Martha Murphy Retiring/New Fire Station

 

Martha Murphy is retiring from her role as administrator for the City of Florence. Will she also now retire as administrator of the city's Tree Commission?

Click to Enlarge

Mrs. Murphy is responsible for ordering the above items for Memorial Grove Park on East Mobile Street (former location of Ft. Willingham). It will be interesting to see what now happens. As far as we know, neither Jackie Hendrix nor his wife has stepped down from the commission since Hendrix assumed his duties with the city council. 

Florence should change its name to the Nepotism City.

*****

According to a recent public safety commission meeting, Florence's newest fire station will not be built for less than $725,000.00 more than the original estimate. Ouch!

*****

Florence Felon Suspect in 30 Year-Old Crime

 

In October 2003, Monique Vaughn was found fatally stabbed in her Shade Avenue home in Florence. Authorities soon arrested her neighbor Jerry Trent Jackson who was found guilty and is currently serving a life sentence in the Donaldson Correctional Facility. Jackson, originally from Montgomery, has always claimed his innocence.

Now new DNA testing has led to Jackson being questioned in a 1992 Montgomery robbery in which the homeowner died. So far Jackson has refused to cooperate, but attorneys for Christopher Barbour, a man who has served 30 years on death row, are pushing for the case to reopened. 

Meanwhile, Barbour remains in the Alabama prison system.

*****

Florence City Government is 99% Opaque

 

Let It Shine

The agenda for the Florence city council meeting on Tuesday October 1st was a long one. It had 46 items on the consent portion and 3 on the general portion. The notice for the meeting with the agenda was published on the city of Florence Facebook page at 10:46 a.m. on Tuesday. The work session started, as usual, at 4:00 p.m.

According to the Open Meetings Act of Alabama: Act # 2005-40 subsection 6 states that “meetings called pursuant to Section 11-43-50, Code of Alabama 1975 shall be posted as soon as practicable after the meeting is called and in no case less than 24 hours before the meeting is scheduled to begin”. It goes on to give exceptions due to emergency circumstances but barring these the law is very clear. And the city of Florence seems to violate it every time a city council meeting is held.

This gets brought up very frequently in the public comment section by David Carson. Mr. Carson did so once again at this past meeting. He asked how an agenda with 49 items could be viewed and researched by concerned citizens when it is posted less that 6 hours on the day of the meeting. He also brought up the practice of the city posting notices on a bulletin board with thumb tacks in front of the city clerk's office about committee meetings to be held.

Transparency. That is what seems to be lacking at Florence city hall. Whether it be the lack of concern for citizens to get notices in a timely fashion or Mayor Andy Betterton blocking all comments during the live stream of the council work session and meeting itself, it all seems designed to keep the citizen in the dark. But some citizens are taking figurative flashlights to dark hallways at city hall and looking for information. After all, sunlight is often the best disinfectant. We need some things brought into the spotlight. And thank those who show us the way.

*****

6,000th Post/Patricia Strickland

 

October not only marks our 16th anniversary, but today we're making our 6,000th post. 

*****

Our sympathies to the family of long-time reader Patricia Strickland. She always supported our bloggers, and we'll miss her kind words.

Patricia Rose Strickland, 72, of Russellville, Alabama passed away on Friday, September 27,2024. She was the wife to Donald Strickland for 45 years.

She is survived by her son, Gregory Hollimon, two grandchildren, Auburn and Dylan Hollimon, three brothers, Wade, Roger, and BB McCalpin and one sister, Sue Cross.

Preceding her in death were her parents, Leonard and Winifred McCalpin; two brothers, Robert and Jack.

A memorial visitation will be held Friday evening, October 4th, from 2:00 pm-3:30 pm at Colbert Memorial Chapel in Tuscumbia Alabama.

*****