seems he was reminding us of it: he contributed money to FVCS, a group actively lobbying to prevent the school consolidation promoted by CUEE.

Chairman Paulk also noted:

We do have county residents who live in the city.

Seems like he's confusing two excuses for the Commissioners not speaking about school consolidation:

• The Lowndes County Commission doesn't do schools. True, although neither does the Valdosta City Council, and that didn't stop them from making a statement of opinion.
• The County Commission is separate from the Valdosta City Council. True, but consolidation will affect the whole county, and, as the Chairman noted, many county residents (about half, actually) live in Valdosta.

Chairman Paulk also said his opinion that the Commissioners didn't want to make a statement was pretty much the consensus of the Commission, and they all nodded their heads. That raises again the question: where did they form that consensus? At which open meeting, as required by state law?

And why is it that Commissioners (including Paulk, in at least one meeting) feel free to comment on federal government issues over which they have no control, yet won't comment on a local issue that affects every Lowndes County resident?

Here's the video:

And I feel like there's somebody meddling in their affairs; I wish they wouldn't have. —Ashley Paulk @ LCC 7 November 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 November 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq