Publisher’s Note: Announcing the launch of Alabama Today
Welcome to Alabama Today! We hope to be your first source for breaking political and business news — both for Alabama and beyond. This is the news release we sent to traditional media outlets, announcing the launch of the site. This site is unlike any other in the state. After talking to many people who were experiencing the same frustration of a gap within the news and editorial coverage as I was, this site became a personal passion. Here you will find hard news reported without commentary and editorial content written by me and guest contributors. As a woman in both business and politics, I have found that while there are many strong and talented women in the state there is not a dedicated place celebrating their unique contributions and providing news and features directly geared towards them. This is why Alabama Today will have a feature space dedicated to fill that void. Both this space as well the site itself will grow substantially in the coming weeks and months. I encourage you to bookmark this page, add it to your home screen on your smart phone, and share it with everyone you know. Apryl Marie Birmingham, Ala. — Alabama Today launches as a new source for comprehensive political and business news and editorial content in the state. Led by veteran political activist Apryl Marie Fogel, Alabama Today (www.ALToday.com) will offer a distinct editorial voice in coverage of politics, public policy and business news. In addition, Alabama Today will feature expansive coverage to the growing influence of women in politics, business and philanthropy throughout the state. “The primary goal for Alabama Today is to provide a place where news is news and opinion is opinion,” Fogel says. “We’re excited to combine our coverage of politics and business while focusing on and recognizing the impact women are having as leaders and influencers throughout Alabama.” Alabama Today’s editorial team will feature experienced, independent journalists and a wide variety of guest columnists representing important and diverse views. While Alabama Today will cover politics, policy and business for a broad audience, insider news surrounding the business of politics will be an important part of coverage. “Our content gives readers the edge in knowing what’s happening not just on the legislative floor, but in the behind-the-scenes where business and politics intersect,” Fogel says. “We want to keep our readers informed about the moves of influential people, key staff and consultants.” Alabama Today will provide free content for readers at ALToday.com with updates and e-newsletters available by signup. Alabama Today will also generate an opinion-based content service for media group partners throughout the state and the region. Elected officials, candidates, businesses and civic groups are encouraged to add pressreleases@altoday.com to their press lists.
Montgomery officials debate ways to commemorate bus boycott
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Montgomery officials say they have begun planning how to celebrate the 60th anniversary of a bus boycott often cited as the start of the civil rights movement. The Montgomery Advertiser reports that city officials are considering a youth summit but no details have been finalized. The boycott began days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus on Dec. 1, 1955. Montgomery mayoral chief of staff Anita Archie says this year’s celebrations around the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march set a good precedent for getting young people involved. ———– Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
To Tax or Not To Tax: Is there ever a question?
The legislature is in session today. There’s much work to be done but one subject dominates: the state budget. Gov. Robert Bentley is pushing for tax increases. So far it looks like legislative leadership and most members are standing united against the governor’s efforts. I applaud them. While I try not to make statements like always and never, I can say with certainty additional taxes are rarely the solution. No surprise the usual suspects from the left, the ones who never think there’s enough to be spent by the government, have joined in the fight and are supportive of efforts to tax, tax, tax. While I’m not blind to the circumstances spending continues, costs are rising and current revenue isn’t enough I’m also not deaf to the fact that the chicken little sky is falling arguments aren’t true either. I worked on the Hill in D.C. as the sequester cuts were fought over repeatedly. I sat in meeting after meeting and read letter after letter about how across-the-board cuts would devastate services and cause havoc, death and destruction. When cuts started to take effect the destruction predicted didn’t follow. The problem is that government will continue to grow and the reality is there are cuts to be made along the way. Maybe those cuts aren’t all equal. It’s pretty clear that the Alabama prison system is one place where any dollar moved needs to be done so with thoughtful deliberation but that’s not to say there isn’t anything that can be done at all. It comes back to what is the role of the government in our state and our nation? What services must they provide and what can and should be left to private businesses and our communities? Our legislative leaders are facing tough questions, but I encourage them to exhaust all possibilities before resorting to any tax increase. They have the will of the people behind them.
