On the LAKE Front

I only got the answering machine —Michael G. Noll

Received today on Industrial Authority held unannounced meeting last night. -jsq

Unfortunately I missed this meeting as well, and not by choice.

I vaguely remembered that Roy Copeland mentioned after the October meeting that the December date might be changed to December 6. Thus, I called Tuesday shortly after 5pm to verify if a meeting was indeed scheduled. I only got the answering machine (indicating to me that the office was closed) and the IA website (as so often) was no help.

Thus I, too, was assuming the meeting would be later this month ... only to find out the next day in the VDT that there had been a meeting after all.

Our community has gone through so much these past couple of months, highlighting more than ever the need to communicate and cooperate. I was hoping after all this that we could finally start working together, despite any differences we might have. That would, however, not only require a certain amount of transparency but also communication of such simple matters as meeting agendas and calendars. How difficult can that be?

Communication is, and always will be, the key to success. Whether this is about your children's education, such matters as energy efficiency and energy conservation, or a Strategic Planning Process which can only benefit the community ... if that very community (not just the same old status quo) is actually included in the process.

Michael G. Noll, President
Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)

VLCIA pleads technical glitches on web page

Here's something from the Industrial Authority that never happened before.

The first person I saw going into the State Legislative Luncheon yesterday was Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA). She spotted me inside, and said "I want to apologize". Surprised, I asked for what? She said for the date of VLCIA's Tuesday meeting being unclear. She said she had read about that in this blog that same morning.

She said they had recently changed the way they were handling their web pages and hadn't yet figured out how to update it correctly. Since I was never very impressed with how it was handled before, I readily accepted that as a good excuse. I look forward to the updates. I'm guessing the new PR and marketing person they're hiring will take care of this.

She also volunteered that they did inform the VDT and it was in the VDT's calendar. I agreed that that was so; we had checked, and it appears the meeting was legal because of those notices.

She also said she thought she had said Monday evening, "see you tomorrow." I allowed as how if she did, I missed it.

In any case, I have to say that her predecessor would never have made that much effort to make amends to a mere blogger. Once again, tiny LAKE is flattered by mighty VLCIA, although in a more positive way this time.

Congratulations on the new industries announced at VLCIA's Tuesday meeting. Maybe more about those later.

Here's looking forward to the Strategic Planning Process announced at that same meeting as coming up early next year.

-jsq

Industrial Authority held unannounced meeting last night

The VDT has a story this morning about an Industrial Authority meeting last night, Two new industries announced by Kay Harris. That's a bit of a surprise, since they didn't have that date on their own web page and they didn't post an agenda. Also, I saw both VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer and their Chairman Roy Copeland speak Monday night, and neither of them said a word about their meeting date being changed to the next night.

Here's some irony in the VDT's story:

Schruijer also discussed the Authority’s plans to move ahead with the Strategic Planning Process right after the first of the year. Following the Community Assessment which was conducted over the summer, the next phase is a full fledged commitment to begin the planning process.

The intention, according to Schruijer and Copeland, is to include community partners in the process as the assessment showed that many in the community think that the various entities work at odds with each other, rather than on the same page, when it comes to economic development.

Why ever would people think that?

According to VLCIA's website: