Questions remain after Hoover CFO Jennifer Cornett reports on Finance Department corrective action plan
Last Monday, the City of Hoover held its regularly scheduled city council meeting, during which the city’s chief financial officer, Jennifer Cornett, spoke. In response to a request from Councilman Derrick Murphy, she presented an update and plan for remedying some of the concerns from the secretly commissioned forensic audit conducted by the nationally renowned firm Kroll. The presentation addressed some of the top issues but still left many questions. Residents have been asking these questions in earnest for months now at council meetings, as they’ve come across elected officials out locally and through petitions and phone calls. Yet, week after week, they’ve found that the mayor and council president rebuffs their concerns. Denying them answers or a venue to be provided answers. Three critical questions come to mind: first, why won’t city leadership create an open forum to address start to finish the legitimate questions that have been asked and ignored? This forum has been suggested not just by concerned residents but by Councilman Steve McClinton as well. Second, how can residents be sure these problems will be prevented in the future, not just in the Finance Department but also in other departments within the city? We know from the Kroll report and several former members of the council that the information was known to Hoover’s top, namely Mayor Frank Brocato and Council President John Lyda, yet worse than just being ignored, they were seemingly covered up and denied. Why did the checks and balances between the mayor’s office and the city council fail? How do voters prevent that failure in the future as well? Additionally, no one in the city has addressed the limitations described in the forensic audit, and if additional steps need to be taken to examine this administration and their financial dealings, departmental staffing beyond the Finance Department, and other issues brought to light through this process. Kroll described on Page 1 of their report, “In performing our forensic accounting and review and analysis of the Finance Department operations, we had certain limitations in our scope of review including a lack of accurate financial reports available from Munis and potentially thousands of electronic files that were deleted without any audit trail or definitive indication of who may have been responsible.” The Kroll report was 274 pages long. Cornett’s update included 7 PowerPoint slides. This leaves a lot of ground to be covered by city leadership, one would hope that would include those responsible. The sections in the Cornett report: Erroneous Financial Reporting Deleted, Missing and/or Destroyed Records Understaffed Finance Department Lack of Experience/Training in Payroll and General Ledger Division Lack of Training, Skills & Communication Lack of Formal Policies and Procedures MUNIS Accounting & Software Implementation Fluctuations in Finance Department Budget Budget Presentations Lack of Complete and Timely Reconciliations Unaddressed Payroll Issues Summary Cornett described four of the issues addressed in these sections as having been resolved through subsequent actions, marking them as “closed” in her presentation. Among the issues marked as “closed,” however, are the deletion of files that she and the mayor have said were reported to the State’s Attorney General. When asked, William Califf, a spokesman from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office, said, “It is the longstanding policy of this office to neither confirm nor deny the possibility of an investigation.” The Hoover Channel, the local YouTube channel created by Robin Schultz and his grandson Jackson Schultz, loaded the video of her full update to its page as a part of its newest segment type, “The Week in Review.” You can also find within the description of the video all of the supporting and backup documents, including the detailed PowerPoint presentation that Cornett gave.
Did John Lyda lie to WBRC Fox 6? Bluff Park’s Robin Schulz says yes.
After the August 5, 2024 City Council meeting, Council President John Lyda gave an interview to WBRC Fox 6 about the passage of a resolution to maintain YouTube Records. Did John Lyda misspeak, mislead or even tell a lie or two? Bluff Park resident and founder of The Hoover Channel, Robin Schultz, took to his YouTube channel with a detailed response. Schultz says of Lyda, “He has done everything in his power to remove transparency instead of enhance transparency in city business.” He also offered the following timeline: Timeline in Video 2015 – Hoover Resident Dan Fulton Records audio of Council meetings and uploads them to his YouTube Channel 2016 – Newly Elected City Council begins to stream meetings using an iPad and uploading to the city’s YouTube Channel 2020 – Council Chambers are remodeled and new $370,000 AV system includes cameras for recording meetings 8/2022 – City deletes all meeting videos from 2016-2022 from their YouTube Channel 9/2022 – Council President Lyda institutes a new streaming policy that mandates that the stream will only start with Action Items and stop at end of Action Items, thus omitting presentations, proclamations, Council comments and Public Comments. 11/2022 – Robin Schultz finds the deleted videos and downloads them, then uploads them to the newly created The Hoover Channel’s YouTube Channel, preserving them in perpetuity. 3/2023 – The Hoover Channel begins livestreaming meetings in their entirety, including Public Comments. 5/2024 – Robin Schultz is asked to draft an ordinance that will restore the streaming of the full Council meetings and Work Sessions. 8/5/2024 – Council votes and approves Resolution 8188-24, which restores full streaming. Prior to the vote WBRC caught up with Councilor Steve McClinton you can see his interview below. See the full interview here:
Five questions for the City of Hoover following contested Certificate of Need hearings:
