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Beloved philanthropist Joann Bashinsky passes away

Alabama philanthropist Joann Bashinsky passed away Monday. The heiress to the Golden Flake fortune was 89 years old. Bashinsky, known to many as “Mama B”, was a beloved giver to the community, and even just recently established a new scholarship fund at Miles College. According to the Birmingham Times, the $168,000 scholarship will provide three four-year scholarships to students who don’t have the financial means to attend college. She’s also been a supporter of causes such as Big Oak Ranch. However, Mrs. Bashinsky has been in headlines recently for a legal battle against the Jefferson County probate system. The probate court took control of her assets and affairs after probate court judge Alan King decided she needed a court-appointed guardian for her estate.  The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of Bashinsky, freeing her from the court-ordered contested conservatorship.  Landon Ash, Bashinsky’s grandson released a statement about his grandmother’s passing.  “It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my grandmother, Joann Bashinsky yesterday, January 3, 2021. She was best known as Mama B or Mrs. B, a nickname she was given as her legend grew for her generosity through her philanthropic work throughout the state of Alabama,” he stated. “My grandmother was a champion for those in need for decades and her passing will be felt by countless people whose lives were touched by her kindness and incredible compassion for humanity. Most of all, this loss will be felt by my family and me. Nonny was my champion as well, and I loved her dearly for the guidance and direction she gave me throughout my life. While Mrs. B was in excellent health, both physically and mentally, for someone 89 years old, she was brought to the hospital Saturday and passed away there yesterday from complications of a heart attack.” In regards to the recent court battle, Ash commented, “Mrs. B found herself under unfortunate circumstances as she spent the past 18 months battling a court-appointed guardianship that continued up until the moment of her passing. She said she was going to ‘fight them till the bitter end’ and that is exactly what she did. Her compassion for those who find themselves in similar circumstances will be felt long after her passing and her work as an advocate for them is far from over.” “Words can’t describe my sorrow for my grandmother’s passing, though I take comfort in knowing she was one of Alabama’s finest women to ever live and that she is now with the rest of her family in heaven, he concluded. “I feel blessed to have the solemn duty to carry on her legacy and continued service to others as she taught me to do so well.” Miles College President Bobbie Knight stated, “The Miles College community is deeply saddened and mourns the loss of Mrs. Joann Bashinsky. Mrs. Bashinsky and I grew close over the past few months after she established an endowed scholarship fund at Miles College. It was during this time I learned she believed that finances should not be a barrier to any student seeking higher education. Mrs. Bashinsky exemplified a passion for improving young people’s lives in our community, and her legacy will live here through the students she has touched.”  The family asks that contributions be made out to Big Oak Ranch and Miles College in lieu of flowers.  

Protected or Prisoner Part 7: Can the Britney Spears case be the tipping point for change within a system rife with abuse?

Policy changes and pop stars – two topics that aren’t frequently discussed together. With the growing spotlight on Britney Spear’s contested conservatorship, that is changing. Many in our nation are getting a first glimpse at a broken system that has ruined lives, drained bank accounts, and destroyed families across the nation. Don’t get me wrong; even Britney will tell you: there’s a time and a place for the court to examine all evidence, hear all sides and make well-informed judgments on the appointment of a trusted and qualified conservator to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It’s been said Britney herself has agreed that her own conservatorship was initially needed. But her lawyer is claiming the situation in her case and, all too often in our own communities, the people who the court claims they are trying to protect actually find themselves prisoners.  With Spears’ birthday this week and recent court arguments coming to light, we can all hope there is a tipping point coming. Not only a time for a change in Britney Spears’ case but also a time for state and federal lawmakers to reexamine and fix the problems that have repeatedly been acknowledged by families, national advocates, the Bar Association, and even the Government Accountability Office. The #FreeBritney movement has taken hold and captured the attention of the nation and the world, and my hope is that the same people watching the case unfold come to see the bigger issue – that this is happening in cities and counties in each and every one of their backyards. Multiple petitions to release Britney Spears from her conservatorship have gained the support of hundreds of thousands of people. The Twitter hashtag #FreeBrittney brings up countless tweets in many languages. With Britney’s 39th birthday on Dec. 2, the timeline is currently flooded with warm wishes and messages that include hopes that she will be freed from her conservatorship. Articles can be found in nearly every media outlet across the web. From People, Page 6, and Vanity Fair to more traditional news outlets like CNN, ABC News, and NBC. It seems every outlet is detailing her case. A case that began in 2008 with a temporary order placing Britney under her father James Spears’ control during a mental health crisis is now on year 12, with no discernable end in sight.  As Alabama Today reported previously in our second in this series, “The American Bar Association published a study in 2017 on the Restoration of Rights in Adult Guardianship that found, “an unknown number of adults languish under guardianship” when they no longer need it, or never did. The authors wrote that “guardianship is generally permanent, leaving no way out—‘until death do us part.’ ” Earlier this week NPR did a story on conservatorships based on Britney’s case noting that a DOJ study found that there are an estimated 1.3 million people who are involved in conservatorship cases in the U.S. They play the tearful audio of the only time Britney detailed her feelings on her conservatorship publicly. She compared it to a prison sentence but said even then you know when you’re going to get out. She went on to say it was like groundhog day.  It was widely reported that during a November hearing, Brittney’s attorney told the court, “My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father.” Going on to say, “She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.” ABC News Reports detail how Britney is not only not getting a say in choices that affect her life; her estranged father isn’t even informing her of major decisions and changes that impact her. It is unconscionable that a system designed to protect the vulnerable from being victims is making so many feel victimized and taking away their rights and their voices. The system hasn’t spared us in Alabama or even Jefferson County, AL. either. We’ve had our own share of “egregious” violations of civil rights as well as a lack of transparency and accountability. In the case that spurred months of investigative journalism and this series by Alabama Today, that of Joann Bashinsky (aka Mrs. B), the Alabama Supreme Court issued a scathing rebuke of Judge Alan King’s actions. Actions that others say are commonplace in courtrooms around the state. Emergency orders that went on for long periods of time and wards, or would be wards, left without representation or their voices heard. As reported in the Washington Post the in the case before the Alabama supreme court, “Justices said Bashinsky’s basic due-process rights were egregiously violated when the probate court made the emergency decision without giving her time to obtain counsel after her lawyers were disqualified. The permanent petition remains pending before the court. Joann Bashinsky is the widow of Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr. who owned the majority stock in Golden Enterprises, Inc., and who was the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Golden Flake Foods. Her personal estate is estimated to be worth $80 million, and her entire estate was valued at $218 million.   Is the Bashinsky case unique? No. How many more are like it? We don’t know, but we’re trying to find out. We have heard from others that Judge King was known to put wards under the supervision of his handpicked court-ordered conservators, even when family members were willing and able to fulfill the role. We don’t know how many though. As the Government Accountability Office and other watchdog groups have noted, data on contested conservatorship and/or guardianship cases is mostly unknown. I asked the Jefferson County probate court first in a series of emails and then in an official public record request, a series of questions about how many cases have been processed here in the last several years. My request was first dated June 15, 2020.  As of December 7, 2020, I have no answers. The probate office, in the first 48-hours, did provide a litany of excuses for not providing the records. First, they stated they needed

Jefferson County GOP demands answers from Kay Ivey on the appointment of a democrat to critical probate seat

Kay Ivey has made a new appointment to replace former Jefferson County Probate Judge Alan King, Jim Naftel. The Jefferson County Republican Party is not happy about it, and they are demanding answers on how she came to her decision. As Alabama Today reported on June 22, Paul DeMarco, chairman of that same Jefferson County Republican Party, drafted a letter to Ivey saying that, “it is imperative that you appoint a strong, qualified Republican with knowledge of the election process to this position.”  In the most recent letter, DeMarco, with the likes of Jefferson County Republican leaders such as State Senator Jabo Waggoner, State Representative Jim Carns, and County Commissioner Jimmie Stephens, takes issue with Ivey’s appointing of Jim Naftel. The letter’s first complaint is that Naftel has voted in several Democratic primaries in recent years. A review of James (Jim) Naftel’s voter history by Alabama Today confirms this point. He voted in the 2018 Democratic primary and the 2020 Democratic Primary. He voted in the 2017 Special Republican Primary for U.S. Senate.  According to Yellowhammer News, “Naftel advised that he has not made a decision on whether he will seek election to this office after the appointment term expires, however Naftel added that he would run as a Republican if he did run.” Alabama Today asked party leaders what the process is for someone with an inconsistent voting record and was advised that upon filing, if a complaint is made against a candidate with the party, then a board would consider the facts of the case, including the candidates voting history.  Jim Naftel’s Voting History* Election Party 2020 Primary Democrat 2018 Primary Democrat 2017 Primary Republican *Data Source: AL Secretary of State’s Office, Elections Division The second complaint by Jefferson County leaders is a question on Naftel’s experience in election administration. This point is particularly noteworthy because the Probate Judge Place 1 has jurisdiction over elections in the county. The letter quotes Secretary of State John Merrill, who said in a previous Alabama Today story, “The probate judge has a significant level of influence. I cannot emphasize how important it is that this person is involved, interested, and informed on all things related to elections.” Their third complaint is that Ivey did not go with the County GOP’s recommendation for who that new Probate Judge should be. The letter states of their recommendation, “This Republican had been recommended and mentored by a former ALGOP General Counsel who you personally hired to be your legal counsel during your last campaign. This choice was clearly experienced in the elections area of the Probate position and was best prepared to serve as our chief elections officer.” The letter does not say who that person is.  You may read the letter in its entirety below. 

What’s in a place number? Secretary John Merrill and GOP Party Chairman Terry Lathan weigh in on the importance of Kay Ivey’s pending Jefferson County Probate appointment

Several weeks ago, Alabama Today reported on a letter from Paul DeMarco on behalf of Jefferson County Republicans. The letter called on Governor Kay Ivey to appoint a Republican to the open Place One probate judge seat recently vacated by Judge Alan King after 19 years of service. According to multiple sources, Judge Sherri Friday and her supporters are pushing a plan to have Ivey move her from Place 2 to Place 1 and then appoint a conservative to replace her. Why the musical chairs? The move is because Place 1 is where the power and influence lay. The Place 1 judge is responsible not just as the main elections official for the most populated county in the state, but also for choosing the county’s two conservators. Friday has long been eyeing the move from 2 to 1 and announced her intention to run as early as 2017 when King announced he was retiring, but then changed his mind. Whoever Ivey chooses to appoint to the seat will hold it for four years until King’s term is up. Their duties would include presiding over the July 14 Primary Runoff Election, the November 3 General Election, the 2022 Election Cycle, and the 2024 Election Cycle. They would also oversee two presidential elections and one midterm election cycle.  Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan echoed a familiar sentiment of those watching this appointment, “Democrats fought us on everything for 136 years. They walked over us when they were in the majority. They never gave us the time of day and wouldn’t now if they could. If given an option, we need the Republican appointments for their policies and philosophies.” Lathan, one of Ivey’s biggest and most vocal supporters, pointed out that, “The governor has appointed Republicans that have been appreciated. We will always want a conservative Republican if possible.” When reached for comment on potential details for the appointment, Ivey’s office declined to say who is under consideration or when a decision might be reached. At least two different Republicans have been confirmed to have submitted their names for consideration.  The idea that Ivey, her chief of staff former Congressman Jo Bonner, or her appointments team would waste such an opportunity is perplexing to many. Over a half dozen individuals who campaigned for Ivey told Alabama Today via Facebook that they’re concerned that Ivey’s staff has forgotten the conservative promises she made to them and the state when elected. Multiple people have said that they have written and called her office in opposition to the Friday appointment to Place 1.  More than one pointed out on social media that Ivey is doing favors for Jefferson County Democrats as if they would do anything for her. In fact, according to the Secretary of State’s website, the results of the 2018 general election for Jefferson County was Walt Maddox 152,103 versus those who supported the Governor 105,661. According to a post by Yellowhammer News, “A search of the state’s online campaign finance database shows that Friday made four donations to Democratic entities or candidates last cycle, totaling $3,080. This included two donations to then-State Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham). Todd infamously attempted to “out” Governor Ivey during that same campaign cycle, with the result of Todd having her post-legislature job offer unceremoniously rescinded by the pro-LGBTQ+ “One Orlando Alliance.” They went on to note her friendship with U.S. Senator Doug Jones, whose law firm contributed to her campaign three times.  In a statement to Alabama Today, Secretary John Merrill’s office said that he has spoken to the governor about the appointment highlighting the election cycles the appointee will preside over. He stressed the importance of the role of the individual who receives the appointment saying, “The role of the probate judge is extremely important. Due to the administration of the election, the probate judge oversees the recruitment and training of poll workers who are on the front lines of preventing voter fraud and any potential breakdowns at the local level.” Right now, the state is facing multiple attempts to undermine sections of Alabama Law that exist to protect the integrity of the elections and ballots. Merrill stressed the level of influence that the appointee would have on future elections by saying, “The probate judge has a significant level of influence. I cannot emphasize how important it is that this person is involved, interested, and informed on all things related to elections.” There is no doubt by conservatives, not just in Jefferson County, but around the state that this would be a tremendous and unprecedented gift to Democrats.  For those interested in weighing in, you can send the governor a message here or call her office at 334-242-7100.

Protected or Prisoner Part 3: One Alabama daughter’s struggle with Judge Alan King, Greg Hawley, and a flawed conservatorship system

judicial

Imagine you’ve done everything right to prepare your family for the realities that come with aging. You’ve created a power of attorney that specifically notes that your daughter is to be your conservator and guardian, should the need arise. You and your second-wife have a prenup to protect your assets, and spell out the use of funds for your future. You think you’re ready. Then the day that you and your family hoped never would come, does, and with advancing age slight dementia begins. All that’s left to do is execute your pre-planned system.  Your daughter goes to court, documents in hand, but the judge won’t hear her case. It turns out that after the dementia set-in, the step-mother also had a power of attorney signed. So the judge appoints a “temporary” conservator and a guardian-ad-litem until a full hearing can be held. The father tells the guardian-ad-litem he has chosen his daughter and wishes for her to be the conservator, but again the court refuses to listen. Hearings come and hearings go, and the daughter’s voice is failed to be heard, her father’s wishes go unmet. What’s worse, in one hearing a witness tells the court the two family members have argued in front of the father, and the judge uses that as the basis to make the temporary conservatorship permanent. The witness statement — untrue according to the daughter. Complete fiction.  Five years go by and the daughter still has not had her day in court. Meanwhile, the court-ordered conservator has been paid $15,000 plus expenses and is on-track to be paid at a minimum another $15,000. Unless of course he can either wait it out or convince the family to liquidate assets such as selling property. Then he’s paid even more. In addition, the costs of attorney fees for the family totals nearly $65,000 of which $55,000 is being paid-out of the estate. Money that could and likely should have stayed with the family and estate, if not for the judge’s order.  This is the story of Susan Evans and her father James Belew. Evans is the only child of Belew. Her mother, his first wife, passed away in 2008. He remarried in 2012. Belew was in the baking industry and was the general manager of the Dolly Madison Plant in Columbus, Ga. when he retired.  Evans, a mother of two and grandmother of one, just retired after 18 years at Viva Health.  The judge is none other than Jefferson County Probate Judge, Alan King. The conservator is none other than veteran litigator and probate lawyer, Greg Hawley. The witness whose alleged false and unconfirmed testimony caused the court to move the temporary conservatorship to permanent? Is none other than Hawley’s own assistant, Margaret Holland. If you’ve been following along in this series those names will sound familiar. They’re the same two players involved in the Joann Bashinsky case. As a matter of fact, they’re the same players as a number of cases in Jefferson County, Alabama. I’ll be writing about more of these horror stories in the coming days. (Don’t worry, if you’re missing Hawley’s “friend” Amy Davis Adams from Balch & Bingham, she too will return in several future installments of this series beginning later this week.) Evans is one of a handful of people who personally reached out to me after seeing my first story in this series. I’ve spoken to her several times. Her father’s case is as frustrating as the Bashinsky case because it was Evans herself who went to the court with no reason to doubt that the judge would hear her case and allow her to perform the role her father chose her for. Of course, that’s not what happened as Judge King seemingly went against her father’s expressed written and verbal wishes.  I want to bring attention to some specific points of her case and hopefully, I want to give you something you can do to help this family, yourselves, and others. Individual judges have unquestionable amounts of power and discretion with little to no accountability:  Evans echos the sentiments I’ve heard from a number of people wrapped up in the conservatorship system. It’s designed in such a way that the judge might as well be a God.  In her father’s case, Hawley’s guardianship was initially meant to be temporary. This is a familiar refrain from those with loved ones and family members involved. However, hearing after hearing it became clear that unless something changed, Hawley will be Belew’s conservator for the rest of his life.  Lack of transparency and accountability Until this week, after five years of Hawley being the conservator, Evans had not had a full accounting of her father’s assets or of the costs associated with the conservatorship. This week Holland provided that breakdown for the first time. You may remember Holland from the first post. Holland is the assistant who sent confidential medical and financial documents to Adams “accidentally”.   It states, “Fees are based off of a percentage of the Estate which in total is roughly 9%. It is calculated only at a Partial and/or Final Settlement Hearing. This is an Alabama State Statute = 2.5% of what’s received, 2.5% of what’s disbursed and 4% attorney’s fees.” As I mentioned, records indicate that thus far, $15,000 has been paid to Hawley’s firm.  The incestuous nature of the lawyers and those who work for them One of the often unspoken problems faced by family members fighting the court orders is the closeness of the attorneys and judges involved in the cases. Evans has had two attorneys paying approx. $22k of her own money in order to fulfill her father’s wishes. The step-mother has also hired an attorney. If you couple this with the fees associated with Hawley’s representation, and the fees associated with Evan’s step-mother’s lawyers this amount ballons. The costs to families aren’t just monetary The monetary costs aren’t necessarily even the biggest problem for those involved. Many have explained it’s the stress of the unknowns and the time associated with fighting the judge’s order, working through

