Saturday, January 7, 2012

FOX5 VIDEO: GTCO-ATL "Person of Interest"

Updated: Monday, 11 Jul 2011, 10:42 PM EDT  Published : Monday, 11 Jul 2011, 6:47 PM EDT
Reporter:  Chris Shaw
Stephanie Byrne spoke with reporter Chris Shaw
prior to the July 11 DCSS meeting that
resulted in cell tower leases for 9 schools,
including Briarlake Elementary in Decatur and
nearby schools Margaret Harris Comprehensive
and Lakeside High School, both in Atlanta.

As a PTA board member, she is in charge of the grounds and outdoor classroom for the Briarlake Elementary School. Yet, she claims to be caught totally offguard about the signs of site testing taking place practically in the wooded area between  her home and the school, right on top of the outdoor classroom.  As one of only two people associated with the new Briarlake Foundation, which started in October 2011, the same time the T-mobile talks started, she is part of a group that hopes to give an Ipad to every student.  Ipads actually use the very technology that the tower will be providing, so isn't the goal of one group going to create a need for the very thing that the other group is supposed to be opposing?

Previously, the PTA had been told by Paul Womack in a public meeting that they would have a say in the location of the tower.  Once it was announced to us by Byrne that the Briarlake PTA had decided to oppose the tower formally and their first step in that process was to begin talking about their playground, it made us immediately consider the second location as a more real possiblity for the tower.  We kept and eye on that location and had to announe on  this blog the fact that the land was being disturbed and an entire area was marked off for where the trees would soon be cut down.

T-mobile denyed that they would give the PTA any choice on the location and informed Brairlake that the company would only be dealing directly with the school board on the issue.  Who is the contact at T-mobile that is answering questions for Briarlake and why did the press report that Steve Donahue gave them a letter that included the research studies the school board had relyed upon?  Is the school board giving special treatment to Briarlake?  If so, why does it not appear to be having any effect on the efforts of T-mobile to move forward?  And why is ATT the ones doing all the work in the neighborhood right now, appearing to be laying the infrastructure needed for the eavesments that will be needed to access the property and run the high voltage transmission lines needed to power a\ 150' tower for the next 30 years.

If this type of construction, not at all related to education, residential use, or even public enjoyment, were going to be starting up right next to your home or even right at the end of your street or around the corner, wouldn't you expect someone to at least notify you that is was about to begin?  Wouldn't you be upset if the only group being relied upon by both the school board, T-mobile, ATT AND the county zoning department was the privately-held non-profit parent-teacher association.  And, even at that, the only notification they have admitted to receiving at your school was a generic flyer that did not indicate the school was a location.

Double Identity?

Yes, this is the same person.  In one interview prior to the July school board vote, Byrne seems very unconcerned and mostly wanting to get some financial reward for the "perceived inconvenience" of a cell tower in her backyard. 

July 2011
She told GTCO-ATL in August that she had attended the T-mobile meeting in May and followed the issue through June when it was postponed thanks to the petition we delivered in person to the full board that evening.  Byrne said she then lost track of the status until we met with members of her community in September to let them know what was coming down the line for their neighborhood and how they might be able to speak out against it when the county allows public comment on the permitting phase.  Shortly thereafter, Byrne consulted with the Briarlake PTA and stepped up to head up their own efforts, inserting herself in between us and the group we had orginally met with upon request. 

After being reassured that Byrne's group would hand out flyers and focus on the community that did not have any notice from the school because they do not have children at Briarlake, Byrne instead insisted on remaining friendly and focused upon the school board.  She never spoke out publically and has never stated her own reasons for opposing the tower, except in the July FOX interview.  She failed to mention that her backyad was identified as the actual site for the cell tower and, instead, spent considerable time preaching about her disgust at the thought of the kids losing their playground.
Nov. 2011


When we realized her group, nobriarlaketower.org, LLC had not informed Margaret Harris as they told us they would and had not included any of the other schools during their conversations with state legislators, we again got involved and informed the Margaret Harris community (after also doing our best to alert all other schools on the list). 

When Byrne realized Margaret Harris would be speaking out in November, she finally decided to do the same, taking a later position in the speaking lineup and the claiming that all the people assembled were part of a Briarlake opposition.  And, when learning of Margaret Harris's Open Records Request (at our urging) she managed to do the same for Briarlake and broke the "news" of her victory one day before their's.  Again, no mention of the other schools or if anyone tried to get copies of their leases for them.

There is still more to be unravelled in this saga, but we'll save it for our next announcement.  Just remember that corruption runs deep in this school system.  It is important to make sure you undersand the motivations of every person you deal with before you trust them with any information that is valuable to you or a cause you believe in.  I wish we knew that back when we met with Brairlake for the fist time.  We would have done background checks first instead of just assuming that all parents would want to protect their children from harm.

Cell Phone Towers Coming to 9 DeKalb Schools: MyFoxATLANTA.com
dekalb-county-schools-cell-phone-towers-20110711-es


CLICK VIDEO AT LEFT TO PLAY JULY 2011 REPORT FROM FOX5 NEWS
This FOX News story is interesting as it shows Brockett Elementary at the beginning, but did not mention our protest in the content.  It mentions that the Medlock community is against the tower, but interviews someone who is pro-cell tower.  The reporter appears to be implying that Briarlake's community is pro-cell tower, but the interview is with someone (Byrne) who is against it, mainly for the lack of financial disclosure, according to her statements.

The financial information has been the primary hot button for the Briarlake PTA as well.  One board member called the $25,000 offer the school board made to them "insulting" as they are capable of raising much  more on their own. 

So, this begs the question:  if these protest leaders get the financial payoff they have been hoping for, what willl become of the interests of the 200 reported followers Byrne mentioned at the December board meeting that she represents?

1 comment:

  1. I have as many facts as anyone would like as well as witnesses to her statements about being at the T-mobile meeting, not alerting the community, not following the issue. I also have emails that I will be sharing with the proper official investigators and attorneys now involved in this matter John. This is not garbage. These are the facts and there is nothing for us to gain from anything we have done. We have spent our own time and money to alert the Briarlake community every step of the way, including being the only ones to point out the markings of the alternate site for the tower. We are the ones who drove to Margaret Harris and stopped people out walking to tell them about the issue as we were afriad that the people at Briarlake had not done so, yet. When we held our first meeting with Brairlake, we told everyone that all the schools needed to work together in order to be successful from this point forward because it would be unlikely that the board would reverse a decision for just one school because the others would be infuriated and demand equal treatment. Everyone agreed and was on board. That was how we proceeded and that was how the other schools responded. Byrne constantly demanded to be kept in the loop with what we were doing, but did not share information in return. We had to disttance ourselves when she repeatedly was in contact with the school board, infoming them of every step we were taking. And, she absoultely refused to discuss legal action and tried to convince me that it would not work.

    We have no reason to lie. We have no reason to be involved whatsoever. We are only doing any of this because we are concerned abou the children and we do not want people to be lied to and misled in this manner on an issue that is this important.

    Please email me with your phone number and I will call you if you would like to discuss it any further. sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

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