Updates on Sheffield Lawsuit/Chris Balentine

First we have a correction/addendum from a confidential source regarding the Tammy Holden termination hearing:

The council did see the emails but Steve Baccus said they were irrelevant to the case. Underwood had asked that Ian Sanford be a witness and be cross-examined which Baccus and the council said they would not do. Ian was called as a witness which the city council overrode. He was not allowed to be cross-examined by Holden's attorney. 

Ian was also asked to recuse himself from voting because of the hostile environment, emails, and recorded statement from him saying Holden's attire was appropriate. Sanford initially said he never said that, but acquiesced when he heard the secretly recorded conversation.

We also want to add that Streets & Sanitation Department head Bradley Bump's wife now works for the Tuscumbia Parks and Recreation Department. Somehow that doesn't sound less stressful.

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Meanwhile in Lauderdale County, we hear that Muscle Shoals Coach Chris Balentine's wife has filed for divorce. 

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Also in Lauderdale, Mackenzie Crosswhite remains missing. This is her second bunk, and we commented on a linked article that she should be grounded for life. Some felt she was the victim in all this. We have no idea what her emotional problems may be, but we do know her father is extremely worried about her. She's 17; she has to know what kind of impact this kind of thing has on others, as well as her own education (how much school has she missed?). Above all, we hope she is found safe. Here is a link to information concerning Mackenzie; it contains an updated physical description and more on the man the teenager is believed to have left with.

Mackenzie Crosswhite Missing

Shoalanda

Reporters/Readers/How Many Others Don't Know the Law?

We received this from a reader:

Click to Enlarge

Unless strangulation is involved, the incident referred to is a misdemeanor. This coach, whom we have heard has been involved in many domestic altercations, has unfortunately never been arrested before. No arrests, no priors. If a woman or her family don't report a crime, in the eyes of the law, it didn't happen. Judge Medley gave the appropriate sentence for a first offense.

What will happen now? If we had to guess, spots are hard to change...

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Recently Tom Smith of the TimesDaily reported on an upcoming Capital Murder case; he said Capital Murder is subject to 2 years to Life Without in prison or death. Uh, no. He always says this, and we can't fathom why.

Capital Murder has only two possible sentences: Life Without or Death. That's it. Mr. Smith doesn't understand the difference between Capital Murder and (Felony) Murder.  

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A conversation at a recent Thanksgiving gathering reminded us of another "law" that we have heard all our life here in Alabama. In this state a couple can't marry and divorce each other more than three times. As a child/young person, we thought nothing of this when we heard it repeated, but as an adult, this sounds utterly inane. Still, it's Alabama, so we asked our favorite legal eagle friend.

No truth to that old tale, he said. If anyone knows where this fallacious notion may have originated, please let us hear.

Shoalanda

Questions About Tammy Holden Dismissal

We've been asked several questions about the recent dismissal of Tammy Holden from the Sheffield Street & Sanitation Department. We will answer what we can...

* What does the Sheffield City Council say about all this? Apparently nothing. We will say that when Mrs. Holden was terminated with their approval, they had not seen the e-mails to which she had been subjected.

* Why was Ms. Holden terminated? Basically, her current supervisor accused her of insubordination and not following the dress code. Department head Bradley Bump admits he didn't like Ms. Holden, and vice versa.

* How bad was the genitalia photo sent out by Ian Sanford? There probably isn't a delicate way to answer this question; the extreme lower part was covered by a pair of unzipped jeans. Does it qualify as porn? We would say so. There was another e-mail featuring a cartoon tattoo of a vagina. Some very bad taste all around considering these e-mails came from Mayor Sanford.

* What's next? Mrs. Holden has filed a lawsuit. The city will have to defend it in some manner. It should be interesting.

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From a reader:

I have heard that Chief Ray is actually performing as a Chief should since Dewey's troubles have been made public. He is vowing to 'clip the wings of some rogue officers, and insure that ALL incidents receive the written reports that they require.' It seems that the past couple of years have seen some Sheffield PD officers shirking their duty, apparently with Dewey's 'blessings. That appears to be over.

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Above is Bradley Bump. According to Facebook, his wife Nancy is also an administrative assistant with the City of Sheffield. Holden has stated she feared Bump was about to sabotage the spreadsheet she had created on the location of city wheelie bins.. 

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On the subject of Dewey King, we do know that he has been under investigation concerning a matter not related to the e-mails. We have not been given permission to release any details as yet. We understand that the results of this investigation will be brought forward whether King resigns or not.

Shoalanda

Mr. Mayor, 99.99% Don't Want to See What You Sent!

When we first heard about the racial and sexual nature of the e-mails in question in the latest lawsuit against the City of Sheffield, we weren't sure what to think. Two city officials were guilty of this, according to the attorney quoted in the TD article. Who were they, and what did they send?

Later we were informed via a confidential source that one of the misguided department heads was Dewey King, a man whom, judging from our e-mail over the years, no one likes for more reasons than we can count. Who was the other?