It’s been several weeks since the Hoover Healthcare Authority defended its Certificate of Need application for an outpatient surgery center at the proposed Riverwalk development. Citizens were given little to no notice to participate in the contentious hearing, which revealed a great deal of information beyond the proposed facility itself. The hearing included testimony detailing millions in pre-paid rent for a building that is currently unoccupied, behind-the-scenes accusations and counter-accusations of wrongdoing, a previously undisclosed forensic audit, and more. Council President John Lyda testified that he saw it primarily as an economic development rather than a healthcare facility project. City lawyers clarified his answer during later testimony. Council meetings continue to reveal a pattern of secret-keeping by Hoover’s leadership. For instance, the city’s budget has had to be amended twice since the hearings began related to that project, once for legal fees and once because the city needed to increase the budget for expenses with totals unavailable at the time when the lease was signed. Most recently, it was revealed that in an email sent in April, which was exclusively obtained by Alabama Today, City Council President John Lyda described “financial disarray.” Here are the Top 5 questions residents of Hoover should be asking their City Councilor and the Mayor since city leadership is not volunteering answers: Was the Hoover Healthcare Authority legally permitted to apply for the Certificate of Need? Page 60 of City Ordinance 23-2634, passed by the Hoover City Council on November 20, 2023, clearly states that the Developer would obtain the Certificate of Need. However, the Hoover Healthcare Authority (solely funded within the City of Hoover budget) applied for the CON instead. Should taxpayers be responsible for the legal fees and other costs associated with something that records indicate would be the developer’s responsibility? Why did Mayor Frank Bracoto and the City Council hide the need for the ongoing forensic audit? What is the status of the forensic audit revealed during the hearing and the annual audit? How will the forensic audit be paid for, and why didn’t the Council approve the costs before it began? Here’s what John Lyda said on April 9 in his email about the need for an audit: Silence is golden unless the silence is from city officials hiding the truth from their constituents. Alabama Today still awaits answers from the Public Information Office, which hasn’t responded to requests from May 17th and multiple follow-ups. Fortunately, sources reveal that Wendy Dickerson, the City Clerk, has a record of readily providing information when asked, except for when city leadership, including its lawyer, steps in and objects. As of last week, when asked, Dickerson insisted that the request, which was submitted on June 12, continues to be reviewed. Contact information for the Mayor can be found here. You can see their contact information here to reach a city councilor.
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.
Apryl Marie Fogel: Hoover City Council President John Lyda’s Quarterback Fake
Here in Alabama, football is beloved; there’s nothing like an unexpected play in a big game, something like a quarterback fake—a play requiring skill and precision akin to a magician’s sleight of hand. But while deception entertains on the field or stage, it’s troubling in local politics. Hoover has been rocked of late by confounding admissions, accusations, and unanswered questions, dividing the city council and fracturing relationships. Some are unaware of the turmoil at City Hall, while others ponder the way forward. City leaders, led by Mayor Frank Bracoto and Council President John Lyda, have sought to downplay or ignore question upon question and issue upon issue. City Administrator Ken Grimes followed their lead earlier this week and responded to concerns posed by residents on Facebook. Though the story he was responding to provided video evidence of a direct quote by the CFO and statements made in sworn testimony by the mayor, Grimes called it “junk taken out of context.” He didn’t clarify whether it was the mayor’s comments or the CFO’s that he believed was junk or what additional context he thought was needed to understand why a lease was signed before the costs were known or why the mayor said under oath that he hadn’t read it. Observers agree that the unfolding saga is more complex than officials admit, and a resolution is unlikely unless transparency improves. Could these issues be a series of unintentional and unrelated fumbles? Perhaps, but why would those involved leave them lingering and unaddressed for so long? For several years now, Lyda, Brocato, and their supporters have treated nearly every inquiry of questionable behavior as mere distractions rather than cause for concern. Until now, different situations have been treated as one-offs rather than a pattern, but a clear pattern is emerging, and I’m here to lay it all out for you in story form. Why story form? While not exactly boring in these circumstances, the interworkings of city government aren’t particularly riveting either. The facts laid out here are just that: facts. They stem from dozens of interviews, reviewing dozens of media stories, council meeting videos (no thanks to the city), searching for documents buried in dense public meeting packages, and reviewing audio recordings of testimony from the sparsely attended recent hearings. The city itself has been…less than helpful. Buckle up for a true story told in parts to bring the many converging details together for the first time. This is, without a doubt, just the beginning. Chapter 1: Darkness Slowly But Steadily Descends on the Field Once upon a time, Hoover seemed to have a government guided by the conservative values of small government, fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability. However, as the city’s population, economy, and infrastructure grew, sunshine faded on the public information accessible to those who live, work, and do business there. I live in neighboring Birmingham and heard the city was overwhelmingly conservative, so imagine my surprise when I learned that while the state was going forward, Hoover was going backward with public information. Around August 2021, city officials sparked controversy by deleting years of council meeting videos from their official YouTube channel without notice or explanation. When confronted, no one would take responsibility for the decision. The city attorney, Phillip Corley, told The Hoover Sun, “This was a council policy communicated by the council president to the city clerk.” The Sun asked follow-up questions about the conflicting information from the City Attorney and evidence of when the videos were discovered missing, and his questions were ignored. The move to limit the availability and coverage of videos prompted the launch of The Hoover Channel, a YouTube page with over 200 videos created by Robin Schultz. He and his teenage