Colbert County Report

Sheffield - From the March 1, 2010, TimesDaily:

Board member Polly Ruggles...said the new superintendent must be able to sell the Sheffield system and be able to convince Sheffield residents to send their children to Sheffield schools rather than to schools outside the district. "We have a diverse group of students, and I think we need someone who has a good background and the ability to work with that diversity," Ruggles said. She said the new superintendent will have to deal with Sheffield schools' declining enrollment. "That's tied in with someone who can sell our school system."

Colbert County District Judge candidate Polly Ruggles, a member of the Sheffield Board of Education, is quoted above. Ruggles sends her daughter to a magnet school in Birmingham. Perhaps we can also recruit Tiger Woods to instruct Ashley Cole on fidelity...

Muscle Shoals: Sources say a city police officer stationed at the Muscle Shoals jail has been placed on administrative leave for improper conduct with female prisoners. It sounds as if this officer may have a future with the State Department of Corrections.

Cherokee: Approximately 100 citizens attended tonight's town council meeting. Unfortunately, two council members were not among them. Mike Malone and Steve Glover were no-shows at the meeting that failed to appoint a new water board member. Sources say nominee Art Walker became critical of the council and was removed from the meeting after suggesting that impeachment proceedings were in order. Police provided an escort for council members Thomas Holiday and Joe Franks as they left the building. In other words, politics as normal in the Mississippi border town.

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Several sources have recently reported that a member of the Cherokee Town Council is not qualified, citing a TimesDaily reference to the council member's 1999 arrest. We have no idea of the actual outcome of this arrest, but the individual could have been released for lack or evidence, found not guilty, or had both political and gun rights restored if convicted. His mere arrest in no way disqualifies him from his membership on the council.

Stay tuned for: Some big news from the eastern end of Lauderdale County.

Shoalanda

The Cherokee Gas & Water Board - More Popular Than We Thought

For the past eight years, Barbara Gayle Carroll has served on the Gas & Water Board of the small Colbert County town of Cherokee, estimated population 1,200. Current mayor Chuck Lansdell would like to see Carroll serve a third term. Apparently at least two other Cherokee residents would like to thwart Lansdell's wishes. Art Walker and Emma Haley have also applied for the opening.

The position pays no money and, presumably in a town with Cherokee's recent history, may carry a burden of built-in angst. So, why the sudden interest in this rather low profile, no respect municipal task?

Carroll is certainly more than qualified for the position, having been a water department watch dog since 1997 when she questioned the need for a 1.3 million dollar water system in a town with only 750 active water accounts. According to Lansdell, Carroll has also volunteered to read water meters when the department has been short handed.

Applicant Art Walker serves under Lansdell in the Cherokee Fire Department; sources say he has often been at odds with Mayor/Chief Lansdell over various city related projects. Both Walker and Emma Haley seem to be favored by most council members whom Lansdell has accused of being supporters of his predecessor Mignon Willis.

Obviously in any political brouhaha, the first order of business is to follow the money; however, since this is Cherokee, the Water & Gas Board may just be a victim of petty grievances that boiled over into other areas. Bottom line: Why doesn't the town let Chuck Lansdell have this job as well--he certainly likes to brag that he runs everything else in the town.


Notice: If you have children who participate in the YMCA after school program in Florence, please contact the admins if you have questions about their teacher/caregivers.

Shoalanda