Sunday, March 19, 2017

The Tale of a Rob(ber) Baron...or Two


Rob & Michelle Jones

Rob Jones has been a member of the Florence-Lauderdale Tourism Board since August 2016. Jones, along with his wife Michelle, owns Singin' River Brewing, a microbrewery located on the outskirts of downtown Florence. A few blocks to the east is Blue Water Brewing, the only other such endeavor located in Florence. Blue Water is owned by Aaron Hannah and Patricia Wilkins, neither of whom is affiliated with the tourism board. Friendly competitors? Well, competitors at least. 


Since both brewing companies are in Florence, Florence-Lauderdale Tourism should be promoting them equally...rather like Rob Carnegie promoted the area's two escape rooms equally. Oh, sorry, he didn't. What do you think that was about? No matter, let's now concentrate on how Florence's tourism department is promoting these two breweries.

What Rob Carnegie posts in tourism's Instagram account is also posted on its Twitter and Facebook accounts under the name “Visit Florence, AL.” Wonder what the rest of Lauderdale County thinks of that? No matter, as we said, for the moment we're strictly looking at the blurbs for the town's two breweries, so let's have at it:

March 18, 2017 – Post for Singin' River's weekend patio bar

March 13, 2017 – Post to advertise the patio bar's opening at Singin' River

February 21, 2017 – Post on beer tasting at Singin' River


February 18, 2017 – Post on Singin' River...just because, we guess

February 15, 2017 – Post on Singin' River presents a songwriters' showcase

January 25, 2017 – Post on a Singin' River fun run


January 17, 2017 – Post on Singin' River songwriters showcase

We're not going all the way back to August of last year; we think we have enough posts to spot any trends. Let's see...seven posts for Singin' River owned by one of Rob Carnegie's bosses...and for Blue Water? Let's add them up...there's...and there's...hmmm, there's none.

Anyone have any ideas why Rob Carnegie favors a business owned by his boss? The reader who first brought this to our attention did. Yes, according to the Alabama ethics law, it's a possible crime. Whether Rob Jones has joined Rob Carnegie in this alleged crime or not, we don't know. Our reader has told us his intentions of filing an ethics complaint. We still feel that the owners of Blue Water Brewing should also file a complaint. Stock up on popcorn.




No comments:

Post a Comment