Robert Bentley continues to press tax increase plan
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley continues his tour of speaking engagements to try to build public support for a tax proposal. The governor will discuss the General Fund budget crisis in a Tuesday speech in Montgomery to members of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce. Bentley in speeches this past week said that the state is facing deep cuts in services and state programs unless lawmakers find a way to fill a budget hole The Republican governor said the reductions could range from closing state parks to substantial cuts to programs for children and seniors. Bentley has proposed $541 million in tax increases, including increases in tobacco taxes and automobile sales taxes. However, so far lawmakers have not voted on any of his proposals. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
State Auditor Jim Zeigler is onto something; AG Luther Strange should take closer look
A little more than a week ago, the residents of Baldwin County spoke decisively at the ballot box. They said no not only to additional tax increases for the school district, but also no to renewing several millage taxes as well. The final votes weren’t even close for the new taxes, nearly 60/40. That’s not a surprise to me and quite frankly shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Almost 85 percent of Baldwin County chose to vote Republican in straight party voting in the 2014 elections. Republican voters don’t like tax increases. The part of this story that’s noteworthy, as State Auditor Jim Zeigler has pointed out in several press releases and Facebook posts, is the allegedly illegal actions of the school board and school employees. Below is from a statement Zeigler released March 27, 2015. “My office has received four complaints from citizens of Baldwin County that their Board of Education and school employees are using taxpayer money to campaign to vote yes on a tax increase in a March 31 referendum. My preliminary inquiry indicates that the allegations are true and are a clear violation of Code of Alabama Section 17-17-5(a). If true, the activities could constitute a Class A misdemeanor for each offense. I request that you conduct a full investigation of these apparent violations. I request that you present the findings to a grand jury of Baldwin County. In spending public funds for their vote yes tax campaign, the Baldwin County Board of Education may be relying on an outdated Attorney General’s opinion. The statute they appear to be violating was passed considerably after the AG’s opinion.” Now that sounds pretty straightforward. There’s a law on the books and it’s a pretty good one. Using taxpayer money to ask taxpayers for more money seems more than a little abusive of the tax system. The Attorney General has weighed in and said that a 2003 opinion gives the schools the authority to decide themselves. It seems there is room for debate and something needs to be done to close this loophole if one exists. Bottom line: We need to move forward in whatever ways it takes to end this cycle of waste and abuse.
Ronda M. Walker: Honoring womanhood, politics with strength, compassion
When I was told I have stage 3 breast cancer this past December, I decided to make my diagnosis and treatment public. I am, after all, a public servant and I have spent most of the past 20 years working in the public sphere. It was my hope that discussing my cancer would encourage, educate, and help others. What I didn’t expect is that others would encourage, educate, and help me. As a member of the Montgomery County Commission, I am no stranger to speaking with the news media. However, it was a new experience telling them about my health issues. My first interviews came Dec. 29, after a commission meeting. Right after Christmas, the video frame even included a Christmas tree in the background. I talked about my diagnosis and treatment plan through a haze of fear and uncertainty from the shock of my diagnosis. I felt like none of the words I spoke could be real. At 42, I could not be talking about my cancer; it simply could not be happening. Only 12 days before my family and I were preparing for Christmas. My husband and I have four children – ages 6 to 16 – and we were busy with baking, wrapping, and decorating, unaware of the coming trial. We enjoyed the everyday pleasures of family and friends. We had no expectations of biopsies and body scans. Everything changed, though, when I discovered a lump in my right breast. I knew immediately something was very wrong and spent an agonizing weekend before I could see a doctor. The tests were positive, and suddenly I found myself in front of a camera saying, “I have cancer.” I consider myself a public servant, not a politician. Politics is a tough, oftentimes ugly business that can mire us in negativity. Politics can be filled with trickery, deception, and distrust while a public servant puts the needs of their constituents above their own and doesn’t seek personal advancement at the expense of the whole. Being a woman in politics adds another dimension to the challenge. I’m the first woman on the Montgomery County Commission in more than 14 years. Politics is a man’s game and has the tendency to be tough on women. Ironically, women in politics have a tendency to be tough on other women in politics and as women, we are typically our own toughest critics. We are piled on at every turn. The past few months, though, I found that in the toughest times, it’s the women in my life who rally around and offer support. Almost immediately after those first interviews aired friends and strangers alike contacted me. I received telephone calls, letters, and emails that overwhelmed me with their encouragement and hope. Suddenly none of us were Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, public school or private school, stay-at-home or working moms. We were defined not by the issues that divide us, but by our humanity. That humanity helped me through my darkest hours. An army of women at the ready gathered to help me any way necessary. They researched for me, sat with me at medical appointments, brought meals for my family, ran errands when I was too sick to leave the house. Those women drove my kids to school, took them out to eat, and let them play at their homes when I was too weak to take care of them. Those women prayed over me, spoke words of truth to me, and encouraged me. We should cling to that model of love and support, and move out of the valley onto the mountaintop. When we get to know someone in a personal way, when we stand with them in the tough times, then when the disagreements come in the public sphere we can disagree with respect and understanding. When my course of treatment is over, my health is restored, and I am not consumed with chemotherapy but with public service, I will not forget the support I received in the valley. When once again issues are being debated, frustrations are high, disagreements are public I will cling to the experience of sympathy, patience, and love I had in the valley. I will no longer sweat the small stuff. I will appreciate people — not processes, politics, or platitudes — but people. I will honor my womanhood by being tough, wise, and compassionate. Woman, how divine your mission, Here upon our natal sod; Keep on, keep the young heart open Always to the breath of God! All true trophies of the ages Are from mother-love impearled, For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.
