We Thought It Looked Too Good for Andy

 

Sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us. It just happened while perusing the City of Florence Facebook page. Yes, we thought Andy was looking much better than usual. Then we noticed it was Roy Orbison.

Oh, well.This show looks interesting, so mark your calendars!

Big Brother (ParkMobile) Will Be Watching in Florence

 

Florence Mayor Handy Dandy Andy Betterton says that he's excited for the City to be partnering with ParkMobile. The question may be just how excited should you be that ParkMobile could have a great deal of information about you which it forwards on a regular basis to the City and who knows who else.

The mobile app collects the following:

License plate number

Phone number

E-mail address

Vehicle's nickname (if provided)

Bank card info (allegedly not given out)

Location of meter or lot where parked

Length of time spent in parking place

In other words, whoever at the City of Florence with access to the parking data could possibly see that your daughter "Sissy" parked in front of Trowbridge's at lunch time last week and that you (or someone driving your car labeled as "Self") spent two hours parked in front of On the Rocks last month.

While bank information is encrypted, the company's records were hacked by Russian cybercriminals in 2021. The information was then posted online.

In other words, keep several quarters handy when parking at a Florence meter.

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The Solar Eclipse: What You Need to Know

 

When? It's coming Monday, April 8th, so get ready!

What? You won't see a total eclipse here in North Alabama, but you will see 84% of the sun covered.

Time? You'll see as much of the eclipse as possible starting at 1:59 p.m.

Glasses? Get medical grade viewing glasses. We paid $7.00 for ours.

If you miss it? You can catch the next one in August 2044.

Florence Detective on Those Malevolent Meters

 

READ BEFORE SIGNING

Shoalanda has been covering much of my work for me this week. I have been sort of stretched thin and I truly appreciate her reporting on the proposals of the Florence city council. The main issues this “go-round” were the metered parking area expansion and the raise in fees charged by the Florence Electricity Department. This agenda item entailed higher fees for a variety of services and a few infractions. The “metered parking” expansion was just that: adding parking areas that required a quarter to park in 30 minute intervals all over town. Let me report on the fee raise for the utility dept first.

It passed. Not without opposition from two council members. Jimmy Oliver noted the high cost of food, shelter and practically everything else these days and said he was basing his no vote on not causing further hardship to the citizens of Florence. I agree and applaud him for his stance. Kaytrina Simmons stated that she represented a district which had many living below the poverty level and could not see passing these fees now and especially at this level of a raise. Something tells me she had read Shoalanda’s blog post: Electric Meter Mayhem! Once again, this reporter commends her for thinking of those who could least afford a hefty increase in a reconnect fee at a time in their lives when they were suffering. Bill Griffin, Michele Eubanks, Dick Jordan and Blake Edwards seemed to only be concerned with passing the agenda item. Michele Eubanks did thank Mary McDuffa for agreeing to post places where someone who was about to get their lights cut off might go to get help in the form of charity on the FED webpage. But she still voted YES on the agenda item to raise fees, despite her “charitable” leanings.

Then there was the three-ring circus that became the discussion of the agenda item to expand metered parking area in the city of Florence. Chief of police Ron Tyler said in the work session there would be no additional physical parking meters installed. Never mind that the title of the agenda item had “regarding PARKING METERS” in the title! Chief Tyler gave a rather lengthy presentation with an analogy of expanding the parking area that could be charged to a Park Mobil Application on your smart phone was like building a house and wiring it for electricity. He used an example of wiring a garage although you may not actually install electrical outlets. Personally, the analogy seemed off to me. We were talking about parking spaces not electrical outlets but let each teach to their comfort level. Evidently, Bill Griffin did not understand the lesson.

Bill Griffin started the discussion on the agenda item at the council meeting by saying that East Florence would be exempt from additional parking fees. When the other council members started low key disputing this statement, Griffin assured them this came from Ron Tyler himself. He said he had talked to all the businesses along the Sweetwater area of Huntsville Rd, and they were 100% against metered parking. Jimmy Oliver stated that the parking lot could be used for “premium” parking in events like Sweetwater Days, but Bill Griffin stuck to his guns that East Florence was exempt. Blake Edwards even chimed in that a vote to approve making an area metered parking for an event would need to be approved by the council. The vote was taken and all but Griffin and Kaytrina Simmons voted yes. Here is the clincher, there is not language in the ordinance they had just voted on that...

1. prevented the police from designating at any time an area they were approving to be made into metered parking using the Park Mobil app.

