Poulan Georgia City Council (Columbus, Warner Robins: city hall, home, tenant) - (GA) - City-Data Forum

residentconcerns · 01-24-2006, 02:54 PM

Poulan Georgia is such a nice place to live it is a small home town with some of the same big issues of big cities, I wish our council could see the need for a uniformed code of ethics that they should have, our town is too good to loose over petty fussing at the meeting table, I love my city and wish our political leaders would love our city tooo.

If anyone from Poulan Georgia is familar with this web site please join me with the effort needed to get our councilmen on the right track to leading our city....

sstraley · 11-29-2006, 12:54 PM

Puolan is in a wonderful srea of the state of GA. However it has a bad reputation for being a speed trap. There are only 926 residents. One mile of HWY 82 goes through the town. There are 4 very agressive city police, 2 of which are assigned to traffic. There are no traffif lights, no intersections and no businesses open after 10 PM, in this 1 mile stretch of HWT 82, a four land divided state highway. Travelers through this town should be aware that city police are at work day and night. The fine for speeding in Poulan is $167. The speed limit from Sylvester, 3 miles to the West, does not increase to 65 MPH as is the speed in most of the rest of HWY 82, known as Corridor Z from Columbus GA to the coast of GA. The speed limit in Poulan GA is 45 MPH. City police may be found at either end of the HWY through town. They may be just within the 45 mile zone, while the unsuspecting traveler may be "clocked" within the higher zone. It appears that the police force supports the city with money collected through the speeding tickets they write. Maybe the city council does need to look at what their policy is doing to the small town. The Worth Count Sheirf's Dept, on the other hand is most concerened about the safity of the county and is not involved in such questionable practice.

Prichard · 11-29-2006, 01:55 PM

You can add Warner Robins to the list of speed traps in Georgia. After several speeding tickets, I finally got smart and drive about 60mph through Warner Robbins just so I don't miss the entertainment! These guys are creative. I once saw 8 patrol cars stacked on the ramp. Just up the road was a well hidden cop with radar - he would clock speeders, then radio to the patrol cars stacked on the ramp to get them one right after another.

Must have been a budget crisis in Warner Robbins that year.

sstraley · 12-26-2006, 03:01 PM

My speeding ticket in Poulan has led me to be aware of some other issues that this little town may have. I could not get honest answers about the amount of speeding fines or other questions I ask. I was told all fines were $167. Only cash is accepted, although nothing on the ticked indicates method of payment. There is no ATM or bank in town. Running out of time, I went to city court I was told I misunderstood. I never did see a "schedule" of fines. There was about 40 people in the tiny courtroom. The man next to me said his fine was $400, but found out he misunderstood as well. It was $167. He pleaded guilty and paid. Lot of misunderstanding going on! I pleded "not guilty" and will go to state court. I have gotten a record of speeding tickets written by the police dept---Jan throgh Nov 2006 a total of 1891 tickets have been written. This is public record. At $167 each that is $315,797. Pretty good revenue for Poulan. State law says it can't be more than 40% of total city revenue. A loophole about the MPH over may be all that keeps Poulan "legal". Local citizens should ask for accounting. Seems as if there are some questionable practices in the city court procedures as well. Complaints caused an observer from Prison & Jail Project, Americus GA to be in the courtroom. Poulan needs to "clean up".

Georgia Motorist · 03-21-2007, 11:59 AM

I was pulled over in Poulan and received a citation for speeding. Like others, I did not realize I had entered Hell without realizing that this dark area of highway was actually a small, insignificant community, preying on the unsuspecting.

I have never in my life observed a police officer, in my case a lieutenant, who enjoyed her work as much as this officer seemed to enjoy her work.

Yes, Poulan officers work night and day with radar on both ends of the small area on Highway 84. Beware, beware, beware!

I am interested in determining what collective action can be brought to bear to alert the public of practices that may be legal, but which give Poulan a bad name, and reveal predatory tactics by a small town motivated more by financial gain than safety. Unfortunately, motorists are not adequately warned before they enter the Twilight Zone.

ellie · 03-21-2007, 12:24 PM

As long as I can remember, the entire length of Hwy 82 has been a notorious speed trap. Unfortunately, unless you have local connections or have been caught speeding there before, there is no way to know.

Sorry it happened. You're not the first.

leashes · 03-26-2007, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sstraley

My speeding ticket in Poulan has led me to be aware of some other issues that this little town may have. I could not get honest answers about the amount of speeding fines or other questions I ask. I was told all fines were $167. Only cash is accepted, although nothing on the ticked indicates method of payment. There is no ATM or bank in town. Running out of time, I went to city court I was told I misunderstood. I never did see a "schedule" of fines. There was about 40 people in the tiny courtroom. The man next to me said his fine was $400, but found out he misunderstood as well. It was $167. He pleaded guilty and paid. Lot of misunderstanding going on! I pleded "not guilty" and will go to state court. I have gotten a record of speeding tickets written by the police dept---Jan throgh Nov 2006 a total of 1891 tickets have been written. This is public record. At $167 each that is $315,797. Pretty good revenue for Poulan. State law says it can't be more than 40% of total city revenue. A loophole about the MPH over may be all that keeps Poulan "legal". Local citizens should ask for accounting. Seems as if there are some questionable practices in the city court procedures as well. Complaints caused an observer from Prison & Jail Project, Americus GA to be in the courtroom. Poulan needs to "clean up".

How did your case end up?

sstraley · 04-01-2007, 06:03 PM

I wemt to state cpurt in Sylvester, Mar 12, for arraignment. Proscutor urged me to plea to a lesser charge. I refused. I will go to court again. Not sure of date. I will be notofied. My defence is "errors on the citation, improper and perhaps illegally written". I was not given enough time/distance to reduce my speed before being stopped. In fact the officer was just inside the 45 MPH zone when she "clocked" me GA State Code 40-14-1 says moterist is allowed 300 ' to reduce speed. Officer's radar most likely clocked me well before entering the reduce speed zone. I do not deny that I was going 61 MPH, nor do I question the radar equipment.
There were many "offenders" in court for traffic violations in Poulan. The judge has to know there is a problem. Pricuters know and try to get the violators to plea guilty to a lesser charge in order to reduce the cases in court. We must make GA legislators, our elected officials, GA State Patrol, Ga Public Saftey Dept, news papers and anyone who will listen aware of what is going on on Poulan. I welcome your e-mail at sstraley@wayxcable.com

pickleswanson · 04-01-2007, 06:41 PM

Find out if they have completed a traffic survey within the last seven years. Traffic surveys are required to determine speed limits in most of the US; if they have not then you may have a new defense that the judge cannot refute. Also was he/she in complete uniform, did they tell you when the radar was calabrated last, did they offer to show you a certificate of completetion proving proper knowledge of the use of radar that matches radar being used. Laws regarding your rights far outway the officers. Look it up these laws vary from state to state but are generally close in nature to how they are statedf to protect you. All of this is also required to be availible to the publc.

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/plan-prog/transportation_data/TrafficCD/2005_GA_STARS/WORTH/ (broken link)

GA is reall good about keeping its traffic surveys up to date and usually completes one annually; however, from what I saw the survey completed was in the city limits which could be enough to save you a hefty fine. Not sure where to look up the laws online but I know can at any courthouse.

Good luck

pickleswanson · 04-01-2007, 06:55 PM

Back in line a with what this thread is supposed to discuss. Exactly what would you like to see in your code of ethics and are you sure that Poulan doesn't already have one, that is just being ignored. Not sure how exactly it works, but if Poulan doesn't have a code of ethics, by law you can petition the public and give them one, without thier consent. Also if they do have one you can have them warned or removed from office for violations. All of the laws, bylaws etc. should be available for public view at either and sometimes both, city hall and county court house. Generally they are found in the same location as property records in smaller communities and at the chamber of commerce or development authority elsewhere. After you find this information you can rest assured that you will encounter plenty of harrasment but stick it out and about 6 months to a year after actually filing for change, you should begin to see your work paying off.