Now Who's a Troll Again?

 

Does everyone remember Winthrop Armstead, ostensibly a black scholar who supported the idea that former Confederate officers (think Joe Wheeler) could never be repatriated even though they had returned to the Federal fold. 

How about Joe McLeod, a good ol' Rebel from Tuscumbia?

The Sad Sack cartoon character who hated Florence Councilman Jimmy Oliver?

Bob/Robert White who monitored the Florence council meetings and prayed to the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

The would-be Joe McCarthy who monitored Florence for suspicious behavior with a dedicated Facebook page?

Would you be surprised to know that all five of these characters (and probably more) are the same City of Florence employee? Yet now this troll has accused several others in Florence of doing what he has been guilty of.

He's also lamented that Facebook will not take down the "Florence Historical Board" page, calling it the work of a troll. Have you visited this page? Much is satire - not trolling, but a great deal is simply common sense remarks about the state of the city as well as its university.

The page clearly states it's not connected to the city which no longer has a historical board (it's now a commission). If you haven't visited this page, you should. We promise you'll learn something...

Florence Historical Board

Scheduling Conflict: Florence City Council & Florence Historical Board

 

The Florence City Council meets every first and third Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. When are meetings for the new Historical Commission? The third Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. In other words, neither the mayor nor any council members will be able to attend the commission meetings unless something changes. Let's hope it does.

*****

Speaking of Florence history, here's an interesting review of Pope's Tavern by Winthrop Armstead from three years ago. We haven't seen much of Florence critic Winthrop recently. He seems to have left the scene around the time Robert White stopped posting on city council meetings. 

The Florence Hysterical Historical Show

 

Like historical homes? Like wrestling where it's all pretend, but some can't help but participate anyway? Then come to Florence, Alabama!

See a historical board turned into a historical commission right before your eyes. (Except it really didn't happen on Tuesday afternoon for whatever reason.) See David Carson call Brian Murphy everything he might really be plus some things that just sounded bad at the moment. (Neither one has the sense to retire to the shadows gracefully.)

In case you missed the comedy show known as a Florence City Council meeting, the entire question of our greatly maligned historical board was once again sidestepped. We'll have more on this later, but in the meantime, citizens would do well to again turn their thoughts to the long-proposed College Street Bridge. Stay tuned...

*****

Several have contacted us about the ADA violations now ongoing at the Florence SportsPlex. PNS did an informative article, but the actual address of the complex would be helpful. It's 17700 County Road 2, also known as Coffee Road. 

We know that many have already filed a complaint against the city and the mayor, but a few more won't hurt. How long it will take to initiate any action, we have no idea. Good luck to those struggling to attend games this year.

Florence Historical Board Not Kosher?

 

In case you don't have a Black's handy, the legal term ex officio means (loosely) serving by virtue of what one is, not by election or specific appointment. It seems the code of Florence mandates the city historian and the city archaeologist be on the historical board. While we've never heard of any archaeologist, we know that Mr. Billy Ray Warren is the city's official historian. He's currently not on the board.

Will the Florence City Council remedy this in February? Either the code needs to be amended or Mr. Warren needs to take one of the three vacant places on the board.

What if the council does neither? We're told that an ethics complaint will follow, along with one to the state's attorney general. 

As if the city hasn't had enough criticism since the election of Andy Betterton as mayor, it was announced today on a Facebook watchdog page that Florence has the third highest paid museum curator salary in the state, with only Huntsville and Tuscaloosa offering more. Too bad the city can't say that about its police officers and firefighters...

A Florence Museum Curator At Work

(Who Knew His Job Was To Ridicule The Less Educated?)

Happy New Year from ZAR

 

We have to wonder how local history will record 2020. In fact, how will it see this past decade? Here's some interesting thoughts from ZAR:

Happy New Year Ms. S! Are you ready for 2020+1?

Over the holidays I spent a lot of time dwelling on how ironic life has become. 

I understand that discrimination laws do not apply to volunteer positions, but do we not at least owe our elders a smidgen of respect? 

Dr. Bill McDonald served from 1968 to 1989 as Chair of the Florence Historical Board. If he or Dr. Ken Johnson were alive today would they even be welcomed to join the Florence Historical Board?

Robert Steen served with great honors from January 19, 2010 until December 17, 2018 when Chairman Steen was forced out. 

On February 21, 2017 Fran Nunnelly and Dr. Joseph Flippen were both reappointed to serve 3 more years on the historical board. Oddly enough it seems that they were replaced before their terms ended and their replacements were never publicized. 

