Kelvin Datcher, Frank Woodson competing in Dem runoff for House District 52
Democratic voters in House District 52 will choose between two nominees Tuesday, each offering distinct approaches to voter concerns. Kelvin Datcher, Birmingham’s deputy director of community development, will face Frank Woodson, a nonprofit executive and former manager at United Parcel Service (UPS), for the district’s Democratic nomination, which includes a section of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and parts of Fairfield and Homewood. They advanced to the runoff after a primary earlier this month. Datcher, who finished first in the six-candidate primary with 38% of the vote, said that while addressing issues in education, crime, housing and career development are important, voters in the district want to be heard and engaged by their representatives. “At a minimum, we need to be in a position where we’re working great jobs, and that we’re preparing people to excel in those roles so they can support their families and build great communities. I don’t think it’s much more complicated than that,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday. Woodson presents himself as the candidate for change, critiquing Datcher’s ties to Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. Woodson said in an interview Monday that Birmingham residents aren’t happy with the city’s homicide rates, neglected properties, and lack of attention to Birmingham’s west side. He said that he’s got the leadership experience in the private and public sector to lead that change. “If you like what you’ve been getting, go for that direction and you will get more,” Woodson said. “But if we want something better, then we have to embrace change.” Woodson also accused the Woodfin administration of not partnering as much with local churches and nonprofits, which he believes are crucial for strengthening families and reducing crime and proposed involving these organizations to help families and provide intervention for at-risk youth. Woodson said there is a need for comprehensive community collaboration to address issues in the district. “They won’t work with the people that are at the grassroots level, who deal with these kids and can send them a different direction. We have to get the whole team on the field, to bring leaders together to work in a concerted effort. That’s all that’s missing,” Woodson said. Datcher said his connections can be an advantage to serving the district, and that for change to happen, “our city councilors, our county commissioners, our mayors and our state legislators all have to be on the same page and all speak with the same voice,” and said that he is proud to have endorsements from current officials. “It takes a team approach in order to get this done and to ensure that our community gets the kinds of resources from the state of Alabama that we deserve. This is not a one-man band kind of a thing. This is a team effort,” Datcher said. The seat was previously held by Rep. John Rogers, who resigned from the House after agreeing to plead guilty to charges of wire and mail fraud and obstruction of justice in March. He was accused of directing hundreds of thousands of dollars for public projects in Jefferson County to a youth baseball league, with a portion of the money being kicked back to an assistant and former romantic partner. Rogers, first elected in 1982, was the longest serving representative in the chamber. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 26 in Birmingham. The seat is likely to favor a Democratic candidate. The last time a Republican ran in the district was in 2014, when Rogers got almost 77% of the vote against Republican nominee Phillip Bahakel, an attorney. The runoff winner will face Republican candidate Carlos Crum in the Oct. 1 general election. This story was republished with permission of Alabama Reflector. Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Tommy Tuberville decries Joe Biden’s weaponization of DOJ
Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville joined Senator Eric Schmitt, who led the panel, as well as Senators Mike Lee and Roger Marshall in a roundtable discussion on the weaponization of Joe Biden’s Justice Department against its political opponents. Other participating panelists included Matt Whitaker, former Acting United States Attorney General; Stephen Miller, former Senior Advisor to President Trump and President of America First Legal; and Kevin Roberts, President of The Heritage Foundation. WATCH: I’m leading my Senate Republican colleagues in a Roundtable on the Politicization of our Justice System. https://t.co/Unne9AAbvN — Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) July 9, 2024 Tuberville spoke to the weaponization of federal agencies, saying “Since taking office, President Biden has used taxpayer dollars and resources to attack conservative parents on school boards, Catholics, and pro-life advocates. It’s very obvious.” He pointed out that “[N]o one has been more impacted by Joe Biden’s weaponization of justice than President Trump. […] [The New York v. Trump] trial was a complete joke and a massive waste of taxpayer dollars. It was a clown show. As if it wasn’t obvious enough that this case was political, a former top Biden DOJ official delivered opening arguments for the prosecution. The fact that the Biden campaign staged a press conference outside the court tells you everything you need to know. Let’s be clear, this case would have never made it to court if Donald Trump wasn’t running for President. If we don’t return to our Constitution, which guarantees every U.S. citizen equal treatment under the law and the right to a fair trial, we are no better than Venezuela or communist China.” You can read more about Tuberville’s work to end the weaponization of the Justice System in a full op-ed recently published by The Daily Signal.
