Former Alabama AG Bill Pryor Opinion on Public Participation in Open Meetings

County Commissions-Public Meetings--Rules Of Order
An individual can express his or her views on matters at a meeting of a County Commission. The County Commission can promulgate reasonable guidelines regarding public participation at it's meetings.

Question 1:

May the chairman of the Limestone County Commission refuse to allow a particular citizen or citizens to address the Commission during it's regularly scheduled meetings, because the Chairman may be opposed to the subjects and/or issues which the citizen(s) may bring up, or because the Chairman may personally dislike that citizen(s)?

If other citizens are indeed allowed to address the Commission during the allotted time for public comments, can the Chairman rule that one or two specific citizens are indefinitely ineligible to speak?

Answer:

When a board sits in Public Meetings to conduct public business and hear the views of citizens, it may not discriminate between speakers on the basis of their employment or the content of their speech. The right of the public to be present at meetings of a public body includes the right to share their views on the matter before the body, (see reasonable guidelines above, that is key to the discussion to follow.) Reasonable time, place and manner regulations are permissible, and any content-based restriction must be narrowly promulgated to effectuate a compelling state interest.

April 1998 letter excerpt from AG Bill Pryor on the same issue:

"A public body has the right to determine whether public comments will be allowed, except in those cases where the law requires a public hearing.  While the law does not mention public participation at meetings of a public body, it is good public policy to allow citizens and taxpayers to express their views within guidelines and restrictions established by that body."

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We used the above excerpts in prefacing this post to make a point; despite the fact that the Alabama laws do not specifically address public participation, the Sunshine Law (Open Meetings Act) was designed to encourage, not prohibit, public participation. Its other purpose was to improve transparency of government.


The problem lies in the lack of clear delineations in the Sunshine Law and that it leaves much discretion to local governments. On one hand, that is a good thing as it allows municipalities to establish their own criteria to enhance the efficiency of their public meetings. On the other, it is abused and utilized as a tool to dissuade public participation and limit discussion.

Case in point:

Last Tuesday, the Vincent City Council was scheduled to have their monthly meeting, which was preceded by a non-public workshop in which they were to decide where to have the meeting. If that sounds confusing to the reader, it was to the citizens as well. This was highly unusual and disorganized, in addition to being illegal.


The law states that there must be a vote in public by all council members to change the location of any regularly scheduled meeting. That fact was pointed out to the Mayor the Friday before this meeting by Council person Ralph Kimble. The response from the Mayor was "We can't cancel the meeting." Even though the Mayor was informed that the Tuesday meeting was illegal, he was unwilling to cancel it and follow state law.


On that following Tuesday, after the non-public workshop and some pressure from the citizens, the Mayor came out and told the media that they were going to cancel the scheduled City Cancel meeting. He stated that; "We accidentally forgot to vote on the meeting change."


He did not forget, he was attempting to break the law and rush through a zoning ordinance and take a final vote on the controversial quarry proposed for Vincent. Because he had been told the preceding Friday that there was a violation of the law, he cannot come out the following Tuesday and attempt to spin the situation.


When this meeting was canceled on Tuesday, there was no rescheduled time given. The cut off time to sign up to address the council at meetings is Wednesday @ 4:30. Late Wednesday afternoon, in the local county newspaper, a story was placed that stated the meeting had been rescheduled. That alone left very little time for any citizen to make the deadline to sign up to speak.


Upon closer reading of the news item, the rescheduled meeting had morphed from a City Council meeting, which it originally was, into a "special meeting." The ordinances of Vincent's meeting regulations for "special meetings" do not allow for any public comment.


The intent of the Vincent City Council is very clear; they did not and do not want any more public comment or public participation. This latest maneuver, though it may not be illegal, is without question a violation of the spirit of the Open Meetings Act.

 

EPA June 2010 Report Concerning Environmental Injustice Allegations Region 4

(click title for web cache html version of file report)

From the report, Office of Inspector General recommendations: 

We made four recommendations to EPA to address these issues. We recommended that EPA:
(1) require program and regional offices to determine where environmental justice reviews are needed and establish a plan to complete them; 
(2) ensure that environmental justice reviews determine whether EPA programs, policies, and activities may have a disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental impact on minority and low-income populations; 
(3) develop specific environmental justice review guidance that includes protocols, a framework, or directions; and 
(4) designate a responsible office to compile the results of environmental justice reviews and make recommendations to EPA senior leadership. 

EPA agreed with our recommendations and established milestones for completing those actions.

In January 2008, EPA reported completing each corrective action in response to the recommendations. Corrective actions included the creation of guidance for conducting environmental justice reviews and the formation of a workgroup representing programs and regions to develop environmental justice action plans.

In our 2004 review, we reported on how EPA was integrating environmental justice into its operations.

We concluded that EPA had not fully implemented the Executive Order and was not consistently integrating environmental justice into its day-to-day operations at that time. We found that EPA had not identified minority and low-income communities or defined the term “disproportionately impacted.” 

Moreover, in 2001, EPA restated its commitment to environmental justice in a manner that did not emphasize minority and low-income populations, which we believed was the intent of the Order. 

In the absence of environmental justice definitions, criteria, or standards from EPA, many regional and program offices individually took steps to implement environmental justice policies. The result was inconsistency in determining environmental justice communities across EPA regions and programs. Thus, the implementation of environmental justice actions was dependent, in part, on where a person lived.

We made 12 recommendations to EPA to address the issues we raised.
Four key recommendations were:
(1) reaffirm the Executive Order as a priority; 
(2) establish specific timeframes for developing definitions, goals, and measurements; 
(3) develop a comprehensive strategic plan; and 
(4) determine if adequate resources are being applied to implement environmental justice. 

EPA disagreed with 11 of the 12 recommendations.

EPA did agree to perform a comprehensive study of program and regional offices’ funding and staffing for environmental justice to ensure that adequate resources are available to fully implement its environmental justice plans. In May 2004, EPA issued its report, Environmental Justice Program Comprehensive Management Study, conducted by a contractor.


Conclusion
Executive Order 12898 directs federal agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of its mission to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. The Executive Order states that it is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch and is not intended to, nor does it create any right, benefit, or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person. Consequently there are no enforcement provisions for environmental justice guidelines.
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EPA closed the investigations into the Dickson, Tennessee landfill, Perry County, Alabama coal ash dump site, Chemical mercury contamination Mcintosh, Alabama and the Kingston Valley Tennessee coal ash spill (the wastes are what is going to Perry County), among others.


HoltStory,Dickson,Tennesee-PeopleMagazine-05-14-07.pdf

Mobile,AlabamaPressRegisterSpecialReportOlinCorporation 

TVACoalAshWasteToPerryCountyAlabamaAnEconomicDecision 

TVA_Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_ash_spill 

"EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has made environmental justice one of her top seven  priorities and has created an office to promote environmental justice for affected groups and communities throughout the United States. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies."

This report seems to stand on the EPA not committing wrongdoing in these complaints because they were not involved with the sites. It also states, in a few of them, that the state environmental agencies are handling the problems and what they will do to improve their monitoring and compliance. Fine, just continue to let the fox guard the proverbial hen house.

There are far too many instances of the huge problems with state agencies who are more or less in it for the permitting fees, revenue from fines and even revenue from the operations in most landfills among other "conflicts of interest" in these agencies.

ADEM is notorious for its close ties to big business, which is why the EPA has been petitioned to remove ADEMs water control. The jury is still out on that legal action, but we do not hold out much hope it will succeed if Region 4's history is our guide.

In short, they seem to operate more in conjunction with the polluters and than in upholding environmental regulations and environmental justice for the citizens who need it the most.

Texas is a prime example of what can change when the regional EPA systems say "enough" and come in and take over the process. Though that victory in Texas may not hold for long, it has already had reverberating effects for the better in the interest of the citizens and their environment:

More great reporting from the Texas Observer's Forrest Wilder
CementKilnsGoDownExxonMobilSuedJuly7,2010

Until pressure is put on Region 4 from Washington, the citizens of Alabama will never be able to celebrate a victory such as the one recently won in Texas.

It is long overdue that the EPA takes control of some of ADEMs authority, if not all of it, because they refuse to do their true job and act as environmental managers. Instead, similar to the US Army Corps of Engineers, they have become the enablers for big business.

But, if Region 4 does decide to finally act in the interest of the environment and the public good, that tiger will have to have teeth and not be made of paper.

