Steve Flowers: Some legislative leaders retire and pass away
Allow me to share the stories of three of my favorite legislative colleagues. Two of these gentlemen are retiring from the Alabama House of Representatives this year, and one passed away in April. Representative Victor Gaston of Mobile and Representative Howard Sanderford of Huntsville are going home. A third legend and true gentleman, Steve McMillan of Baldwin County, passed away during the last session in April. Representative Victor Gaston is Speaker Pro Tem of the House. Victor is retiring after 40 years in the legislature. He decided that at age 79 and having spent half his entire life in the legislature, that the timing was right to end his career and not run for reelection. Gaston, who was an educator by profession and also has family timber interests, lost the love of his life, Jean, only two years ago. They were married for 46 years and were very close. You can tell he misses her immensely. His two sons, Hank and George, have been helpful to him. Victor was first elected to the House in 1982. That year, he was only one of eight Republicans in the 105-member House. His district is an affluent silk-stocking area of Mobile and one of the few areas that voted Republican in local races in that era. He serves as a deacon of the Springhill Baptist Church. Additionally, he is active in Mobile with the Penelope House, Home of Grace for Women, and the Mobile Mental Health Center. Besides serving as Pro Tem in the legislature, he has been active with the American Legislative Exchange Council and is on the State Building Commission. Victor and I came to the House as freshmen together in 1982 and became and remain good friends. I like to give my friends nicknames; I dubbed him, “To the Victor goes the spoils.” He is a formal person and seemed to enjoy the frivolity of the term. Also in our class were Spencer Bachus, Beth Marietta Lyons, and Mo Brooks, to name a few. My friend Howard Sanderford came to the Alabama House of Representatives in January 1989. We became fast friends. He succeeded my friend, Steve Hettinger, who became mayor of Huntsville. Howard has represented the 20th District which is comprised of southeast Huntsville. He was elected to this very Republican district seven times and has served a total of 33 years. He was a true blue business Republican who was perfect for that district. He represented his people well with class and distinction. Howard was an accountant by profession and had a successful career with IBM, retired early, and was able to serve in the legislature with ample time and without the need for remuneration. He is a devoted family man. Howard and his wife, Dot, are very close. She accompanied him to Montgomery most of the time during his 33 years in the legislature. They are active members of the First Baptist Church of Huntsville. At 87, Howard felt like it was time to retire from his second career. Our friend, Representative Steve McMillan of Baldwin County, passed away at 80 in April after a tough bout with cancer. Steve was a great man and a great legislator. He was a quiet yet very friendly gentleman. Steve served with distinction for 43 years in the House of Representatives. He was a very diligent and well-prepared legislator. He was extremely conservative in a dignified way. He was not flamboyant and would seldom go to the well and speak. Yet, when he did, people listened. He was well-respected and knew what he was talking about. He exuded class and epitomized the term gentleman. Steve is survived by his wife, Gayle, two sons, and six grandchildren. The House is losing a lot of experience and leadership with the loss of Steve McMillan, Victor Gaston, and Howard Sanderford. Coupled with the decision by Speaker of the House, Mac McCutcheon, to not seek reelection, this will leave a void in the Speaker and Pro Tem posts in the House. In addition, the House is losing veterans Mike Ball (R-Huntsville), Allen Farley (R-Jefferson), L.L. Brown (R-Jacksonville), and Harry Shiver (R-Baldwin). The state and many of us will miss these folks. See you next week. 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 www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Incumbency prevails in 2022 State House races
Folks, believe it or not, we are closing in on six months before next year’s election year. The primary election is set for May 24, 2022. In Alabama, all our major constitutional officers are on the ballot next year. The governor’s office is the premier race in the state, and that coveted and powerful post is set for its four-year quadrennial run. Therefore, this big political year is referred to as the gubernatorial year. Those of us who follow Alabama politics have been salivating with anticipation for a cavalcade of great races. However, the power of incumbency has devasted the big year into a yawn. All the major state offices are held by popular incumbents, who are either running unopposed or have minimal opposition. The consolation prize was that there would be the legislative races. After all, this is where the real power in the state rests. You can simply look at where the special interest and PAC money is spent to verify that fact. However, the omnipotent power of incumbency has also encroached on those races. The Alabama House of Representatives has 105 members. There are 77 Republicans and 28 Democrats. The large majority of incumbents are running for reelection – both Republicans and Democrats. The overwhelming majority of these incumbents will have no opposition. However, in the House, there will be some major changes in leadership because of retirement or moving on to new posts. Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon is not running for reelection. This has created an interesting and spirited race within the Republican Caucus ranks for Speaker. In addition, Victor Gaston of Mobile, who is Speaker Pro Tem, is also retiring. Bill Poole of Tuscaloosa, who chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Education Budget Committee, has left the House to be the State Finance Director. House Rules Committee Chairman Mike Jones of Andalusia is running for the open Senate seat of retiring Senator Jimmy Holley. Two of the freshman House members are running for statewide office. Wes Allen of Troy is running for Secretary of State, and Andrew Sorrell of Tuscumbia is running for State Auditor. In addition, Connie Rowe of Jasper is leaving the House to become an administrative assistant to Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth. Some of the veteran House members who are choosing to hang up their legislative cleats include Howard Sanderford of Huntsville, Mike Ball of Huntsville, K.L. Brown of Jacksonville, Kerry Rich of Marshall, Allen Farley of Jefferson, Harry Shiver of