Representative Chris England elected new Alabama Democratic chair; infighting continues
An Alabama state representative was elected chair of the Alabama Democratic Party on Saturday after months of in-house bickering about the party’s leadership. But the election may not settle the ongoing battle between two factions of the party over governance and leadership, as the previously elected chair said she would not step down. Rep. Christopher England, of Tuscaloosa, received 104 of 171 ballots cast at the meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee, the state party’s governing body, The Montgomery Advertiser reported. “Elected officials had to stand in the gap and create the platform the party did not have,” England said before the vote. “You’ve seen me stand for the issues that matter to us.” The vote came after the approximately 175 members of the SDEC voted 172 to 0 to remove Chair Nancy Worley and Vice-Chair Randy Kelley. After the vote, Worley said she was reelected in 2018 and she intends to continue leading the party. “The true SDEC members did not elect two new officers in our places today,” Worley said in a statement. “Randy and I look forward to continuing our leadership roles.” But the meeting represented a win for a group of Democrats opposed to Worley, who has chaired the state Democratic Party since 2013, and the Democratic National Committee, which ordered the state party in February to hold new elections and revise its bylaws to provide greater diversity on the SDEC. England, 43, a city attorney for Tuscaloosa, has served in the Alabama Legislature since 2006. He has been at the forefront of attempts to change the leadership and direction of the party and pledged before the vote to work to “leave no stone unturned” in rebuilding the party. He promised to rebuild local county organizations and staff up the state party. “As we kick the old folks out, the new folks are coming in,” he said. “We want to seize on that energy. We’re going to raise money, money like you’ve never seen.” Former Rep. Patricia Todd, Democrat-Birmingham, was elected vice-chair. Worley has previously accused the DNC of sending contradictory instructions and of trying to dilute the strength of African American voters in the party. The DNC said Worley missed deadlines and was nonresponsive to instructions. Without the orders implemented, the DNC refused to ratify the state’s delegate selection plan and warned that inaction by the state party could prevent Alabama from being seated at next year’s Democratic National Convention. That would effectively invalidate votes cast in next March’s Democratic presidential primary. A group of SDEC members, backed by U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, drafted a new set of bylaws that were approved by the DNC in September. The members then got a majority of the SDEC to vote to hold a meeting to ratify those bylaws on Oct. 5. At that meeting, the members set leadership elections for Nov. 2. Worley proceeded with her own meeting on Oct. 12, which ratified a second set of bylaws — not approved by the DNC — and set elections for Nov. 16. On Wednesday, Worley and Kelly sued to stop the meeting of the Democrats. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin blocked the meeting in a decision late Friday, ruling that it would cause “chaos and confusion.” But the Alabama Supreme Court stayed the order about two hours later, allowing the gathering to proceed. The new party bylaws preserve the Minority Caucus to nominate African Americans to the SDEC. But they also create new caucuses to nominate Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, LGBTQ individuals, youth and those with disabilities. Approximately 68 people were seated from the youth, Hispanic, Native American and Asian/Pacific Islander caucuses on Saturday. Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama school district to stop serving alternative meals
Schools in one Alabama school district say they’re no longer serving alternative meals to students who can’t pay. Officials said schools in Dothan will now serve regular meals to all students — even if they don’t have the money to cover the cost when going through the line. Local DJ Brandon Townsend, also known as DJ LastLaff, approached Dothan Preparatory Academy Principal Darius McKay at the beginning of October when Townsend came across a friend’s Facebook post who was upset to learn that as many as 44 students at the school could not eat regular lunches that day. The Dothan Eagle reported Townsend said he shared his feelings with McKay and met with other administrators in hopes of finding a long-term solution. “I just felt it was an issue that really shouldn’t be an issue,” Townsend said. “I shared my feelings with (McKay) in regards to finding a long-term solution that would be more permanent than a group of us donating to zero out those balances.” Townsend met with Child Nutrition Program Director Tonya Grier and other administrators over several weeks. Together with Chief Financial Officer Mike Manuel, they came up with a solution assisted by crowdfunding software that the board recently licensed. A “lunch benevolence fund” has been posted on the district’s LeanStream site to solicit donations, with the goal of receiving at least $2,000 by the end of the school year. “Now we can start getting the word out that it’s a way for people to start donating money on LeanStream so that students cannot be embarrassed and have their lunches covered,” board member Susan Vierkandt said during a recent board meeting. “We’re still going to move through and try to recapture the charges,” Chief Operations Officer Dennis Coe said. “We’re not going to stop trying to collect the money, so we don’t want students to think that you can just go and not pay. We are going to try to regain those funds. The charges are going to be cleared at the end of the year from the benevolence account.” Townsend said earlier this week, the system had a negative balance of $1,700 in delinquent accounts. “I thought something should be done to ease the minds of the community and ease the minds of the school board as well as the administration,” he said. “I know we’re having growing pains. I’m glad that I could spark light on something that could help the community. We’re all in this together.” Townsend also has spoken with local business leaders to drum up support for the fundraising opportunity. So far, the fund has received one donation of $24. Information from: The Dothan Eagle, https://www.dothaneagle.com. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