 

Tampa Sinkhole Swallows Car July 11, 2010 Concerns Growing....

(click title for story)
Seismic monitoring equipment can only predict so much.
WRQ is misleading the public when they say that the monitoring equipment will be the safeguard in any instance of cover collapse sinkholes.

The very nature of these types of sinkholes is quite sudden; they can occur in seconds to a few minutes.

How realistic is it to evacuate an area with that little time?

The Tampa residents were lucky and they did have enough time to get out, but in Tennessee earlier this year, the 1-24 sinkhole almost claimed an eighteen-wheeler driver and 2-3 other motorists. Only the quick action of  TDOT employee in the area prevented a tragedy.

6 months ago also in Hillsborough County:
SinkholesOpenUpInPolkandHillsboroughCountiesNeighbornoodEvacuated

Sinkhole swallows Plant City house

Today was supposed to be a good day for Nancy Regan of Plant City.

Unemployed since October, she finally got the call this morning to return to work.

She didn't make it. 

Ten minutes after taking that call, Regan and her boyfriend found themselves escaping through a back bedroom window as the ground swallowed up their home.

**Note--Plant City, Florida was the area of hot debate over the high number of sinkholes that formed after strawberry farmers instituted massive groundwater withdrawals in an effort to save their crops from freezing.

Question--What is a standard practice of quarries?

Answer--Massive dewatering from groundwater withdrawals.

 

A Tale of Two Cities

As we all know in this area, Shelby County, Alabama has taken over the Comprehensive Planning for most of the county, the smaller cities in particular. The Comprehensive Plan structure and objectives that have been drawn up by Columbiana are freedom-robbing and property devaluing unless you live in the "designated city circles" this plan outlines. 75% of the population and business has to occur within the "circles." The remaining 25% outside of this sees their property devalued and discouragement of any business located in this smaller percentage zone.

These types of plans are being adopted in other states, and parts of South Carolina have realized what this really means only after some of their counties went ahead with these plans. As the old saying goes, it is hard to unring a bell, but some counties are working to undo them.

They tout these plans as "green infrastructure plans," but what they really do is restrict property rights and economic freedoms and give far too much power to the county seats, along with a lion's share of the revenue from business.

In 2007, former Vincent Mayor Terry Allen turned over all of Vincent's planning to Columbiana, which meant nothing would happen in Vincent without the approval of Shelby County. That was a bad move for the citizens and the town, but perfect for what Columbiana had in mind for Vincent; a massive quarry and the transforming of the rural town into a heavy industrial zone.

Mr. Allen knew this, everyone in Vincent Town Hall and Shelby County knew this; the citizens did not. They were purposefully kept in the dark until the dastardly plan was well in place. The quarry had acquired almost all of its land purchases by the time the news broke. The current Mayor, Ray McAllister, admitted in a press conference which was also quoted by the local newspaper that "The quarry reps asked for me for more time to get things in place before the news went public."

This was after almost all of Town Hall had slipped over to Childersburg for a day long series of secret meetings with the quarry reps on March 31, 2009. They were all asked to sign confidentiality agreements and have since tried to deny this in the local press. Almost all of them. Council person Smith refused to answer the reporter's questions, and Council person Reynolds feigned ignorance about them. 

(See the "What Did They Have To Hide" link to the right.)

We just recently read the Wilsonville Comprehensive Plan, "A Place To Call Home"  which was put together by Kristen Goddard Planner II of Shelby County. She has also been the county planner for the quarry and is on such good terms with WRQ President Jim Hurley, that she affectionately refers to him as Jim, usually with a lilt in her voice when doing so.  It's really very cozy in appearance and angers Vincent citizens to no end to see them so friendly with each other. As well it should.

In a recent letter to the McCrimmon Farm, covered previously on this blog, Mr. Hurley states that the planners working on this quarry project are "my planners." We just bet they are, never mind they are employed by the county, WRQ seems to own everybody involved in this.

Shelby County had to lay off some planners due to the housing crisis gripping the nation (this comes from an inside source), something they have not done in years. Ms. Goddard is probably very eager to keep her job and even more eager to do what she is told to do, despite the fact that her actions are contributing to the destruction of a town and a way of life for a large segment of minority residents.

Wilsonville is closer to Columbiana and predominantly a white city. They get to have a Marina development on Lay Lake, a "Mayberry-style town with support to their existing rural agricultural endeavors" and the saving of their "green, rolling hills the residents have grown to cherish."

Yep, that is all in the Wilsonville Comprehensive Plan.

What does Vincent get? How about Harpersville which has a prime location right on Highway 280 to become a wonderful, thriving city itself?  Too bad they are sitting on so much limestone, but wait a minute, so is Wilsonville. Why is there such a contrast in plans between these small, rural cities?

One need only look to Columbiana and their unending greed, seemingly thinly-veiled racism and intolerance for socioeconomically depressed people to find the answer.

 

Alabama Department of Health Fish Advisory 2008 (still current for 2010)

Coosa River – St. Clair, Talladega counties

Between Riverside and Logan Martin Dam

Contaminant – PCBs
Do not consume striped bass

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Coosa River – Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega counties

Between Logan Martin Dam and the railroad tracks crossing the Coosa near Vincent

Contaminant - PCBs
Do not consume striped bass

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coosa River – Chilton, Coosa, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega counties

Lay Lake between Logan Martin Dam and Lay Dam

Contaminant - PCBs
Do not consume striped bass

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coosa River – St. Clair County

In upper Lay Reservoir approximately two miles downstream of Logan Martin Dam and one half mile downstream from the Kelly Creek - Coosa River Confluence in the vicinity of Ratcliff/Elliott Island.

Contaminant - PCBs

Limited consumption of spotted bass

The PCBs are insoluble and will remain on the Coosa River bed for a very long time.How did they get there? From the Solutia Pharmaceutical plant (part of Monsanto) and a client of Stephen Bradley's.

This is a dangerous contaminant considered to be carcinogenic. Mercury and arsenic are the other two main toxic pollutants in this river and their levels do fluctuate, but the PCBs remain constant and confined to the bottom, that is until something stirs up the river bed.

We can think of one thing that might; the deep excavation by Vincent Hills which will increase the gradient of groundwater flow towards the quarry. From there, the PCBs will be pulled all throughout the groundwater conduits. Vincent's groundwater recharge is tied to the Spring Creek tributary of the Coosa River, which in turn ties the river to our groundwater.

WRQ Reps, the Town of Vincent and Shelby County continue to ignore this concern and dismiss it as an impossibility. In fact, WRQ Reps are now claiming, "nothing will happen to the water."  If that is true, then why make temporary emergency plans to provide an alternate water source in the event the quarry interrupts the water supply? Why tell the Town of Vincent that they will have to bear the cost of a water treatment facility?

In Shelby County's other two cities where mining is taking place, Calera and Alabaster, both towns have lost their water and/or seen it contaminated by the mining companies. But, we are to believe it will not happen in Vincent from the same type of industry?

The WRQ Reps Fowler and Bradley, are disingenuous in their claims and misleading the greedy Vincent and Shelby County officials who only care about getting their hands on the revenues from this operation. They could care less about their citizens or anyone else for that matter. They have demonstrated that time and again with their arrogant behavior towards their citizens and anything that opposes what the WRQ Reps claim.

The lack of any willingness to have an independent Environmental Assessment study done, which would illuminate not only any potential environmental issues, but also the social and economic impacts that are inherent with this quarry, prove the "inside baseball" going on here.

If a non-biased, strictly science based study as opposed to one that is propaganda based (which is what is on the table now) reveals the high risks that are present, then the project would be stopped in the name of public health and safety in addition to environmental reasons.

Why let insignificant issues such as that stand in the way of padding your own pockets?

The same goes for Shelby County who is pushing this project on Vincent. It is rumored they will approve it even if Vincent does not. They want the 6.5 million revenue and don't care what it takes to get it; even if that means destroying Vincent in the process.

The officials behavior and extremely poor choices border on purposeful endangerment and is against what leaders of municipalities are bound to do for their citizens and communities; which is to protect them.

As for the Coosa River, it's only the 10th most threatened river in the US, what's a little more harm to it matter? 

Answer; It should matter a lot more than it seems to this current string of "rotten fish" masquerading as public officials who care about their communities.

 

The Day the Quarry Came to Small Town Alabama

This the story of a few Florida bigwigs and some multi-million dollar businesses; a confusing shell game of misinformation from the County and the quarry representatives; money from destructive gain; one of the largest road building contractors in the nation; and corrupt or incompetent or apathetic government officials at every level.

It is a story about greed, and the way greed warps people, makes them view the very earth itself as something to be exploited and stripped and pumped for every last dollar it will yield up. The way greed makes human lives, thousands of them, no more important than figures on a ledger.

It is the story of Alabama, and in one way or another, it has been our story for as long as these state borders have existed. There is no way around it; our state and its long-gone riches were built on the backs of oppressed and enslaved human beings years ago. That kind of oppression, when white citizens here made vast fortunes by owning the lives of their black brethren, is gone. We are all in it together now.

Alabama has had a hard, painful road towards reconciliation. Its citizens, black and white, still often have a difficult time trusting each other in light of our troubled history. But we’re trying. Look around you; the people, the regular citizens of Shelby County, are not its problem.

We may disagree on politics, but we sit together at Commission and City Council meetings and treat each other, mostly, with respect. We are working, just by living here together, toward building a future for this home of ours. We know, and have for a long time, that we all need the same basic things out of life, and as long as we need them together, we can seek them together.

The old bad guys are dead and in the ground. The new ones drive SUVs with Dade and Jefferson County plates.
…put down your Blackberries, guys, and stay your attorneys. We do not mean you are “bad people.” But in this story, you are the villains.

You are chasing the American Dream, of course, just trying to make a dollar, and providing the country with the valuable and much-needed service of limestone for building roads. You ask to come by your permits legally, and with the full-throated blessing of Vincent’s elected representatives, who are, after all, just trying to get a little revenue for their little cash-strapped community.

No matter.

Here is our fear; no amount of money will be able to make up for what this quarry will do to our land and citizens. The City of Vincent is relying on ADEM and WRQ to ensure that the laws are followed and carried out by the quarry. While an environmental lawsuit against the city seems far-fetched to them now, an operation of this size, magnitude and excavation depth in close proximity to the river, rail lines and gas and oil lines cannot continue to be thought of as safe by any reasonable mind. There are inherent risks associated with mining that extend beyond just the pit, especially in geography that is sensitive to subsidence as Shelby County is.

This continues to be downplayed as a non-issue to the residents of this community. In the event something does happen that causes tragedy, we would remind all of those involved that their words may come back to haunt them by a savvy group of plaintiff’s lawyers. Vincent and Shelby County may get out of it unscathed, but we would not bet on it. White Rock Quarries can afford to pay whatever fines it may incur for whatever its employees may or may not have done. Can the city of Vincent and those that “call the shot?”

The companies who are taking the bulk of the millions generated by the limestone extraction will never have to set foot in our county again once the quarry outlives its usefulness. This may come earlier than they we all think if it floods or worse happens. They will never drink our water, breathe our air, or eat bream from our creeks. They can be in charge from offices with glitzy addresses, never get a speck of dust on their hands, and endorse fat checks until those pristine fingers need a latte break. Can you local officials?

Our elected officials, for the most part, believe they will be temporarily better off financially. They get power (a teeny little bit, but that’s enough to satisfy most people), they get to rub elbows with folks who have even more money and power than they do, and they get the feeling of thinking they have done something “good” for the people whose lives they govern: they got a smattering of cold, hard cash to spend on pet projects and a chance to put their own dirty little fingers in a lot of cash.

This, if we must remind you, is the state where people were willing to sacrifice their livelihoods, their personal safety, even their lives in the struggle for the right to vote, the right to say, “In this small way, my voice matters. I have a say, and mine is worth as much as yours is, no matter who you are.” That voice is now all but drowned out by the sons and daughters of the men who fought to get it, which would apply to the two sole minority city officials; Ernest Kidd and Bridgette Jordan-Smith.

Do you remember the apathetic and disinterested looks you leaders wore, as you sat in your chairs at the last public meeting, with strong disapproval directed right at you, a strong majority of Vincent’s citizens telling you, “We don’t want this quarry?” We remember. You elected leaders get the same look when we citizens dare to question your actions. It is the look WRQ gave us when they came to tell us how much they were going to make sure nothing bad happened here in May 2009. That look is the look of power, certain of its rightness. Or, if not of rightness, at least of the fact that it will get what it wants.

They get it all; we get their big holes, lose almost 1000 acres of prime farmland and our way of life as a quiet, rural community forever.

Or maybe not. Environmental lawsuits may get filed one minute, excavation may stop the next. A few weeks after that, the owners of the quarry will be demanding through their high-priced super lawyers for the right to continue business and they may get that granted. Doesn’t mean anything’s going to change just yet, far from it. Every statement this company and it’s PR and legal men have released takes pains to reassure the public the quarry will do no damage.

When people, regular, good, now voiceless people like the minority residents of the River Loop in Vincent, Alabama plead for help, money clouds the judgment of anyone who can.  The fat cats see money, as do our elected officials, and even ADEM  and the Environmental Management Commission may go right along with them and permit this quarry.

Fortunately for us, eventually someone will look at Vincent and see something besides a poor, backwoods little city no one’s heard of, with beautiful land, but leadership not representative of all the people, and easy pickings for the big city boys to buffalo with promises of riches. Someone will look down here and see, of all things, people. Human beings, whose very quality of life may become a mere casualty of the quest to collect as many little green pieces of paper as you can before you die. And somebody will realize that is wrong.

When we can step outside of the endless pursuit of more and see that all those things we’re knocking over to get at it have eyes and mouths and names and beating hearts like ours, we’re not so quick to leave them lying in our wake. It is a lesson Alabama has come by honestly.

It is a lesson that Vincent and Shelby County has yet to learn from.

How to Cover Your Behind When it is on Fire From "Environmental Racism" Allegations

**Please see the pages at the footer of the post entries for the Hurley letter to Mr. Otis McCrimmon dated July 2, 2010

On Saturday July 3, 2010 the McCrimmon's received a visitor at their farm on the River Loop near the Vincent Hills proposed quarry site in the form of Vincent City Council member Bridgette Jordan-Smith.

Ms. Smith is one of only two minority members of the Vincent local government and the only minority on the City Council.

She was chosen to be the designated deliverer of the letter from WRQ President Jim Hurley to Otis McCrimmon. Mr. Hurley could have mailed the letter (Mr. McCrimmon's address is on the letter) or he could have met with them himself especially since he acknowledges he was aware of "the various perceptions." Instead,  he chose to use Ms. Smith as his "cat's paw," and she went right along with him as she usually does, as they all do in Town Hall.

*American Heritage Dictionary of idioms: Cat's paw

A dupe or tool for another, a sucker, as in You always try to make a cat's paw of me, but I refuse to do any more of your work. This term alludes to a very old tale about a monkey that persuades a cat to pull chestnuts out of the fire so as to avoid burning its own paws. The story dates from the 16th century and versions of it exist in many languages.

The most obvious point is that Ms. Smith was not offended by what Mr. Hurley is patently doing-- using her as his pawn to get what he wants just as he is using the entire Town of Vincent.

Ms. Smith and Ernest Kidd of the Vincent Planning Commission have had more than enough time and opportunity to visit the McCrimmon's in the last 15 months, so has Mr. Hurley. In fact, he even says in his letter that, "Ms. Bridgette Smith has spoken to me on several occasions about the need to address your concerns and the various perceptions..."

But they have not bothered to acknowledge any of these concerns until now, right before the City Council vote on the quarry and accusations of environmental racism hit the local papers and Internet.


All land acquisitions by the quarry were of white land owners solely. No minorities were even asked or approached by quarry reps in the two years it took to acquire all the land.

Ms. Smith may have expected to be well-received by the normally mild-mannered McCrimmon family, but instead she got a rude awakening that was very much deserved.

She has sold them out and turned her back on her own people who were in no mood to hear anymore propaganda and excuses from an elected official turned "master." 


Mr. McCrimmon has made it very clear to the Town of Vincent that he does not want to sell his land, and he does not want the quarry to come in and force them off their land. For some people it is about more than the fast buck; it is about family and a place called home.


Mr. McCrimmon almost lost his wife three years ago and the family has spent all this time getting her back to good health. He told Ms. Smith this more than once and she had no response. One can only imagine how much strain it is on his wife dealing with the stress of wondering what will happen to her home, her land and her family.


Does this matter to Mr. Hurley, the Town leaders, Shelby County and Ms. Smith? How much value do they put on one older minority woman's well-being? Mrs. McCrimmon deserves some peace in her golden years and what she has gotten instead is heartache and aggravation.


We understand that Ms. Smith left the McCrimmon's in tears, good, she should have felt some of the pain she has inflicted upon the River Loop people for far too long.


One has to wonder what and who those tears were for and we doubt that she has had any kind of awakening about what she has done to her own people. It's always about the money for her and her controversial history proves that point.

Her political career will be short-lived to be sure, and if she stays in the community with the rest of the turncoats masquerading as officials, they will also be ostracized by a great number of their citizens. Actions have consequences and payback is tough, but it always comes around in the end. 

We have heard that the FBI does take a keen interest in public corruption on many levels, including zoning ordinances.

Mr. Hurley also states in the letter that, "We closed on various parcels from the Fleming family in the center of the property we had acquired. This completed the 1000 acres needed for the project." So, in other words, they surrounded them in their predatory, aggressive and secretive land acquisitions. What choice did the families have left?

This supports one of the seller's words about the last visit from one of Mr. Hurley's "independent brokers," "The man was very aggressive and told us that if we didn't sell and convince our neighbors and family members to sell too we would be sorry. You don't want to live with what will surround you."

Another fine example of that "good neighbor policy" that WRQ keeps crowing about that must be as well.

Mr. Hurley even mentions "my planners" in the letter. His planners? We all know who has been handling the planning; Shelby County and Ms. Kristine Goddard, Planner II of the Shelby County Development office. This is just more fuel to the residents suspicions that not only does WRQ "own" Vincent Town Hall and everybody in it, but Shelby County too.


He also states that, "We were relieved when they agreed to sell," in reference to the Greene/Gates properties, as if it was not known beforehand that they would. These families are the current Mayor's kinfolks, and one of them, Robbie Greene, was a member of the Vincent Zoning Board at the time WRQ was sneaking around Vincent buying up land. Ms. Greene's 40 acres is adjacent to the Evangel Temple, one of Vincent's black churches, and the McCrimmon Farm, which is 55 acres.


BCI drilled on Ms. Greene's land in early summer 2008 to test for limestone quality, ( the truck and rig were seen on her land by a number of residents)  but she continues to "feign ignorance" as to the "independent brokers" true intentions for her land. Someone gave permission for BCI to be on the land and we doubt it was the wind.

Regarding the race issue addressed in the letter, Mr. Hurley puts it off on the "independent brokers" and states, "No one at MY company had any idea about who owned property near our selected site." In a small town everybody knows everything, including businesses that have been slinking around since at least 2007, so he is either lying or showing his ignorance of local conditions.


As we have heard from Mr. Wood, WRQ geologist, Mr. Hurley tries to placate the McCrimmon's with an empty offer that they will do this and do that once "the project is up and running." The term "willing sellers" is thrown about often from WRQ; the Fleming's were clearly not "willing sellers."

This letter has a forced conciliatory tone to it and is certainly offered up as an attempt to "appear sensitive," but it is way too little far too late and therefore collectively unbelievable.


WRQ targeted this community of black citizens as almost every intrusive and offensive business does, particularly in this state, and now that they have been exposed things are heating up on them.

This is a strong case for an environmental racism legal action and the seat of those expensive, Palm Beach trousers are sure as hell smokin' Mr. Hurley. We would offer you some water, but the quarry took it all.

Sinkhole Shuts Down I-24 E-Bound Near Monteagle | WTVC NewsChannel 9: Chattanooga News May 18, 2010

(Click title for story and video)

TDOT says it will take several hundred tons of rock to fill the massive sinkhole on Interstate 24. The eastbound lanes quickly caved in just before 9 am Eastern Tuesday morning.

David Sheldon work for TDOT and happened to be driving by when the road began to crumble. He says he watched as an 18-wheeler teetered on the edge as the pavement fell underneath. That driver was able to stay above the hole, but Sheldon was quick to jump out and warn other oncoming drivers to stop.

He said, "I ran out in the middle of the road and started throwing my hands up and yelling, people probably thought I was crazy. There were 3 or 4 cars that stopped about 4 feet from the edge."
Sheldon says it was scary and he's just glad no one was hurt.
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No warning on this event, it happened all of a sudden.


It does not matter what monitoring equipment is in place, there will be no time to warn the public in the event of a sudden sinkhole such as this one and many others.


WRQ fails to mention that most sinkholes occur rapidly, just like they fail to mention anything else negative.

Vincent Town Hall Clerk Calls Police on a Citizen

As ridiculous as this sounds it happened today in Vincent, Alabama. This citizen was merely informing the acerbic and perpetually nasty Town Clerk, Joy Marler, that the city council was in violation of the law for their recent shenanigans (yet again) regarding public meetings.


Ms. Marler is always a chore to deal with and assumes much more power and authority than her lowly position affords. Perhaps what is behind her ogre-like demeanor is the fact that a son is in prison and she is "stuck" taking care of grandchildren when she would rather be doing otherwise.


Whatever the reason for her inappropriate and abrasive behavior she went off the rails today Friday afternoon.


When the citizen referred to the transgression by the Mayor (the ultimate authority in Town Hall) Ms. Marler responded with; "No it isn't, no it isn't, just get out, you get out of here, you are harassing us and I am calling the police." Which she did immediately.


There was no threat or losing of anyone's cool other than Ms. Marler completely losing hers.


The police chief came and did not make any arrest as there was no arrestable offense committed.


Ms. Marler was arguing with a citizen who is a former lawyer, but as usual that did not deter her; she knows it all and if you ask her she will be glad to tell you she does.


This woman is insufferable and a very poor representation of this Town; she should be fired and sent to some place more suited to her personality; such as the swamp with the rest of the vipers.


Her continued lack of respect for the citizens of Vincent and inability to be anything other than salt and sandpaper on an open wound to any of them who disagree with the quarry is inexcusable.

We are being harsh in our judgment of her because at a recent public hearing when one of Harpersville's citizens held up a drawing of a local businessman falling into a sinkhole and dying, this woman laughed and refused to hold the speaker accountable for his blatant lack of respect. 

Before the meeting it was said that disrespectful comments and inappropriate behavior would result in the speaker being silenced. Not only was this man not silenced but he was allowed to go on and on.


No one from the No Quarry side exhibited any of this type of behavior.

(It is worth mentioning that the Mayor himself as well as WRQs PR Rep Stephen Bradley also found this amusing. In fact, the entire seated row of "experts" carted in by WRQ were all seen laughing. The man who did this despicable act and said the things he did that were equally offensive was patted on the back for a "good job" by Mr. Bradley.)

Ms. Marler was overheard telling another citizen who complained they could not hear what was being said in public meeting that; "You have a right to be here, but you don't have a right to hear what is being said."


Then why meet in public if you don't want what you are saying being heard? As soon as you do gather in a public forum the citizens have every right to hear what their officials are saying, Ms. Marler. They do this to purposefully aggravate the citizens and it is beyond contemptible.


Unbelievable but commonplace everyday life in Vincent these days.....Town Hall is at war with its citizens and they grow bolder every day.

Sinkhole Closes Parts of I-65 in Pelham July 1, 2010

Shelby County Reporter

Published Thursday, July 1, 2010

A sinkhole has caused the Alabama Department of Transportation to close a southbound travel lane on Interstate 65 in Pelham, and the closure could last through Independence Day weekend.

At about 8 a.m. on July 1, crews discovered the sinkhole in the median of I-65 between mile marker 246.5 and 247, and were forced to close the southbound inside left shoulder and lane.

If the sinkhole is large and deep enough, crews could be forced to also close the northbound inside left shoulder and lane to accommodate the equipment and personnel necessary to complete the repairs, according to the Department of Transportation.

The lane closures will be between the Pelham tank farm exit and the Alabama 119 exit.

Crews began working on repairing the roads shortly after they discovered the sinkhole. The Department of Transportation is urging drivers to seek alternate routes around I-65 and drive safely if traveling through the sinkhole area.


View Larger Map

Now what in the world could have caused this?


How about the nearby Vulcan Quarry?


Mr. Joel Bearden of the Shelby County Commission and Shelby County DA Robbie Owens and all the other beneficiaries who profit from the lease agreement with Vulcan, through the Bearden Family Quarry Trust, do they bear any responsibility in this?