With the closing of one year and the start of another, it is time for The Valdosta Daily Times editorial board to evaluate its 2006 Editorial Objectives and present the 2007 Editorial Objectives.

Though a check mark was placed beside only one of our 2006 objectives (one new high-tech industry), we believe there has been enough progress to remove three from our list.

The industry objective received its check mark with the fall announcement of Onyx Optics opening a Valdosta facility to manufacture a chemically vapor deposited diamond used in a variety of applications, particularly in the defense industry.

While two other objectives didn’t make great enough strides to receive check marks, they have come far enough along that we consider the terms of our list met.

Construction of a third high school is not under way, but with approval of the new educational special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST), the Lowndes County school system has earmarked a portion of these monies for a second county high school, giving the region a much needed third high school. Voters approved this SPLOST expecting an additional high school within the next five years.

Also, the region doesn’t have a consolidated crime lab. Not yet. Both the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the Valdosta Police Department, however, are actively working together and with the architects to ensure a quality, consolidated crime lab that both entities will be proud of, which could see its doors opening in 2007.

As for our other three 2006 Editorial Objectives, they will roll over to the new year’s list. They are school consolidation, one-way Ashley and Patterson streets, and construction of a new civic center complex.

While we would like to see check marks beside each objective on our list by the end of a given year, the larger purpose of our Editorial Objectives lists is to spur discussion on a given issue.

Consolidating city and county schools hasn’t happened since we first put in on our 2005 objectives list, but discussion on school consolidation has increased each year.

At the beginning of 2006, it seemed a given that Valdosta officials would one-way Ashley and Patterson streets. It didn’t happen. We believe there is an undercurrent of support for one-waying these streets, but supporters have not been as vocal or as impassioned as the measure’s opponents. Some see one-waying as a dead issue. But we still believe one-waying these streets is the best way to move the ever-increasing traffic in and out of town.

The area still needs a civic center. Our population is growing. Entertainment facilities remain an important ingredient for industries in determining new locations. Valdosta-Lowndes County’s local and visiting talent deserve a state-of-the-art performance facility that could be used for everything from the ballet to a tractor-pull.

Our two new additions for the 2007 Editorial Objectives are:

Expand the County Commission. Given Valdosta-Lowndes County’s growth, the commission needs more than three voting representatives and a presiding chairman. It’s not that we don’t believe current commissioners are capable. It’s just that the region’s population has grown tremendously since a four-member commission was created, and the county commission should reflect this growth. How many more commissioners are needed can be determined once the county sets itself on the path of increasing the commission’s size.

I-75 projects. There is no excuse for the years of construction mess along Valdosta-Lowndes County’s portion of Interstate 75. It impedes traffic flow throughout the region and it is damaging Valdosta-Lowndes County’s image. Valdosta is gaining a reputation with southeastern travelers of traffic delays and an area that cannot finish what it has started.

There are only five Editorial Objectives for this year. For now. We may add more as the year progresses and as a need arises. But as we have with objectives in the past, we will work to champion these causes and instigate discussion, debate, and eventually results.