Friday, March 20, 2009
So that's the problem!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I went to the high noon meeting of the Camden County Board of Tax Assessors at the county annex today. What I saw was truly shocking, but explains a lot. The problem in a nut shell is that he board is composed of shockingly not ready for prime time players. I found out that the current chairman is literally a pulp wood logger from Woodbine, and probably a political appointee of former Commissioner Rhodes. Another is a former mill worker. Another is some sort of low-level IT functionary in civil service at the base. The fourth guy, I've not yet been able to find out what he does, but he showed up in jeans, a sport coat and a tee shirt. Now, normally, folks who volunteer for such public service boards are not in it for the money - and will be quick to tell you so. With this group, I'm not so sure $300.00 per month is not the primary motivation. We clearly are in desperate need of some public spirited, retired executives to step forward and replace this bunch. Now that I have seen this bunch, and watched them in action, I am now convinced that even $100,000 in legal fees to oust this bunch would be some of the best money the taxpayers ever spent. By the way, the meeting started at 12:08. The crowd grew restless wondering what the holdup was as all four were there way before noon. Turns out they were waiting for a clerk from the Assessor's office in Woodbine to drive down with a letter they had already composed and had typed via what was no doubt an unknown (as yet) illegal meeting prior to noon today. They started at 12:08 and went into executive session ( most likely illegally:
The Open Meetings Law provides exceptions for certain closed meetings and some confidential actions,
see: O.C.G.A § 50-14-3 in the Appendix. The most commonly used exceptions are for personnel matters
(but only for discussion and deliberation, not votes); attorney -client discussion of actual suits or claims;
and acquisition of real estate.) at 12: 10. About 15 minutes later , the crowd was allowed back in. They had magically produced a letter to the CCBOC during the executive session, even given the obvious total absence of a word processor in the Annex meeting room!
A few citizens tried to ask questions but were rebuffed. Doug Vaught made it obvious he will be running for District 4 on the CCBOC next year with some major league grandstanding. Jim Stein gently tried to caution the poor, poor, hopelessly out-of-his-depth chairman that they were screwing up, but to no avail. They quickly voted to adjourn then left. Vaught was quick to announce that he personally had reserved the meeting room on the lake behind the Heritage Bank off of Spur 40 for another one of those "tea party" meetings on March 30th at 7:00 PM. Rogelio Rillo was of course there as was Greg "Erroll Flynn" Bird, replete with designer jeans and silver concho belt. My old friend Sandy was seated to my left. I'm expecting a copy of their letter to the CCBOC from a source shortly. I'll post it soon as I get it.
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25 comments:
You are a racist.
JDA is another hot topic for all candidates of the District 4 race. i'm glad to hear everyone showed up.
Is Roger Rillo going to be a candidate also. I heard that.....
That was a balant violation of the sunshine law as there can be. First off you can not use executive sessions except for the three things mentioned. Real estate purchases, personnel matters, and pending legal action or claims. Further you have to record in the minutes the proposal, motion and vote on the same. The only motion was to go into executive session, then back into the room and call it quits. In spite of being warned that it was not legal they just thumbed their collective noses at the public and paid no attention to the law. That is an indication of the calibre of the Board. They are clueless. You can cure ignorance but not stupid. I don't know what the case is but I do know they are not working within the law. I research the same and Jay is correct. You can google Georgia Sunshine Law and you will get great information. They indicated they had talke to an attorney. They have no money to pay one so I guess they got what they paid for.
They failed to have an executive session for any thing allowed under the law.
Do tell! Why don't you enlighten the folks as to how you derived that conclusion from this post. Please be specific.
Uh..actually, I was the only potential 4th District candidate at the JDA board meeting ..or was that your ironic point?
As to Rillo, this latest flurry of appearances is about par for the course for him - just new venues. However, you may be onto something.
Never mind. I just found your brilliant rationale on TOPIX Kingsland. I'll share it with the folks who don't visit that sewer.