Baldwin, Mike Holmes of Elmore, and Becky Nordgren of Etowah. The most noteworthy retiree may be Representative Steve McMillan of Baldwin County, who is retiring after serving close to 43 years in the House. Steve has been a quiet yet very effective voice for the people of Baldwin County. They all will be missed. Some of the high profile and powerful members of the House, who will return for another four years with no or token opposition, are Steve Clouse of Ozark, Nathaniel Ledbetter of Dekalb County, and Danny Garrett, Jim Carns, David Wheeler, and David Faulkner of Jefferson. Danny Garrett has ascended to Chairman of the House Ways and Means Education. Other leaders returning are Chris Pringle, Reed Ingram, Randall Shedd, Tracy Estes, Chris Sells, David Standridge, Ginny Shaver, Jim Hill, Alan Baker, Joe Lovvorn, Chris Blackshear, Kyle South, Paul Lee, Jeff Sorrells, Rhett Marques, Steve Hurst, Joe Faust, and Margie Wilcox. The Democratic leadership will remain intact. There is an illustrious array of House Democratic leaders, including Anthony Daniels, Chris England, Laura Hall, Peb Warren, Barbara Boyd, A.J. McCampbell, Berry Forte, Dexter Grimsley, Thomas Jackson, Kevin Lawrence, Mary Moore, Juandalynn Givan, and veteran John Rogers. Two of the Democratic House veterans from Jefferson County, Louise Alexander and Merika Coleman, are both running for an open Jefferson County Senate Seat, leaving both their House seats up for grabs. There may be an increase in the number of females in the House of Representatives. It has already begun with the election of Cynthia Almond of Tuscaloosa, who was elected without opposition to replace Bill Poole. In addition, Patrice Penni McClammy won the Montgomery District 76 seat of her late father, Thad McClammy. She won with no opposition. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama papers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
No Donald Trump didn’t make you do it: We need more personal responsibility and civility
I’m a mom. It’s a fact that pretty much defines who I am, especially these days. I’ve been teaching my five year old to take responsibility. She’ll sometimes do something and then she’ll say “well I took the candy because you wouldn’t let me have it.” Or “I took the toy away from my baby brother because he had it too long.” I always gently step in and say “sweetie, nobody else is responsible for your behavior. You didn’t take the candy because I didn’t allow you to have it. You took it because you wanted it. You knew it was against the rules.” Or “You didn’t take the toys away from your baby brother because he had it too long, you took it because you wanted it. This is you acting on your feelings, regardless of the rules or other people’s feelings.” I may take a while for her to learn the lesson, but what I’ve learned over the course of this past year is that there are lots of adults out there who were never taught this lesson: our reactions to others aren’t justified by their behavior. This past week a video of a man went viral. The man causing the stir, Timothy Trybus was later arrested and saw the charges he faced upgraded to felonies for hate crimes. It all stemmed from an angry tirade directed at a woman wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rico flag on it. I wouldn’t have clicked the link except the post I saw that shared it included a message that said something along the lines of “This is what electing President Donald Trump has gotten us.” I expected to see a man who was quoting Trump or expressly advocating for Trump but no I just saw someone behaving like a jerk. I saw an il-informed, bigot clearly breaking the law by harassing a woman for no reason other than he chose to behave like he had a right to disrupt her day and bully her. He didn’t. The cop, Patrick Connor from Forest Preserves of Cook County that stood by and did nothing shouldn’t have been allowed to resign. He should have been fired. All of that to say, the man and the cop were responsible for their actions (or inactions as it were). No one else. We cannot justify or blame the behavior of jerks on the right or left on Trump and the way he tweets or the way he speaks. This guys behavior isn’t due to some cosmic shift in cultural standards that came with a Trump presidency. There were ignorant and mean people before Trump and there will be plenty after him. I’m tired of hearing that our president or the Republican Party is to blame for the actions of others. That by electing Trump this is what we should expect this behavior to be a norm. It’s just not true. Rep. Maxine Waters who called for people to not only be disruptive and rude, but to be violent toward those in the Administration is solely responsible for her words and actions. We can’t blame the incivility of the people at the movie theatre with Pam Bondi, or the restaurants with either the Department Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen or White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as something that should be socially acceptable because of the times. No, the individuals behaving badly need to take responsibility. You’re acting like a jerk or a bully. It’s you who made a conscious decision to behave that way. That’s not because Trump behaves or Tweets one way or another. It’s not because Trump was elected. There is no excuse. I have been thinking about Rep. Maxine Waters and all of the Members of Congress who have left Congress over the past few year. Some were over-spending money, some were using drugs, others for breaking the law. I feel like there will always be a Rep. Maxine Waters in Congress, heck she’s been there for 18 years already. Or an Alan Grayson type of bomb-thrower, is what they call him. We have them on both sides of the aisle. But we can’t allow the least-behaving, the lowest common denominator set the standard for our levels of civility. Yes, Trump frequently speaks or tweets in a way that I would never allow my children to, but he’s a grown man and his behavior speaks only to him and his character. It doesn’t even speak for those who work for him contrary to what some believe. Those who use his bad actions as an excuse for their own bad actions are making a false argument. Those people need to come back to reality and realize our standards must be higher for ourselves and those around us. I hope Congress censures Maxine Waters. I hope the guy in the video faces appropriate consequences. That’s how we stop and prevent future behavior like this. While we have First Amendment rights, there are certain expectations and standards and even laws that prevent the views and actions of disruptive people from harming those around them. Enough with the excuses, let’s just take responsibility and expect better from one another and those around us.
