Government

Birmingham Mayor Releases Strategic Plan Setting New Goals for His First Term

Exactly one year after his election, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has released a strategic plan providing an update on his administration’s progress and setting new goals for the remainder of his first term. The plan, which was released publicly Wednesday afternoon, features “a detailed set of enterprise initiatives and major projects for the City of Birmingham,” Woodfin wrote in the plan’s introduction. The plan shares its name, The Woodfin Way, with the report from Woodfin’s transition committee, released in March. The new plan is a result, Woodfin said, of findings from that report, as well as a labor report from private data company Burning Glass Technologies, a comprehensive framework plan, and a performance assessment from private consulting firm Crowe Horwath. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Ainsworth Leads in Fundraising by a Wide Margin Over Boyd in Lt Gov Race

Republican Will Ainsworth collected $141,900 in September for his campaign for lieutenant governor, far outdistancing the $11,885 raised by Democrat Will Boyd, according to reports filed this week with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Read more.

by Glenn Stephens

Ivey Still Doubles Maddox’s Fundraising One Month Before the Election

With the election one month away, Gov. Kay Ivey has raised more than twice as much as Democratic challenger Walt Maddox in the campaign for governor. The Republican incumbent collected $510,457 in cash contributions during September, bringing her total to $3.88 million since the campaign started last year, according to reports filed this week with the Secretary of State’s Office. She heads into the final four weeks of the campaign with an account balance of $510,888. Maddox brought in $373,016 last month, raising his total for the campaign to $1.83 million. That leaves him with a balance of $500,339, his report showed. Ivey continued to raise large amounts from political action committees, law firms and businesses. Her biggest contributors during September were the Alabama Forestry PAC, $25,000; the Balch & Bingham law firm’s PAC, $15,000; and SHR PAC, chaired by lobbyist and Republican activist Dax Swatek, $12,000. Overall, the governor’s top contributor is James W. “Jimmy” Rane of Abbeville, founder of Great Southern Wood Preserving and identified by Forbes Magazine as Alabama’s richest person. He has given Ivey a total of $300,000 during the campaign. Franklin PAC, a business-oriented committee in Montgomery, has given $125,000 and the Beasley, Allen law firm of Montgomery has contributed $105,000. Maddox’s report for activity in September showed a continued flow of money from six PACs operated by Mike Echols of Tuscaloosa. Cash, CMG, ET, Leadership, Pride II and T-Town II PACs contributed $25,000 each to the Democratic nominee; that brings their total for the campaign to $611,400. Among the other top donors for the Tuscaloosa mayor was Greenetrack, at $70,000. Read the story and lists of contributors. Read more stories about campaign financing in this year's election.

Ainsworth Leads in Fundraising by a Wide Margin Over Boyd in Lt Gov Race

Democrat Vance Tops GOP Candidate Parker in Race for Chief Justice.

Incumbent AG Has Raised More Than Six Times as Much as the Challenger

by Glenn Stephens

Congressional Votes for the Week Ending Sept. 28

WASHINGTON – Alabama’s congressional delegation had an “odd man out” on more votes than usual last week. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, broke from the delegation on a couple of the week’s biggest votes, including on universal savings accounts, which would allow more types of tax-exempt investments but cost the treasury more than $21 billion over 10 years. She also voted against bringing the Violence Against Women Act up for debate in the House at that time. Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, also found himself on the other side of a vote on the proposed $854 billion spending bill; Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, also split from the delegation on a bill to fund aviation programs, disaster aid and FEMA. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, also broke ranks and voted against confirming Peter Feldman’s nomination to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Read more about how area congressmen voted on key issues in the week ending Sept. 28.

by Voterama in Congress

Birmingham Council Appoints 2 to Land Bank Authority Board, Pushes It to Become Self-Sustaining

The Birmingham City Council appointed two new members to the Birmingham Land Bank Authority’s board of directors during Tuesday’s meeting, but not before councilors repeated their oft-stated beliefs that the organization should make greater strides toward autonomy from the city. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Judge Bob Vance Makes Second Run for State’s Top Judicial Seat

WBHM’s Andrew Yeager interviewed Judge Bob Vance, who is trying for a second time to become the head of Alabama’s court system. Vance has been a civil circuit judge in Jefferson County since 2002. This year Vance is the Democratic nominee for Alabama’s chief justice. He faces current Supreme Court Associate Justice Republican Tom Parker in November. Yeager talked with Vance about a range of issues, including opioid abuse, politics on the court and funding for state courts. Read more and listen to the interview.

by Andrew Yeager, WBHM

Former State Lawmaker Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former Alabama Rep. Oliver Robinson to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a bribery scheme to block the expansion of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup site in North Birmingham and Tarrant. Robinson pleaded guilty to encouraging residents not to have their soil tested for contaminants in exchange for bribes. He also diverted money from his campaign account and nonprofit account for personal use. After pleading guilty, he cooperated with federal prosecutors in investigations that led to the conviction of former Balch & Bingham attorney Joel Gilbert and David Roberson, a Drummond Company executive. They are scheduled for sentencing Oct. 23. “Robinson betrayed his constituents and neighbors in north Birmingham and Tarrant, selling his elected office to special interests for personal profit,” Jay Town, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District, said in a statement Thursday. “An elected official can scarcely commit a more egregious crime.” Read more.

by Sherrel Stewart

Former State Rep. Oliver Robinson to Be Sentenced Thursday in Bribery Scheme

The sentencing of former state Rep. Oliver Robinson is scheduled for Thursday in federal court. Federal prosecutors asked the judge in a filing earlier this week to give Robinson a lighter sentence because he helped investigators. Robinson was part of a scheme to block the expansion of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup site in North Birmingham and Tarrant. He encouraged his constituents there not to have their soil tested for contaminants in exchange for bribes. After pleading guilty, he cooperated with federal prosecutors in investigations that led to the conviction of a former Balch & Bingham attorney and a Drummond Company executive. Read more.

by Sherrel Stewart

Despite Immigration Law, 40 Percent of New Hires Are Not Checked Through E-Verify

Many Alabama employees aren’t being screened to confirm their legal status to work in the United States, despite a 2011 state law requiring businesses to use the federal E-Verity system. A recent report in the publication Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts, said only 60 percent of new Alabama hires were screened with E-Verify in the year ending in June 2017. That’s up from 14 percent in 2011, before the state’s anti-illegal immigration law went into effect.

Now, state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, proposes requiring employers to prove their E-Verify usage before obtaining business licenses. He has a bill ready for the 2019 legislative session that mirrors a law in Georgia, where 94 percent of employees were screened through E-Verify, according to Pew. Orr recently said there will always be bad actors who don’t follow the law, but he thinks some businesses are simply ignorant about it. “They don’t know about the law or don’t think it applies to them,” Orr said. “Until someone is telling them or reminding them, they’ll continue to be ignorant.” Read more.

by Mary Sell

No Surprises, Please: Jeffco Commissioner Urges Others Not to Spring Last-Minute Funding Requests

Commissioner David Carrington invoked the names of past commissioners as he urged current and future commissioners to handle requests for county funds in a timely manner. Commissioner Sandra Little Brown is requesting a community grant of $2,000 for the Housing Authority Birmingham District, but that request did not make it onto the agenda of today’s committee meeting Carrington warned commissioners that others, including former commissioners John Katopodis and Jeff Germany, had gotten in trouble over their management of discretionary funds. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.