THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (IN FLORENCE CITY HALL)

 

The special called meeting to discuss the plans for a new city hall building, 01/14, started a little differently. The seating arrangement did anyway. The chairs were not centered in the room in a circle. They were arranged around 3 tables pushed together in a square.  Well, sort of. The bottom line is: circle or square, this meeting ended in almost the same way it started. There were no firm plans for either the old parking deck or city hall building.  Maybe next time Kaytrina Simmons can have the group meet and sit in a triangle shape. 

They all did agree to stay under the $50 million dollars that had been borrowed to build a new city hall building. 

There was a new element in the mix: an annex building. On this, yours truly is truly confused. It was never fully explained, at least to me, whether they were talking about buying a lot and building a new annex building on it or they had a constructed building in mind. I think they were talking about buying a lot. It would cost anywhere from $2 million to $6 million.

With this, the discussion between Bill Griffin and Jimmy Oliver got a little heated. For Griffin, the $6 million figure was a proposal killer. Oliver acted like this upset  him. This exchange was enlightening and put Bill Griffin way up the register on my respect meter. 

Jackie Hendrix had done his due diligence regarding the city hall building and had an engineer inspect the building and assess that it would cost more to remodel than to demolish and build a new structure. He had gotten this done for free according to him. I give him props for that, but somehow though, he is tied up with the “annex” proposal. Another thread to unravel.  

The other point that is really unclear is what they plan to do with the property after they demolish the original parking deck. It seems nobody got an independent engineer to inspect it and the wrecking ball is in its future for sure it appears. But the other new point is now they are planning on tearing down one parking deck and building another? 

And even more confusing than this was the different figures that were being discussed. I did not receive a high enough grade in accounting to keep up with that and something tells me all but maybe one on the council didn’t either.

I truly do not know how to describe this meeting. Whether he gets kudos or not, the one who should be wearing the cape in this whole affair is David Carson. He hits every meeting, be it city council or one of the different committee meetings, and records every one of them for the citizens to see. He does not receive a dime for his work, does this on his spare time, and has stated he started doing it and continues to do it because he wants the citizens of  Florence to have transparency in their government. Just watching this meeting was enough for me. Sitting through it, he should have received some kind of reward. I am adding it to this blog posting below. If your eyes glaze over during the meeting, make sure to skip to the last 10 minutes or so. You will get a good look at the shape the City of Florence government is in.

Editor's Note: To us, the words between Mr. Oliver and Mr. Griffin couldn't compare in drama to Jivin' Jackie Hendrix being an arrogant ass to Council President Simmons. He needs to realize he's not speaking to the Big Dombrowski, but to his superior.

Are the Zurinsky Florence Districts Better?

 

River Zurinsky is a one-time candidate for the Florence City Council, as well as a current member of the Beautification Board. Mr. Zurinsky has created a version of the six Florence districts that many feel are a superior answer to this decennial problem. He has presented his vision for redistricting to the council, but will they actually consider his well thought-out plan? We should find out at the January 21st session.

The basics:

The Re-Mapping of Florence Districts NACOLG Style

 

It's time for new district maps in Florence. The basic idea is to create six districts with an "equal" number of citizens. We realize it's not as easy as it sounds and that no new maps will be without controversy.

Where will the new maps originate? The City has presented to the public the work of NACOLG. The North Alabama Council of Local Governments is a voluntary Association of 37 governmental units in the five-county region of Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Marion, and Winston Counties along with the municipalities therein.

Does everyone agree with the new maps/districts? It seems not. If adopted, there will no longer be a district with a majority of citizens of color. Could the Florence City Council then find itself without a black representative? It's certainly possible. 

Here's a Cliff Notes version of what NACOLG proposes:

District 1 would gain the area between Norwood Boulevard and Old Cloverdale Road that is currently in District 5.

District 1 would also gain the area between North Pine Street to the south, Ridge Avenue to the west, Seymore Avenue to the north, and North Wood Avenue to the east that is currently in District 2.

District 3 would gain the Indian Springs subdivision that is currently a part of District 6.

District 5 would gain the Maple Ridge subdivision that is currently a part of District 6.

Tomorrow: A Better Version?

Happy New Year, Muscle Shoals, from Lockhard & Walters

 

Times Daily readers have been forewarned. Mayor Lockhard’s boss Brittny Walters City Clerk has set forth their latest agenda. SPEND AND TAX MORE. Brittny Walters is the spokesperson for the out of control people running the city. For those who don’t read the Times Daily, this is the recap.

In 1992 the city council form of government began.
The city council met TWO TIMES A MONTH.   The compensation was $700.00 PER MONTH.

In 2025 the city council meets TWO TIMES A MONTH.  The compensation is $700.00 PER MONTH.

Mayor Lockhard makes $90,168 PLUS YEARLY COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT and benefits.

Councilmembers requested further research to compare compensation with SIMILAR CITIES.

Mr. Lockhard’s boss and spokesperson, Brittny Walters went on to state that Jalen Johnson, Human Resources Director, is expected to research salaries from the cities of Florence, Athens, Tuscaloosa and Cullman.

Now, the following comes from someone who isn’t quite as smart as this Brittny Walters, Mike Lockhard and the clowns on the city council that are paid $700.00 for TWO MEETINGS A MONTH.