Hoover Council President John Lyda describes “financial disarray” and notes fraud possible
A month ago, Alabama Today submitted a formal public records request to the City of Hoover, copying City Councilors John Lyda and Curt Posey on that email. While City Clerk Wendy Dickerson acknowledged receipt of the request, so far, the city has failed to produce a single record, return a phone call, or give a status update about it. An email exclusively obtained by Alabama Today sheds light on some of what the city is hiding by withholding the requested public documents. Lyda emailed the rest of the council on April 9, 2024, with the subject line “Hoover Forensic Audit- Kroll Proposal.” Good afternoon, Wallace Jordan has researched several options and vetted various individuals and firms for the completion of a forensic audit on city finances. Attached is a proposal from Kroll Investigative Analytics. I know there is a shared desire to get moving on this ASAP so that we can get assurance that the recent discovery of financial disarray is due to human error or carelessness rather than fraud. The cost is estimated to be between $145k and $177k and is expected to take between 60 and 90 days. Please let me know ASAP if you believe there’s sufficient reason not to move forward on this. Phillip will also be happy to provide any info on other firms and individuals they spoke with in finding the right fit for our needs. Thank you! John According to Lyda’s email, the forensic audit was expected to take 60-90 days. That was 92 days ago. Two sources tell Alabama Today that the forensic audit includes an investigation into unconfirmed reports of documents protected by the state document retention laws intentionally deleted by a former city staffer. Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office has a Special Prosecutions Division that has prosecuted ethics violations by city officials in recent years. Their website states, “This division prosecutes mainly public corruption and complex economic crimes. The special prosecutions division works with federal and state agencies to conduct joint investigations and prosecutions. In addition, the division assists various commissions and agencies with prosecutions.” It is unclear if the City of Hoover has yet been in contact with investigators for the state about Lyda’s concerns. As reported first in 1819 News, City Councilwoman Khristi Driver revealed the forensic audit publically for the first time in sworn testimony during the hearings contesting the Certificate of Need that the Hoover City Healthcare Authority has asked the state for. On May 30, Driver testified, “My understanding of the purpose of the audit would be to take a look at all of our financials to make sure that everything is in order and to follow up on some of the observations that were made in our most recent audit from our regular auditor.” According to the Hoover Sun, the last audit report for fiscal 2022 noted “some material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in the city’s internal controls. The material weaknesses included insufficient segregation of duties over financial reporting by an outsourced contractor at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex and errors and problems related to implementing a new business software system. The significant deficiencies dealt with the recording of accounts receivable transactions and the holding of checks for vendors.” An examination of publicly available records by a financial expert indicated that internal control weaknesses were found rather than material weaknesses, as described by Hoover Sun. Despite the concerns in the audit report, the Sun reported at the time that Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato “was not alarmed.” City officials have not publicly addressed the forensic audit, how it is being paid for, or how it impacts the timing and delivery of yearly annual audit from the city’s longtime auditor Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith (BMSS) Advisors and CPA. Earlier this year, the City of Homewood announced that it retained an independent forensic certified public accounting firm to investigate the theft of city funds and notified the Jefferson County district attorney and the FBI. A city employee was then arrested and charged with misappropriating city funds for allegedly stealing over six figures.
