Who Understands the New Florence City Council Math?

 

In case you arrived late to this circus, here's a program to identify the monkeys:

1. The City of Florence owns half the former ECM Hospital property on Marengo Street. Lauderdale County owns the other half.

2. On January 5, 2021, Florence City Council President Dick Jordan proposed to sell the entire 12 acres to developer Joel Anderson Jr. for $300,000.00. The motion passed the council.

3. Around January 8, 2021, a local developer sent a sales contract to the county commission offering $500,000.00 for the land. In other words, instead of $150,000.00 each, the city and county would receive $250,000.00 each if this developer was allowed to bid against Anderson. 

4. On February 2, 2021, Dick Jordan proposed a resolution offering the county $255,000.00 for its half of the ECM property - which has still never been placed for bids. The resolution was added to the agenda two hours before the start of the regular meeting and passed.

Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the council meeting demanding museum curator Brian W. Murphy's head and various other body parts. If Florence isn't the poster child for dysfunctional government, it's not for lack of trying.