1. The last MSC budget had a surplus of ONLY $1700.00.
2. The anticipated surplus was after massive cuts to the police department and library among other things.- what other city services will be cut/reduced  - OR - how much will our taxes and fees be increased ?
3. Recently, the EARMARKED FLOOD CONTROL fund was robbed and reduced in half for the City Council to have $2.7 million dollars to bale out their financial woes in other areas.
4. 2 NEW VEHICLES have been bought in the last 12 months for the CITY CLERK office - that is another $90,000.00+. (The post office and bank is next door, although her doctor, restaurants and ballgames are out of town)
5.Ms. Walters said that work will be completed by HR Director Jalen Johnson, who is expected to research salaries from the cities of FLORENCE, ATHENS, TUSCALOOSA and CULLMAN.

I don’t know how many of you people have been to those 4 cities, but I have and the 2024 populations of what Ms. Walters considers “similar cities” are as follows:
‘
FLORENCE ...........................43,057
ATHENS ................................32,636
TUSCALOOSA ................... 113,711
CULLMAN ........................... 20,407
and
MUSCLE SHOALS ...............17,491

Clearly, Ms. Walters doesn’t understand the definition of “similar”.  Granted, she and Mayor Lockhard are not natives of Muscle Shoals and clearly don't have the backgrounds or expertise to perform the duties adequately. Even though the mayor and council give her full reign to run the city, they just hide from the citizens and press, but do show up for meetings occasionally. We have not only a TAX & SPEND but also a “Just here for the paycheck” council.

If you try to find the City Check Registers on the city website - you won’t. You may find a one page budget that Ms. Walters has prepared. That is probably all Mr. Lockhard and the council can understand, but there should be comprehensive details including chart of account numbers for those who do understand budgeting.

There is so much more to this sad story of tax & spend politicians. Digest this for a little while and we will talk again soon.

Should a Second Degree Rapist Serve as Youth Minister?

 

The undisputed facts:

1. A 19 year-old legal adult male takes a 14 year-old female into a city owned restroom at a public facility. The girl performs a sex act on the man and then has sex with him. The male videos the encounter.

2. Parents are informed that the man in question has the video of their young daughter and is sending it to other early-teen girls. They report the crimes, and the man is arrested on several charges including Second Degree Sodomy and Second Degree Rape.

3. A grand jury in this rural county fails to indict the young man even with the video evidence. There are only two possible reasons for this failure, and neither one is pretty.

4. Three years after the incident, the man's father attempts to have most of the records in the case erased by impersonating an unbiased "official."

5. Three more years pass, and the admitted second degree rapist, now 25, has finished college, is continuing his education, and is working as a youth minister at a church near his current school.

How should the public feel about this young man's employment? Admittedly, the victim in the case consented to two illegal sex acts. Yet this man, now so religious and so community-oriented, chose to video the crimes and then send the videos to other young girls for whatever his perverted reasons.

We urge all churches to take a look at those who labor with them under the umbrella of "youth minister."

A Stock Photo of Three 14 Year-Olds. They Deserve More Than Rape in a Public Restroom.

Big Shout Out to Tractor Supply in Rogersville

 

We were once asked why Florence Animal Services didn't do more adoption events in the county. We're going to take an informed guess that it's because the shelter is understaffed, busy feeding and walking hundreds or dogs, cleaning more cat litter than you can ever imagine, all the while answering phone calls from the public. An adoption event may sound easy, but it still takes planning.

First the shelter needs more volunteers to handle odds and ends that take up the director's valuable time. How about you? Can you walk a dog or run a washer/dryer? If you answered yes, hop to it!

An event also needs a host. That's where Tractor Supply in Rogersville has been helping out. Props to all at TSC who make these adoption afternoons happen. If you frequent the TSC on Hwy. 72, be sure to tell them how much you appreciate what they're doing.

*****

We also have to commend shelter director Cheryl Jones. She didn't take over shelter management at the best time in its history, but she has worked tirelessly to make it what it should be.

On the flip side of what a shelter director should be, we have Decatur chief Brian Lundberg, aka slimy bastard, who instructed employees to throw an elderly blind dog with multiple fractures and internal bleeding into a kennel without any medical intervention. 

We cannot begin to fathom the depravity of this man:

United Fight Club - Florence Council Style

 

"It turned into a ballroom blitz."

There was drama: Eugene Sak is a slum Lord. - Michael White

There was crime: Get rid of the guns. - Billy Ray Simpson

There was anger: Arm chair quarter-backs know nothing about real life. - Jimmy Oliver

There was grief: Jivin' Jackie Hendrix is a big disappointment. - Michael White again

There was hope: I've drawn better City maps for your consideration. - River Zurinsky

There was comedy: Doesn't the City know how much one hundred million is? - David Carson

Our takeaway? We actually agree with Mr. Simpson about the prevalence of guns in the wrong hands in Florence. As for the logical Mr. White, we have to ask why he ever trusted Hendrix and his moll the Big Dombrowski (still allowed to sit on the Tree Commission)? Yes, Mr. Zurinsky has indeed come up with a better revision of the City's six districts; we'll be publishing them later this week.

Will things get better? Not if Florence continues to have a Dick Jordan mindset.