Bill Veitch files lawsuit to stop ballot printing for primary ballots

Bill Veitch

Presiding Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Boohaker issued a restraining order on Friday that halted printing of June 5 primary ballots in the Bessemer Cutoff. The printing was stopped due to a lawsuit that Bill Veitch, a Republican candidate for the Birmingham division of Jefferson County, filed on Friday afternoon. “Without your knowledge and consent someone in Birmingham decided your cut-off votes don’t matter. Every single voter in the cut-off from Hoover, McCalla, Hueytown, Bessemer, Midfield and Brighton matter to me and your voice should be heard,” Veitch said in a facebook post on Friday. In the lawsuit, Veitch argues that all voters in Jefferson County should be allowed to vote in the primary, not just those who live in the Birmingham division. He then asked that a judge declare a 1953 law unconstitutional, that Jefferson County Probate Judge Alan King put the names of all candidates in the upcoming primary for District Attorney on ballots for both the Birmingham and divisions, and called for the restraining order that halted the ballot printing. According to AL.com, “Veitch lives in the Bessemer Cutoff, which means if the names of the District Attorney candidates were left off the ballot, he couldn’t vote for himself in the Republican Primary. It also means Democrats in the Bessemer division couldn’t vote for the district attorney candidates in Birmingham in their primary.” “The Bessemer District Attorney is listed in the state code as an assistant,” Veitch told AL.com. “The district attorney for the Birmingham division, however, has authority over all the county. ‘If that’s true that the (Birmingham) district attorney has jurisdiction all over the county shouldn’t they (Bessemer voters) be allowed to vote on those who have jurisdiction over all of them?” Veitch will face Mike Anderton in the Republican primary on June 5. The winner will then face Danny Carr, Raymond L. Johnson, or Jr. Carr in a a November special election to determine who will fill the seat. The full text of the lawsuit can be found below: Bill Veitch lawsuit uploaded by KentFaulk on Scribd

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