God, Greed, Fraud, Schools, and Taxes

Introduction: Below is a very enlightening essay by The Lauderdale Luminary on the proposed Ag-Center, the county school system, and more. We were curious about the religious makeup of the Ag Board. Here is a list of members and their religious affiliation, if known. If there should be errors, we apologize in advance and will be happy to update the preferences.

Tim Melson - Church of Christ

Lynn Greer - Southern Baptist

Phillip Pettus - Conflicting information; he either "attends" the Church of Christ with his wife or is a member.

Ed Tease - Unknown

Joe Hackworth - Church of Christ (Fringe)

Roger Garner - No preference

Ronnie Lane - Unknown

According to most statistical information, the largest religious group in Lauderdale County is the Southern Baptist Church.

Reflections on the Ag-Center Cabal

Operating under a smokescreen of ambiguity and double-talk, members of the Lauderdale County Ag-Center Authority Board, along with their allies at the Lauderdale County Board of Education and Northwest Shoals Community College, are hell bent on shoving this Ag-Center boondoggle down our throats, despite the sober and reasoned reservations of the citizenry about the need or the market for such a facility. In fact, their obvious and deliberate avoidance of these considerations strongly suggests that the private interests in this project far outweigh any potential public benefit. If the gumshoes at the Times Daily could remember what expository journalism is, perhaps they could shine some light into this dimly lit corner.


From the stories I've read about the Ag-Center project thus far, it would seem that the participation of the Lauderdale County Board of Education in this venture is considered a key factor in its predicted success. According to public statements by school board members, the proposed construction of a new vocational school at the Ag-Center site will require the school system to borrow tens of millions of dollars. I suppose we should all just forget about the fact that this same school board has already chosen to hand over $250,000 of TVA tax funds annually to the Ag-Center "Authority", or that this same school board has allowed its athletic programs throughout the county to rack up over $2,000,000 in red ink, or that this same school board has capriciously wasted over $600,000 just to enlarge its administrative office campus, all while the district's fund balances continue on a steady decline. I suppose we should all just consider ourselves fortunate that we have such a gifted group of financial experts to saddle the Lauderdale County taxpayer will even more debt.


So the school board now intends to borrow tens of million of dollars using a bond issue. So what does it take to borrow money in the bond market? In a word, "disclosure". Full disclosure to be exact. The laws and regulations governing the securities markets require institutional borrowers like the school board to submit very detailed and specific documentation before their debt securities can be sold to investors. The board's most recent audit is a required part of this documentation, so I decided to take a look at this report as issued by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.


After a diligent search of the Examiners' report I was struck by one glaring omission. A little background first - financial reporting standards require reporting entities like the board to disclose any significant contingencies as part of their audited financial statements. This means that if the board is aware of a circumstance that could lead to a significant financial consequence, then the board is supposed to disclose this circumstance in its financial statements. So then, the glaring omission of which I speak is that I can find absolute no mention in the board's audited financial statements of the EEOC "equal pay" lawsuit now pending against the board in Federal Court, a case that holds strong potential for a very costly outcome.


Returning now to the disclosure requirements governing the securities markets, I wonder whether the board intends to carry this glaring omission forward from its audited financial statements into its submissions to the bond underwriters. Doing so might be considered willful fraudulent misrepresentation of a material fact by Federal regulators, but I would so love to see this obtuse tribe of troglodytes test those waters.


Now, a question! Why is anyone surprised that Senator Melson wants sectarian religious instruction to be offered in publicly funded facilities? After all, Senator Melson and the majority of members on the Ag-Center Board and the school board are all prominent members of the same Christian sect, as is a plurality of the county's population! All of you short-sighted fans of theocracy out there must be down right orgasmic nowadays.


Yes, our currency does have "In God We Trust" printed on it, and the Founders did indeed invoke the Creator often in our founding documents, but these were admonitions to each citizen to trust in the Creator he understands, rather than trusting in tyrannical kings or governments. This becomes especially clear when one considers another motto also emblazoned on our currency - "Novus Ordo Seclorum" or New Secular Order - neither kings, popes, nor prophets shall rule us! It is tyranny to compel taxes from a public comprised of many beliefs and then use those taxes to promote any particular notion of truth. The presumption of these zealots boggles the mind, does it not?


Humbly submitted for your consideration by,