The local chamber of commerce that has run the Alabama Butterbean Festival for 20 years in the city of Pinson has canceled the event.

But apparently, it didn’t tell the city’s mayor or its council members — or so their side of the story goes.

The Clay-Pinson Chamber of Commerce first posted the cancellation announcement on its Facebook page Tuesday, then shortly afterward published a second post saying it was going in a “transformative new direction.” It attributed the move in part to the Pinson and Clay city administrations, both of which had mayoral changes in the most recent elections. That second message added that the new administrations had withdrawn financial support from the chamber. A third message largely reiterated the first two.

The mayors of Pinson and neighboring Clay say that accusation is full of beans.

Pinson Mayor Hoyt Sanders said he and members of his council found out about the cancellation while attending a meeting of the National League of Cities in Washington. Sanders said the Pinson City Council had yet to take action on its annual appropriations — one to cover the festival and another a “general services contract.”

Council member Dawn Tanner, who during a Feb. 5 meeting questioned chamber leaders about what Pinson was getting in return for its appropriations, confirmed to BirminghamWatch that the meeting dealt only with the first of two required readings of the appropriation. The second reading has yet to be voted on; action is likely during the regular council session Friday.

The chamber’s issues with Clay date to a dispute with new Mayor Jane Anderton over using city funds to pay for rings for football players at Clay-Chalkville High School, which has won six AHSAA Class 6A state championships since the turn of the century, including last year. During that time, the City Council has mostly paid for championship rings for players and coaches, with the money passing through the chamber to work around state laws prohibiting the city from paying directly.

Anderton questioned whether paying for those rings qualified as a “public purpose” under the Slawson Doctrine, based on a 1994 decision by the Alabama Supreme Court. According to a February report by 1819 News, the state’s chief public examiner said, citing the Slawson Doctrine, “We would take issue with a public entity making a donation with the sole purpose of circumventing this law.”

There’s one person whose name appears in both the Clay case and the Butterbean Festival cancellation: Ronnie Dixon.

Until recently, Dixon was the city manager of Clay. But Anderton questioned the necessity of that position during her campaign. When she narrowly defeated three-term incumbent Charles Webster, Dixon resigned. He will continue to draw accumulated paid time off through May but has already taken a new administrative position with the neighboring city of Leeds. The Clay Council has left Dixon’s old position unfilled.

Dixon still serves as the executive director of the Clay-Pinson Chamber of Commerce and, as such, was directly involved in the championship ring purchases for the Clay-Chalkville football team that drew scrutiny, as well as a similar purchase for championship teams at Pinson Valley High School.

His chamber position also places Dixon at the center of the Butterbean Festival cancellation. He was, in effect, the event’s manager, having negotiated the contract with Pinson to take over the festival from its original organizers, the Palmerdale Homestead Community Center.

Dixon was quoted in the chamber’s social media announcements about its future, along with board president Dean Kirkner. Dixon was also quoted in a third announcement, which said one of the revamped chamber’s plans was to purchase copies of the book “All Blue: A Season of Leadership, Legacy and Lessons Learned” by local author and former journalist Gary Lloyd, which details a championship football season at Clay-Chalkville. The announcement said the books would be given to every Cougars player and coach mentioned.

Dixon is also an elected member of the Jefferson County Board of Education and currently serves as its president. He also serves as a constable.

Multiple attempts by BirminghamWatch and other local news organizations to reach Dixon for comment have been unsuccessful.

The Festival Had Been Simmering Since 2006

The Alabama Butterbean Festival began in 2006 from a concept of Pinson businessman Phil Sims. He brought on board the Palmerdale Homestead Community Center to serve as the festival’s first host. That group handed management over in 2011 to the Clay-Pinson Chamber, which Sims had become involved with three years after organizing the festival.

The festival gained publicity in 2010 when organizers used a massive pot to cook 1,010 pounds of beans. The feat was certified as a Guinness World Record but has since been surpassed by a church in Europe.

Despite the announcement that the Butterbean Festival is going away, Sanders said he and the council will attempt to revive it, though whether it will retain the same name and Bucky Butterbean mascot remains unclear. That effort will begin Friday night when the Pinson City Council convenes its regular meeting at City Hall, with a precouncil meeting at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7 p.m.

“We’re going to find a way to keep this going,” Sanders said.

This story has been updated to clarify the history of the festival.