Shocked
Jacksonville, FL
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|Report Abuse |Judge it! |#5 2 hrs ago
Moreno is at it again. He used a "cloaked" racial slur when referring to the chairman of the board of assessors. Anyone who grew up in the South knows what he meant by "pulp wood logger". If he ever hoped to run for public office he just lost any Afro American support. Someone needs to muzzle this moron.
Idiot, if you will check into it, you find that it was not a code word: the man actually makes his living going out into the woods, cutting down pine trees with a saw, and hauling them off to paper mills. News flash: white folks can do that to - and do.
The point is that while it is an honest way to make a living - and damned hard work - the field of pulp wood logging is not where I would look first for a candidate likely to possess the educational and experiential background to be an ideal candidate for something as complex as property tax assessment.
So tell us, which candidate for District 4 are you?
FYI-I don't remember the gentleman relying on pulpwood as his main source of income. He retired from Union Carbide/Rhone Polenc/Bayer out at the end of Harriet' Bluff road.
Jay:
Once again, thank you for the excellent job of reporting on the two meetings that most people were unable to attend. I love your colorful description of the characters involved...I almost feel like I was there too.
Have a good weekend!
Are you attending any of the meetings being held on the busing of children who live in the Sugarmill neighborhood within walking distance of Mary Lee Clark?
"Are you attending any of the meetings being held on the busing of children who live in the Sugarmill neighborhood within walking distance of Mary Lee Clark?"
No, I'm not. I empathize with those parents, but I also understand the school board's position. When you redraw lines, such an outcome for some area is inevitable.
Now, some ass is bound to point out that I'm not running for school board; I'm hoping to teach in the local system, yadda, yadda.
The fact is that I happen to agree with the school board's position and would regardless. For me to attend the meetings would be disingenuous political grandstanding - which I don't do.
"FYI-I don't remember the gentleman relying on pulpwood as his main source of income. He retired from Union Carbide/Rhone Polenc/Bayer out at the end of Harriet' Bluff road."
So you say,and you may be correct. Whiel I was out in the lobby awaiting the end of the executive session, I was asking several long time local residents if they knew what the backgrounds (i.e., occupational histories) of all of the board members was. Well well known local I've known since not lomng after I arrived here told me with a perfectly straight face that the chairman was from Woodbine and was a pulp wood logger. I took him to mean just exactly what he said, ergo, I printed it. Now, if in fact that is some sort of Camden County code for blacks used by racists, clearly I was not aware of it. I'm from Savannah. The folks I grew up with exceedigly rarely used the N word, even in the fifties, and most assuredly did not use "pulp wood logger" as a code for anything. If I stand corrected, then so be it. AS to my being a racist, that is preposterous. No aplology needed beciase I believed that my informant meant just exactly what he told me.
So, let me restate my question: Is the population of retiured production wrkers from a plant manufacturing agricultural chemiclas the first place one would logically look for quailifed candidates for the Camden Country Board of Tax Assessors. Ditto for former mill electricians. And by the way, this particular electrician and his partners guys did some electrical work on my house and did and excellent job. Moreover, he may well be a distant relative of mine (my paternal grandmother was a Lucree from Brunswick). Nonetheless, a good electrician does not a good tax assessor board candidate make.
I have had several "pulp wooders" as clients over the last 20 years. It is my observation that "pulp wooders" are both black and white in equal numbers. The industry has declined over the last ten or so years and many had to give it up when Gilman closed. Most of the "pulp wooders" I met, owned their own truck and it is more of a part time profession to some other full time profession. It is an ideal way for a retired person to make a few extra bucks. It has been years now...since you could almost count on getting stuck behind one of the slow moving, rickety looking, pulp wood trucks traveling up and down Hwy 40 to the paper mill. Traditionally this is a very hard working "mans man" profession for people of all color.
Jay...if you said "pulp wooder" to me...I would think "hard worker...man's man"...not black / white...perhaps the person who posted that comment is the racist?
I too...was taught from a young child that using the "N" word was just as bad as using any nasty word and could result in having my mouth washed out with soap...I grew up on the "Left Coast"...not in the "South".