Let's digress here for a minute. This is a political blog, and we try to be fair. If we supported you in past elections and later you take out half your constituents with an Uzi, we're going to report on that. Our citizens deserve better. As a woman writing this blog today, I can say that women deserve better treatment than they receive in the workplace.

That being said, Mr.Mayor Ian Sanford, no female working for you (at least the ones I know) want to see a photograph of a penis. I don't care how funny the joke is; BTW this one wasn't funny. We've read some of the other jokes you have sent to employees...and some were funny, but as mayor should you have sent them to ANY employees? What were you thinking sending one whose punch line was the photo of a penis? (No we're not going to publish it here, but it will be in Colbert County court records soon enough.)

We've said it before and we'll say it again here. Whistle blowers get no respect. People have to work for a living and put up with quite a bit from supervisors, usually those with a high school diploma and five ex-wives, but from a college educated male who holds the respect of the community?

We're sad to publish this today.



Shoalanda

About Those E-Mails from Dewey King...

It's amazing what people will send from a work computer. We have some old incriminating personal e-mails from a UNA employee that actually use his job title and his work address, all in bright purple and gold. What if it's a private e-mail account, but sent on a city computer? What if these e-mails are racially inflammatory?

A confidential source has sent us some e-mails (with more coming) from Sheffield public safety director Dewey King. You may remember King as being involved in some controversial situations twice in recent years--a conflict of interest with the E-911 board and refusing to answer the questions of local television reporters. No, there's no law that states an acting police chief has to answer the public's questions, but not doing so raises more questions.

So now King has helped to involve the City of Sheffield in a lawsuit. It may be just be our crazy opinion, but sending a message with the N-word to a person with a racially mixed family might not be the most intelligent thing to do.



Shoalanda

The Great Sheffield Wheelie Bin Caper

We trust each of you has gotten your jollies from reading the escapades at the Sheffield Street and Sanitation Department. What can we learn from this?

* If you think someone wants to sabotage the wheelie bin spreadsheet or any other file, you can buy a Jump drive at Big Lots for 8.00—it’s a worthwhile investment. Just be sure to back up your files each day.

* Husbands and wives really shouldn’t work together in the public sector. It NEVER works out and causes hard feelings among other employees. If the employees meet and marry at work, do whatever it takes to transfer one to an equal paying job in another department/location.

* Dress modestly—that goes for both sexes. That is of course unless you have extra time to ward off unwanted advances or you have a second job on the side.

* One of the worst mistakes any manager/owner can make is to take something away from an employee due to no fault of the employee. So you didn’t like the previous arrangement for overtime pay or whatever? Tough. You didn’t make it, but you should honor it as far as hours already earned. If you don’t you’re being a horse’s patoot.

* For Heaven’s sake, never make any personal remarks in writing. Even employees who don’t know how to back up files seem to know how to keep copies of every off color or discriminatory remark anyone makes. Don’t make these remarks verbally either; see above about horse’s patoot.

* Finally, to ensure job security, keep Billy on speed dial and have it prominently displayed on your phone.

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So let’s see, ol’ Jimbo Bob (James Tucker) is 40, lives in a trailer in the wilds of eastern Lauderdale County, and looks like Travis the Chimp. He also has a 25 year-old live-in girl friend. This poor woman had to have been desperate for a home…or maybe a chemical aperitif this man offered.

Tucker has been indicted for his many crimes against this woman, among them strangulation, assault, and kidnapping. We didn’t read that the mini-mart clerk whom Jimbo Bob threatened during the latter part of this hours long attack pressed any charges, but we hope that he/she did. It might be only a misdemeanor, but ol’ Jimbo Bob needs it on his record.

Perhaps Jimbo Bob will now find religion; we understand his mother has just opened a faith healing church. Would you trust spiritual guidance from the woman who made this post? Her son deserves better? Yes, they breathe and walk among us.

Let’s hope this Neanderthal gets more than a diversion program for his sins. Either that or the community buys his ex a Taser, a bullwhip, and a baseball bat.

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Now a little Boz from early this year; he’s still smokin’…

Shoalanda

Muslims Don't Like Barbecue?/Tammy Holden

This story made the rounds long before 9/11 made “Muslim” a household word and few knew many of the religion’s customs and dietary restrictions: An up and coming young executive, ‘Bama born and bred, was assigned to take some foreign customers to tour his company’s Athens facility. He duly withdrew money from petty cash to pay for their lunch; after all, it was going to be a long day.

The clerk who handled petty cash noted later in the day that a lobby sign welcomed the visitors—from Saudi Arabia. The next day the young executive duly brought his lunch receipt and change to the clerk. She related that she thought it was odd that he had so much money left. Where and what had they eaten?

A quick look at the receipt showed one sandwich and three soft drinks. The name of the eatery? The Greenbrier Barbecue. Our friend didn’t know whether to laugh a little…or to laugh a lot.

Things certainly do change.

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Early next year, the owners of the Athens 306 BBQ will be opening a second location in the old Greenbrier building that suffered fire damage in 2013.

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This is former Sheffield street department employee Tammy Holden. She's suing the city over her termination. Stay tuned...

Shoalanda