Isn't it ironic how a group that makes the claims that the Florence Historical Board makes today would dismiss three individuals who worked so very hard to refurbish a slave cemetery?  Placing age discrimination and lack of city-wide diversity aside. That in itself truly is ironic. Don't you think? A little too ironic, I really must say.

Just like how the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area's coverage is seven counties yet the University of North Alabama seems to get the "lion" share.

Everyone knew that Kitts did not have any experience as a university president when he took the job at UNA near the end of 2015. We all cut him a lot of slack, but come on man! It's time for you to step it up and start doing better.

My niece asked me just the other day if I thought UNA prepares young people for the real world, and I said absolutely not. In the real world there is adequate parking.

May God have mercy on us all.

Your good bud,

ZAR

What's Wrong at the Florence Historical Board?

 

A regular and savvy reader has sent us an insightful take on a Florence problem:

The Florence City Council has no choice but to remove Brian W. Murphy

Volunteer citizen advisory boards are an integral part of local government. Unfortunately, in some situations it can become very easy to encounter conflicts of interest. This is especially true for the chairperson.

According to Robert's Rules of Order the most important principle that all presiding officers must remember is that they represent all members, not just a select few with whom they agree. 

In the case of the Florence Historical Board senior age members with different view points were removed and replaced in favor of individuals that all shared a similar outlook.

The City of Florence is an area the size of 26.7 square miles. The entire historical board is currently made up of individuals that many would consider to be neighbors. So as far as city wide diversity and age discrimination goes the Florence Historical Board receives an F-. 

This dramatic change began three years ago after the installation of Brian Murphy as chairman. Murphy did not serve on the board prior to being made chairman.

Another important reminder, according to Robert's Rules of Order, is the ability to be impartial. Does any person actually believe that Murphy is capable of being impartial?

In a recent article on this blog site it was observed that Brian Murphy, curator of museums, demonstrating at city hall was in fact him protesting against his own employer. 

In July of 2020, the annual W.C. Handy Music Festival was scheduled to take place, but was canceled due to COVID-19. Project Say Something, with whom Brian Murphy is also a board member, began a campaign to coincide with the festival called "No Justice No Peace No Tourism." 

This PSS video that kicked of the "No Justice No Peace No Tourism" campaign can be found here: 

https://fb.watch/2F1X-qhza9/

I would like to know exactly how did our city museum curator and PSS think that tourism would come to a sudden halt, and how could that not be perceived as a direct threat? After all the W.C. Handy Music Festival draws people from far and wide during normal non-world-wide pandemics every year. 

Museum tourism has a powerful economic impact on the economy of our area as well as nationwide. Pope's Tavern for example welcomes tourists and school children on field trips every year. Brian Murphy is curator for Pope's Tavern in addition to the Indian Mound Museum. 

Another member of the Historical Board recently wrote that Pope's Tavern, "is no longer a pro-Confederate, 'Lost Cause' memorial." The young lady went on to explain how now, "I could take my kids to learn about the history of Florence."

A full tour of Pope's Tavern from 4 years ago (before Murphy) can be found here:

https://youtu.be/GjVmQRsOKms

If this young lady really felt that Pope's Tavern was an unsafe place before Murphy then she too is unfit to serve on the historical board. Just because you are a recent college graduate with a degree on a certain subject does not mean that you are qualified. 

When the city refuses to take responsibility for its own misjudgments it can only lead to speculation and imagination as to the reasons why. What are the motives of certain council members? Why are the bonds between certain council members and city workers so tight? In the case of Dick Jordan and his wife Libby Jordan it is obvious. 

Why would Jordan be willing to destroy his own legacy for Murphy? Enquiring minds really would like to know!

Controversy Grows over Historical Board Appointments

 

On December 15th, the Florence City Council will make three appointments to the historical board. One of the current board members has provoked quite a bit of controversy, with many contacting our blog or publishing their thoughts on Facebook.

Pictured below is Brian W. Murphy, a local historian, but more importantly a City of Florence employee:

You will note that the 35 year-old Murphy, a PSS board member and protester, is dressed identically to a counter-protester at the far right. This obviously took some planning. We've been told that Murphy was using performance art in order to shame this counter-protester. Our first thought is that neither side should have used public protest as a means to achieve its goals. Our second thought is that, no matter how inane anyone may have found the counter-protester, a city employee shouldn't have publicly ridiculed a citizen who helps pay his salary.

In early November, Project Say Something's demonstrators moved from the courthouse to Florence City Hall. At this point, Murphy was actively protesting his employer. How many of you would feel secure in doing that?

We have no idea if the city council will reappoint Murphy as chair of the historical board or not. We can definitely say that after the events of the past few months, Brian Murphy is carrying a great deal of political baggage. Do you think he is representative of the city?