2. the council did NOT have the power to approve or deny the action to “flip the switch” on the app at any time to make it metered parking. That authority was with the chief of police and NOT the city clerk as even the chief had said was written into the ordinance.

3. AND nowhere in the ordinance does it appear to be written that East Florence is designated as “exempt.”

On another note, for some reason a portion of “remarks from the public” and the closing remarks of each council member was cut from the live streaming video on the City of Florence Facebook page. Be this a conspiracy or incompetence, this reporter can relay that one of the “remarks from the public” involved a citizen going to the podium and reading the ordinance to the council members. His closing remarks were: Do any of you READ the ordinances you are to vote on before the meeting?

Attention Muscle Shoals Citizens: Time for School!

 

If you are a Muscle Shoals Citizen, you will want to pay close attention to today's lesson. If you're buying multiple 60,000 dollar vehicles, you are excused from this class. If you are struggling to make your house payment, feed your family, and buy gas for your old car, you may want to move to the front of the class.

CLASS, you will be tested on how well you understand this lesson in August 2025. 

Muscle Shoals Mayor Lockhard had a fairly new Chevrolet Tahoe bought and maintained by the taxpayers that he and his wife have traveled in comfort in for many trips.

The previous Parks & Recreation director had a fairly new pickup truck for the purpose of the job before Mayor Lockhard fired/pushed out/run off/whatever he did to him.

Then Mayor Lockhard immediately appointed a new director and awarded her his $60,000 Chevrolet Tahoe, which meant the taxpayers  bought him a brand new Chevrolet Tahoe.

Within a short time, Mr. Lockhard (read: you the taxpayer) bought another $60,000 Chevrolet Tahoe for the City Clerk Brittney Walters. 

Why did Mr. Lockhard not give his slightly used Tahoe to Ms. Walters if she was in such dire need of another vehicle. Consider carefully the use of vehicles in the Park & Rec department, considering the director already had a fairly new department pickup truck. 

Now class, let's look at this a little deeper.

Muscle Shoals is a relatively small city. On a daily basis, Mr. Lockhard may drive 20 miles in his official duties. That's 100 miles per week.

The Park & Rec director may drive the same in the luxury vehicle between the parks to make sure they are in immaculate shape for recruiting visitors and new families to the city.

The City Clerk may go to the bank and post office, which are across the parking lot from City Hall. Another piece of this particular baffling logic is the fact that Ms. Walters has 2 other city vehicles at her disposal as shown in the slides on the screen. Granted, these other 2 vehicles were used by the 2 previous City Clerks and have low mileage, but they are not new and quite as fancy. 

The Quiz today is multiple choice:

How many vehicles does it take for one person to walk to the post office and bank next door?    3      2     1    0

Should potholes and damaged city property that pose a safety violation or threat to children be repaired before new vehicles are added to the growing fleets of city employees?    Y    N

Are you over taxed because of extravagant spending by Mayor Lockhard and Clerk Walters?     Y    N

Would you like your taxes to be lowered because of less spending by Mayor Lockhard and Clerk Walters?    Y    N

Talk among yourselves. Prepare for the big test. It will be in August 2025.

I will give you a 24 hr notice of the next class. If you think this lecture was informative just wait till the next lecture in this series.

It will not be cancelled, employees are encouraged to attend, and the press is welcome. You will not want to miss it.

Class dismissed for now. 

#FACTSMATTER #EDUCATE #VOTE #GETRIDOFTHERASCALS #VOTEAUGUST2025 

Council Meeting Cancellation Shows No Plan?

 

First, we'll have a little contest. On the left if a mini-tree from Toomer's Corner. On the right is Dick Jordan. Tell us in the comments (Blogspot or Facebook) which is more useful.

Now, the weather. Storms have been predicted for two days. Schools were dismissed. Dick Jordan waited until around two hours before the council meeting to reschedule.

Next year, Dick will be retiring (or so we've heard), and the current mayor will be voted out. Certain department heads should be very afraid.

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Want to be on the right side of Florence history?

Vote Andy Out!

Electric Meter Mayhem

 

We're sure you'll be hearing more about this from The Florence Detective. For now, we merely want to point out what one utility employee says is normal. Yes, it's normal to go ten years without an increase, then raise various rates 300% to 500%.

No, this is not normal. If most materials increase in cost by 100%, the utility department should make a similar increase with the next fiscal year.  The need for such large increases indicates poor accounting practices.

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Helllllo! I'm Capri, a female Boxer mix who's only four years-old. Look at my face - you know you want me. Come see me at the Florence shelter on Roberson Road: