Some of the following passages following were posted to the Shelby County Reporter newspaper comment forum, but if you blinked you missed them--they quickly disappeared. Most likely the BARD Mules were behind the rapid disappearance after a phone call to SCR editor Tim Prince.
Tim Prince calls his paper "A champion voice for the community".
Really? A "champion" for whose voice exactly?
What or who are you afraid of Mr. Prince? The swift kick of the Mules if you don't continue to carry their water to the designated "troughs?" Or maybe it's all the advertising money that pours into the SCR and Shelby County from Alabama Power, one of BARD's grand mules, that you're afraid will dry up? Or maybe you just don't care about the people in the eastern section of Shelby County, (lovingly referred to by the Columbiana power players as the "armpit of the county") and see the area as a selectively beneficial opportunity rather than community of real people with real lives.
John Archibald SWMA Foes Are a Deep Threat
Posted by audacitydope
November 18, 2009, 11:09AM
Business Alliance for Responsible Development
Board of Directors
John Grogan Alabama Power Company
Don Erwin The Barber Companies, Inc.
Glenn Siddle Newcastle Homes
Bruce Windham Drummond Company, Inc.
Bart Fletcher Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders
Sam Lowrey Liberty Park Joint Venture, LLP
Jody Saiia Saiia Construction, LLC
Tom Howard USS Real Estate
Business Alliance for Responsible Development Members Include:
* Alabama Associated General Contractors
* Alabama Power Company
* Alagasco
* The Barber Companies, Inc.
* Bayer Properties
* Birmingham Association of Realtors
* Drummond Company, Inc.
http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2009/10/19/story7.html
* First Commercial Bank
* Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders
* Jenkins Brick
* Liberty Park Joint Venture, LLP
* Ready Mix USA
* RealtySouth
* Saiia Construction, LLC
* Sherman Industries
* Spectrum Environmental Services, Inc.
* Stonegate Realty
* Thompson Tractor
* US Steel
* USS Real Estate
Posted by ChocRivKeeper
January 18, 2010, 11:02AM
What's this?
Not all corporate folks are evil, most are good citizens.
However, knowing how BARD worked to gut a good storm water authority in Jefferson County leads me to believe that the list that was posted is the dirty nineteen of Alabama.
Just because you say you are for responsible development doesn't make it so!
Alabama Power Company hand-picked Trey Glenn and it is almost certain that the next Director will be hand-picked by the regulated community especially now that the EMC Chair is or soon will be BCA's top lobbyist!
BARD Requests Suit Dismissed Bham News 2009
Collins Push to Rejoin SWMA Fails 2009 Bham News
Posted by duennzwei
September 08, 2009, 1:34PM
Follow the money. BARD hedges its bets and has liberally sprinkled cash into the campaign coffers of all county commissioners. Before the primary in '06, however, they were spending their dollars on Carns and Humphryes opponents. After the primary, presto! BARD contributions shifted to Carns & Humphryes (who didn't have any opposition left, so what did they need to campaign for anymore?)
Just one example: Take a look at Sept and Oct '06 contributions to Carns, and then research who the "individuals" are:. executives with Malcolm Pirnie, Balch & Bingham (BARD lawyers), and BARD members.
Large Chunks of Cash Untraceable Bham News 2009
Bham News Commentary on SWMA 2009
Revoke ADEM Water Control Bham News 2010
John Archibald 2009 "New Mules" of BARD
SWMA: Lobbying efforts behind withdrawal (Your Views--Birmingham News)
First, I read that Jefferson County is so cash-strapped that severe cutbacks in services and probable layoffs of county employees are in store. Then, I read that a majority of commissioners supports incurring a new expense to absorb the employees of the Storm Water Management Authority, who have been on loan to SWMA for more than a decade at no cost to the county's budget.
I have read about the lobbying efforts of a coalition of real-estate developers, construction companies and the likes of Drummond Co., U.S. Steel and Alabama Power Co. to convince the Jefferson County Commission and area municipalities to withdraw from SWMA. Their complaints?
-- SWMA has done more work than is required of it.
-- After more than 10 years in operation, SWMA administration requested a fee increase.
SWMA has cost homeowners and businesses so little over its lifespan that most property owners don't even know the agency exists (it is included in property taxes). What citizens should know -- and what The Birmingham News should review for them -- is the largesse (PAC & campaign contributions) to public officials from both the coalition opposing SWMA and the engineering firm that gained a lucrative contract after Birmingham withdrew from SWMA.
Charles
Birmingham
Bham News Editorial SWMA JeffCo 2009
The reason is simple: The majority of commissioners, like the mayors of a half-dozen cities, drank the poisoned water peddled by the Business Alliance for Responsible Development.
BARD is the front group for developers and large corporate property owners that want fewer restrictions on where they can build. It has attacked SWMA as a hindrance to its development ambitions, falsely telling the county and city governments that SWMA was costly, bloated and did more than what it was supposed to do.
Now, the EPA is auditing Jefferson County's storm water program. In a letter to commissioners, the EPA said that with the county's recent withdrawal from SWMA, it had concerns about the timing of proposed changes to the county's construction runoff ordinance.
It just goes on and on, corruption, payoffs and BARD (the "brainchild" of Stephen Bradley) right in the middle of it every time.
White Rock Quarries has enlisted the terrible twosome of Stephen Bradley and Rob Fowler (Balch & Bingham BARD lawyer) to represent their interests in Vincent.
If the Mules did this in one county (actually Bradley is active in numerous Alabama counties) it certainly makes what they are doing here in Vincent highly suspect as polecats are not likely to deviate from their natural inclinations.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Vincent, We Have A Problem
This blog was created because of suppression of public information by our local newspaper.
We have a large limestone quarry attempting to take over and destroy our small town.
Some "heavy hitters" are involved in this that consist of some of the largest industries, utilities and developers in the state who make up an organization called BARD (Business Alliance For Responsible Development).
Business Alliance For Rampant Development is what they really are, along with being pervasively corrupt, (i.e. paying off City Councils, Mayors, Zoning Boards and political candidates) brow beating communities and cities to abandon their environmental inspections and reporting, pressuring local officials to withdraw from their established storm water management programs (SWMP), seemingly deliberate liars and very intimidatory to anyone or entity that gets in their way.
White Rock Quarries is part of the Vecellio Group out of Palm Beach, Florida. They did not have the political connections to get this quarry approved (more on why that is a disastrous idea to follow).
They needed help doing this.
Enter BARD and Stephen Bradley, whose "brainchild" BARD is.
Stephen Bradley & Associates was hired by the quarry outfit as their PR firm. Robert P. Fowler of Balch & Bingham was hired as the quarry lawyer. Mr. Fowler lobbies for BARD as does Stephen Bradley and Joel Iverson.
If any organization can push bad business and practices on a community it is BARD. They have left nothing but destruction and big polluters in their wake.
More on BARD and their "activities" which includes close ties to the corruption of Larry Langford, former Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama who was recently convicted on numerous corruption charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison to follow in a future post.
In an attempt to expose them, using links to state open government records and published news stories, to our local community in the comment section of the Shelby County Reporter, the paper decided to remove all links and postings to this public information.
Why would they do that?
What do they have to hide?
This is a story that must be told as it is bigger than just our small town fighting a quarry.
It involves corruption and bribery on a statewide level all the way up to the Governor's office.
Researching this issue has taken us to information that is so damning, and involves so many politicians it is no wonder they want to silence efforts in exposing it.
This is an election year and what has been uncovered could affect the entire process and many candidates.
Since Alabama already ranks 49th (for the most egregious) in corruption, there is really no surprise in what has been uncovered.
That does not make it right though does it?
The citizens should know just "who and what" they are casting their votes for when they visit the polls this November.
Alabama, get ready to be reckoned with. And you too Vincent City Hall.
Hell hath no fury like a small southern town scorned.
We have had enough of the corruption and arrogant disregard for the citizens from our own elected (hopefully to become convicted) officials.
They run this town and this quarry proposition as if it were their own private business, refusing any questions and repeated requests for a town hall style forum.
Residents from other counties and cities are allowed to address our officials in Council meetings.
A Bham News reporter was asked why he was always interviewing and photographing the "pro quarry" side of this and not the opposition of residents to the quarry. He responded with; "Those folks want jobs". When it was pointed out to him most of them were not from this area, and they really did not have a right to be in the process at this stage of it he said, "Well, don't they a right to come here for jobs"? At which point we responded with; "This is not a job fair, this is about our community being strongly affected by this, we have to live with this quarry and it is Vincent business."