Steve Flowers: Donald Trump will be coronated at the Republican Convention:
The Republican National Convention begins next week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee was selected as the home to the GOP Convention for a reason. Wisconsin is one of the six major pivotal battleground states in the presidential race. The others are Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and possibly Pennsylvania. In bygone years, presidential candidates campaigned in 40 or so states because 40 states were in play. Today the candidates will concentrate in these few swing states and will really focus their efforts on certain locales and precincts within these handful of states. Even the media, both right and left, discuss and reveal polling in these swing states and disregard the national horserace polling numbers because they are irrelevant. Under our electoral college system of selecting our president where the winner of each state’s popular vote gets all of those states electoral votes, there is no reason to campaign in 40 states because those back 40 are already predisposed to vote for either the Republican or Democratic candidate. As I have often said, if Mickey Mouse were the Republican nominee he would win Alabama and Kansas. By the same token, if Donald Duck were the Democratic nominee he would carry the states of California and New York, and get all of their boatload of electoral votes. You might say that the “hay is in the barn” in Kansas and the “cannabis in the halo” in California. Donald J. Trump will be coronated by the GOP delegates at the Milwaukee confab July 15-18. Republicans are hoping that by giving deference to Wisconsin, it will help the former President carry the state in November. Trump won the state narrowly against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and lost narrowly to Biden in 2020. Currently, Trump and Biden are knotted at 45/45 in Wisconsin with third party candidate Robert Kennedy getting a substantial 10%. In fact, as the convention begins, current polling has Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden in most of the battleground states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and even Michigan. Trump is ahead and will be favored to win the General Election for three reasons. First, Joe Biden’s aged demeanor is an Achilles heel that he cannot overcome, and it will only get worse. Pivotal Independents are not comfortable that he is capable of being Commander in Chief, and young Democratic voters are not enthused to vote for someone for President of the United States that looks like their great grandfather who is running for president of his nursing home. Secondly, the candidacy of third-party candidate Robert Kennedy is siphoning off these young Democratic voters. The third and primary reason is that the Democratic plan and ploy to indict former President Trump on trumped up ridiculous court cases in primarily Democratic venues around the country, has incensed American Republican and Independent voters to such a degree that this mockery of the court system has made Trump a martyr. It has definitely made the Trump Republican base mad and fired up. The Democrats overplayed their hand with this court charade. This circus abuse of the judiciary for political purposes has truly angered the Republican base. It has assured Trump the GOP nomination and it has even made the pivotal Independent voters sway towards Trump. Alabama is a Trump state. The Alabama delegation will fervently cast 50 delegate votes for Donald J. Trump next week. Senator “Coach” Tommy Tuberville will be the one who gets to reply to the Chair of the Convention when they call the roll for the vote. Alabama will be the first to vote as they call the roll alphabetically. Senator Tuberville will rise and shout that the great state of Alabama proudly casts all of its 50 delegate votes to the next President of the United States, President Donald J. Trump. It is appropriate that Tuberville is Chairman of the Alabama delegation. He and Trump are close. Indeed, if Trump becomes President, our Senior Senator Tuberville will be the President’s closest ally in the Senate. They talk consistently, and golf together regularly. Our 50-member delegation is star-studded. Our Senior State Senate Legend, Senator Jabo Waggoner, will be a delegate to the National Convention for the ninth time. Jabo is 87. He will be joined by the youngest delegate ever elected, 22-year-old St. Clair native and lifelong resident of Chandler Mountain, young Logan Glass. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at steve@steveflowers.us. The Republican National Convention begins next week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee was selected as the home to the GOP Convention for a reason. Wisconsin is one of the six major pivotal battleground states in the presidential race. The others are Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and possibly Pennsylvania. In bygone years, presidential candidates campaigned in 40 or so states because 40 states were in play. Today the candidates will concentrate in these few swing states and will really focus their efforts on certain locales and precincts within these handful of states. Even the media, both right and left, discuss and reveal polling in these swing states and disregard the national horserace polling numbers because they are irrelevant. Under our electoral college system of selecting our president where the winner of each state’s popular vote gets all of those states electoral votes, there is no reason to campaign in 40 states because those back 40 are already predisposed to vote for either the Republican or Democratic candidate. As I have often said, if Mickey Mouse were the Republican nominee he would win Alabama and Kansas. By the same token, if Donald Duck were the Democratic nominee he would carry the states of California and New York, and get all of their boatload of electoral votes. You might say that the “hay is in the barn” in Kansas and the “cannabis in the halo” in California. Donald J. Trump will be coronated by the GOP delegates
