NEWS

  Jefferson County Is Bankrupt. So Didn't You Get A Pay Raise Too?

  I would laugh about John S. Young but there's nothing funny about this charlatan.  It doesn't take a brain surgeon to be assigned a job, by a heartless judge, where your most important duty is to spend money that's not there to fix a problem that can only be solved by either filing bankruptcy or enslaving the urban/suburban population of Jefferson County to unbelievable utility bills.  And they have the temerity to say, " ... We don't believe this will affect the population of the county as a whole."  Ask some of my neighbors ... uhh ... oops ... they moved to Shelby county in November.  My neighbors across the street moved to Blount County last September.
  Hey ... it's OK.  We'll just hire more lawyers to fight our court battles right?  From 20 November, 2009 to 16 February, 2011 Jefferson County paid $3,889,020 in attorney fees.  So everything must be alright huh?  Are you kidding?
  Last year our Commissioners hired a County Manager.  Ex-Mayor Tony Petelos of Hoover (That's right folks ... our County Commission hired a man that, as Mayor of Hoover, once floated the proposition of de-annexing from Jefferson County) for a bargain price of approximately $250,000 per year.  This crack politician, who is married to a judge and once wanted to run for governor, is now at the helm of Jefferson County.  Now ... can you guess what he wanted to do as one of his first acts as County Manager?  Of course boys and girls ... he wanted to hire his friends because he needs help in doing a job he said he could do.  Walter Jackson will get a starting salary, as Deputy County Manager, of $150,000 a year.  Our new County Manager also needs a Financial Officer.  Cost to Jefferson County Taxpayers ... another $150,000.  This means that Tony Petelos will not have solved one problem and has already spent over $1/2M in salaries for his first year.

  That's right folks.  We citizens of Jefferson County have always gotten the best that money can buy when it comes to incompetent, over paid, self-serving political hackery!  And what do we do about it?  Hell ... re-elect them!  We stand in longer lines for basic services.  We pay higher taxes.  We pay for more lawyers.

  Think about this.  If the "bond holders" and assigned "Sewer Receiver" John Young have their way, Jefferson County sewer rate payers will see sewer rates rise 314.22% over the next 40 years.  This means that if you pay $63.00 a month for sewer services now, in 2016 you'll be paying $85.20.  As for me, Blount County is looking better every year.

If The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) Is Doing Such A Great Job, Why Can't They Keep The Restrooms In The Main Terminal Repaired?

  OK.  So this is a really tough question.  It's also another question that demands another question ... why do we keep assigning bad representatives and hiring incompetent "managers / supervisors?  Think about this.  Last year the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center (BJCC) north kitchen failed a food service inspection.  That's right folks.  With a score of 84, these masters of the universe over at the BJCC ... you know ... those folks getting paid stupid money for running the BJCC into the ground ... couldn't even ensure that patrons wouldn't get poisoned by eating at the Center.

"Center Point Women's Historical Society" (CPWHS) Continues To Work On The Patterson House ... I Guess.

  So far the adventure continues as the fine ladies of the CPWHS hold their sales and bazaars and ... uhhh ... whatever else they do to raise money for the completion of the restoration work on this albino pachyderm.  According to our Mayor, the new driveway is in and the new utility installations are underground.  Additionally, the CPWHS made an appearance at the CP Fall Festival on 05 November.  How much did they make?  Who knows?  How much have they contributed so far?  Who knows?  I can't wait until I can see the finished product and how much of an albatross it will hang around the neck of the citizens of CP as far as maintenance, repair, and upkeep goes.  Money is easy to spend so long as it's not your checkbook taking the beating.

Center Point's New Industrial Park?

  I've never heard of a city council buying something that costs 12% of the city's budget and they don't know what they're going to do with it once it's bought.  No plans ... nothing ... just too much money to spend.

UPDATE!  This is now the home of Center Point's Public Works (Construction) Department.  That's right folks!  These are the folks responsible for repairing roads in Center Point (according to the city's new Web Site).  They're also responsible for road signage in our fair city.  Doesn't this sound like something you'd see in Blazing Saddles where the Mayor jumps up and says, "Boys, we've got to do something to protect our phony baloney jobs!"

And ... they did manage to buy a SCAG Turf Tiger 61" 27HP KAWA LC Mower for a mere $9,429.  Or at least that's what the city council approved at the 27 October, 2011 meeting.

Have you heard the one about the $3 million Polly Reed Road Drainage Improvement Project?

  Here it is ... prdrainageimprovestimate.pdf  You know that ditch that runs along Polly Reed Road?  Well ... this little project is supposed to take care of this ditch and make it safer for all those commuters along this busy and interesting thoroughfare. During the 27 August city council meeting, Mayor Henderson announced that approximately $700,000 of this project was placed on the proposed Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) upcoming budget/financial designation/money pot allocations/good deed list for surrounding cities.  This doesn't mean that Center Point will receive the funds.  It means that Mayor Henderson is trying to scrape up funds, other than his own budget, to fund this dollar swallowing leviathan.

  Is this project good for the city?  YES.  Is it going to take some damned creative budgeting to complete this without severely wounding the city's financial status?  YES.  Could the city have completed this in stages?  I don't know.  What I do know is that every citizen in CP better watch this TAX BAIT before they end up with a sore wallet.

UPDATE ... 22 July, 2010.  At the 22 July City Council meeting, Mayor Henderson mentioned that Senator Sessions has placed a $500,000 appropriations in a Senate budget request/amendment.  From what I understood, it was read quickly, this appropriation is dependent upon the budget approval.  Two thumbs up Mayor Henderson and let's keep our fingers crossed.

Only in Alabama ... DUH!

• Montgomery, AL.  Janice Hamilton, the Director of the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) Energy Division was suspended for 6 weeks without pay for using her state-issued cell phone to run her private business.  As a "senior manager" for the PSC, Hamilton makes $110,000 a year.  The three Commissioners on the Commission are Twinkle Cavanaugh (her real name and a political hack), Terry Dunn, and Lucy Baxley (who has run for almost every political office in Alabama ... another political hack). Mr. Dunn wanted to fire her but common sense again failed in Alabama. DUH!!  I'm not surprised.  The joke in Alabama political circles is that once elected you have a lot of time to prove to your constituents that you aren't competent for the job and that the job is always too big for you to take personal responsibility for anything that ever happens there.  To get fired from a "political" job in Alabama you have to be caught with a smoking gun or a corpse.
   

• Montgomery, AL.  Former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis loses his bid for Governor.  In frustration he takes his Harvard law degree and his family and his ball and moves to Virginia. DUH!!  Davis was a "yes" man for the Democratic party and a pitiful representative.  His answer to any dilemma or problem he faced was to blame the other political party.  Instead of staying in Alabama and being an educator, advisor, and example; this overpaid fraud did just what I expected.  He ran away.  I truly feel sorry for his supporters.
   

• Birmingham, AL.  Mayor William Bell spends over $10,000 of taxpayer dollars, during one of the worst recessions in U.S. history, on amenities at a football game.  The Birmingham City Council was surprised that they had approved such expenses.  DUH!  The Birmingham City Council was surprised?  Are you kidding me?!  The last mayor elected by the citizens of Birmingham is in prison.  They go to the polls and elect the same type of person and now they expect different results?  Please!  You guys get another DUH!
   

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