He did not seem to get that point, laughed it off, as if he thought that it was fine for outsiders to come to our town and influence town business.
But this is what we deal with when the press comes here; one sided, just get the "story" done so I can leave and make my deadline coverage.
The officials encourage this and unleash those outsiders on their own citizens to make the support for the quarry look greater than it is.
The Mayor refused an area vote on this saying, "We don't have the money." Someone stepped forward and offered him the money to do the vote and he refused saying, "It will only delay things."
Worst of all, our officials and White Rock Quarries brought BARD down on us.
They are very powerful and have a lot of money and influence but we'll say this to BARD, you are not invincible and we have had enough of your bad business in our town.
NO QUARRY.
We have a large limestone quarry attempting to take over and destroy our small town.
Some "heavy hitters" are involved in this that consist of some of the largest industries, utilities and developers in the state who make up an organization called BARD (Business Alliance For Responsible Development).
Business Alliance For Rampant Development is what they really are, along with being pervasively corrupt, (i.e. paying off City Councils, Mayors, Zoning Boards and political candidates) brow beating communities and cities to abandon their environmental inspections and reporting, pressuring local officials to withdraw from their established storm water management programs (SWMP), seemingly deliberate liars and very intimidatory to anyone or entity that gets in their way.
White Rock Quarries is part of the Vecellio Group out of Palm Beach, Florida. They did not have the political connections to get this quarry approved (more on why that is a disastrous idea to follow).
They needed help doing this.
Enter BARD and Stephen Bradley, whose "brainchild" BARD is.
Stephen Bradley & Associates was hired by the quarry outfit as their PR firm. Robert P. Fowler of Balch & Bingham was hired as the quarry lawyer. Mr. Fowler lobbies for BARD as does Stephen Bradley and Joel Iverson.
If any organization can push bad business and practices on a community it is BARD. They have left nothing but destruction and big polluters in their wake.
More on BARD and their "activities" which includes close ties to the corruption of Larry Langford, former Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama who was recently convicted on numerous corruption charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison to follow in a future post.
In an attempt to expose them, using links to state open government records and published news stories, to our local community in the comment section of the Shelby County Reporter, the paper decided to remove all links and postings to this public information.
Why would they do that?
What do they have to hide?
This is a story that must be told as it is bigger than just our small town fighting a quarry.
It involves corruption and bribery on a statewide level all the way up to the Governor's office.
Researching this issue has taken us to information that is so damning, and involves so many politicians it is no wonder they want to silence efforts in exposing it.
This is an election year and what has been uncovered could affect the entire process and many candidates.
Since Alabama already ranks 49th (for the most egregious) in corruption, there is really no surprise in what has been uncovered.
That does not make it right though does it?
The citizens should know just "who and what" they are casting their votes for when they visit the polls this November.
Alabama, get ready to be reckoned with. And you too Vincent City Hall.
Hell hath no fury like a small southern town scorned.
We have had enough of the corruption and arrogant disregard for the citizens from our own elected (hopefully to become convicted) officials.
They run this town and this quarry proposition as if it were their own private business, refusing any questions and repeated requests for a town hall style forum.
Residents from other counties and cities are allowed to address our officials in Council meetings.
A Bham News reporter was asked why he was always interviewing and photographing the "pro quarry" side of this and not the opposition of residents to the quarry. He responded with; "Those folks want jobs". When it was pointed out to him most of them were not from this area, and they really did not have a right to be in the process at this stage of it he said, "Well, don't they a right to come here for jobs"? At which point we responded with; "This is not a job fair, this is about our community being strongly affected by this, we have to live with this quarry and it is Vincent business."
He did not seem to get that point, laughed it off, as if he thought that it was fine for outsiders to come to our town and influence town business.
But this is what we deal with when the press comes here; one sided, just get the "story" done so I can leave and make my deadline coverage.
The officials encourage this and unleash those outsiders on their own citizens to make the support for the quarry look greater than it is.
The Mayor refused an area vote on this saying, "We don't have the money." Someone stepped forward and offered him the money to do the vote and he refused saying, "It will only delay things."
Worst of all, our officials and White Rock Quarries brought BARD down on us.
They are very powerful and have a lot of money and influence but we'll say this to BARD, you are not invincible and we have had enough of your bad business in our town.
NO QUARRY.
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