I too understand the busing but at the same time if they are going to bus...why bus those that are already within walking distance of their school and put them at risk on a bus...not to mention the additonal expense of busing those who are not being bused at this time. Why not draw the lines so that children that are already taking a bus are just transported to another school?
RE: "pulp wooders", you are exactly right. When I worked for Stan Smith, while we were clearing and installing the infrastructure out at Cumberland Harbour, I had occassion to watch some small time pulp wooders at work. Seriously arduous (and dangerous) work indeed. I remember back years ago - in the 70's - when I would travel down here from Savannah on business - I did not like to be right behind those old 1 ton trucks loaded down with pulp wood on Hwy 17. I never trusted that chain.
Your observation that the fool with the knee jerk reaction and accusation is not only the de facto racist in this thing is spot on. Moreover, said character assassin quite likely will be on the ballot for District 4 county commissioner next year.
RE: Busing. While all you hasve siad is logical, I believe you have lost sight of the two-fold reason for the redrawing of the lines with respect to MLCE and CRES, respectively. Firstly, MLCE is overcrowde: CRES is not. Secondly, the other objective is to achieve a better balance of students receiving free and reduced lunches. That has absolutely nothing to do with redistribution of the reimbursement for the lunches, as somem have suggested. Rather, it has to do with the equitable (to the teachers) distribution of poorer academically performing students between the two schools.
It is a well known and highly documented fact that kids from lower sociao economic backgrounds / circumstances (hence the free / reduced lunches), on avergae, do not perform as well as children of more affluent households. Ergo, to obtain the desires results in objective two, where else would you look but in the more affluent housing areas closest to CRES?
By the way, if NCLB went away tomorrow, criterion 2 would (or could) cease to exist. Neighborhood schools could get the green light nation wide.
Soory: I should never get on this thing before that second cup of coffee.
Point Proved
Jacksonville, FL
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|Report Abuse |Judge it! |#11 1 hr ago
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Moreno tries to explain away his gaffe and in doing so, likens his use of "pulp wood logger" to using the N word. Funny how he was quick to identify what was referred to as a "cloaked" racial slur. Also, invoking Preston Rhodes name in with his use of the stereotype further compounds the real meaning of his words. Make no mistake, he meant the N word, not some hard working, backbone of our county, self employed resident. I wonder how Moreno would feel if someone referred to him as a welfare dependent cripple?
ANSWER: I would know for a certainty that I was dealing with an ignorant, bigotted ass and an unscrupulous political enemy.
Social security disability payments are NOT welfare. They are the payoff on an insurance policy that you have as well. I paid the premiums on that disability insurance for 40 years, assshole. Additionally, my disability was covered by Workers Compensation Insurance.
I have never been on welfare , as you know, you filthy lying bastard, and never will be.
P.s., If the chairman lives in Woodbine and Chip Kene has not had the opportunity to appoint him , and all Board of tax Assesor mebers are appointed by CCBOC memebers from their district, then who the hell else would you assume appointed him other than Preston Rhodes, you ignorant bastard!
My cousin Marcell Ledbedder haul and cut pulpwood for a living and he was white and proud of it. He was the pride of Yazoo Miss. So whats this idiot's point that you are racist. My my such people we have now a days.
Calm down Jay. If you know that you are NOT a racist, then why continue this fight. Whomever this is will continue but you don't have to participate.
I believe by reading whats being posted on Topix this person is trying to discredit you from running for CC. They will use the language that you use to show others that you should not teach in the school system.
Its it really worth risking all of that for some unknown person?
My loathing of ignorant, lying anonymous, cowards of his ilk knows no bounds.
I'm sure I've heard Marcell's name before, but I just can't quite recall where. I'm thinking Jerry Clowers.
Jay Moreno said...
Uh..actually, I was the only potential 4th District candidate at the JDA board meeting ..or was that your ironic point?
March 20, 2009 6:38 PM
That was my point. Maybe my blogging style is cryptic.....
Too cryptic perhaps for the average schmo, but I got it. Just wanted to confirm my take on it.
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