grandson, Jackson Schultz, maintain the site. Based on what I witnessed at the last council meeting, Jackson did the technical camera work while Robin sought answers and accountability from the council himself. After the meeting, Jackson hurried his grandfather along to help him pack up the bags of equipment they used. After the council was questioned about the deletions, Lyda informally polled the council members and formalized a new policy. The new one restricted the city’s livestream. It would now end before the public comments section of the meeting, and the city was now not only allowed to delete the videos after 60 days or after minutes had been approved but required to do so. I’ve talked to multiple people about this, and not one person can explain the positive benefit of deleting the videos for the city if there’s no liability related to what has been done or said. Corley, the city attorney, defended the council’s actions. I’m paraphrasing here, but he essentially said residents who want public meetings, made and kept public using equipment they’ve paid for, are ungrateful little curious cash cows for the city who are lucky to get any video at all and should take what he and the council decided behind closed doors to give them and shut up. Okay, I added a lot of color to that last part. His actual quote was, “He advised the city that state law does not require meetings to be videoed or livestreamed, or for recordings of meetings to be made or preserved.” It’s worth noting that Corley’s name comes up again at least twice in this sordid series of stories. First, when the city increases the outside attorney budget by $500,000, and then when the mysterious forensic audit becomes public. These moves and curious cleanup, some would say coverup, were just the beginning. Residents and other sources have pointed out that the meeting minutes of city council meeting have also undergone changes over the last several years. Descriptions of council actions have become incredibly vague, often omitting crucial details of pre-vote discussions and questions/answers relevant to future research, reporting, and glorious editorial storytelling. Remember that these half-baked minutes are all the city attorney says the law requires them to do. If he and Lyda had their way, you would not
Hoover City Budget amended for Riverwalk Development; CFO ‘We didn’t know the amount’ when we signed lease
When the City of Hoover announced its plan for the proposed Riverwalk Village development almost a year ago, on June 28, 2023, it was touted as a win-win for taxpayers and the developer. In a series of resolutions passed in November 2023, the city agreed to two separate leases with Healthcare Resources, the project developer. According to business records, Robert Simon is the project’s registered agent and signatory. In the first lease with the city, they agreed to rent out a floor of office space. In a second lease with the Hoover Healthcare Authority, founded in 2022 and funded entirely out of the city’s general budget, the City agreed to rent out the rest of the building. Both leases were approved by the city council in November 2023, with the initial pre-payment of $3,000,000 due immediately. While Mayor Frank Bracoto testified that he had not read the lease agreements, he estimated the total rent and incentives for the project, as laid out in the two lease agreements, to be around $40,000,000 without these additional costs. City Council president John Lyda testified earlier this month that “in terms of dollars,” the incentive package included in the deal was “one of the largest that we’ve ever approved.” At the council meeting in November Alan Paquette testified that the final deal was “a quarter of the incentive package” the city started with. Since then, the City Council has needed to adopt two budget amendments to address the project’s escalating costs: one amendment was for $500,000 additional money purportedly to cover legal fees to defend against opposition to the proposed Certificate of Need that is the cornerstone of the facility and the other to increase the building’s monthly operating expenses. At last week’s Council Work Session, Hoover’s Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Cornett, acknowledged that the new resolution was necessary because the city had signed the original lease without a comprehensive understanding of all the associated costs. This admission underscores some of the questions raised during testimony at the CON hearing. “At the time that we signed that agreement, we didn’t know the amount of the monthly operating expenses that would be the City’s portion,” Cornett said in a video provided by The Hoover Channel. She noted that the budget amendment would authorize a monthly expense of approximately $27,000. These payments result from the project being a triple net lease, in which the city assumes all operating costs for the building and its maintenance. Cornett was asked about the city’s plan to move employees to the facility, but she didn’t know who would be moved or when. For now, despite the growing costs and uncertainty on the pending Certificate of Need, the building remains empty. *This story was originally published on 1819 News by the same author.
Ken McFeeters to run for Congress
On Saturday, in Vestavia at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club (MARC), independent insurance agent Ken McFeeters announced he is a candidate for Congress in Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District. McFeeters has been very active in local Republican politics and has previously served as a MARC officer. McFeeters had offered himself up as a candidate for the vacant Alabama House District 42 seat after Rep. David Wheeler (R-Vestavia) died. The ALGOP Steering Committee chose Hoover City Councilman Mike Shaw instead. As an independent insurance agent, McFeeters has lobbied the state Legislature hard for a level playing field in the insurance industry and against tax breaks for insurance firms with a large physical presence in the state – primarily benefitting ALFA insurance and State Farm. McFeeters is challenging incumbent Gary Palmer (R-Hoover), who has already announced that he is running for a sixth term. Qualifying for Congress formally opens next month for the major party primaries. Since the court-appointed special master has not yet submitted his congressional redistricting map, it is unknown where the seven congressional district boundaries will be. The court has thrown out the redistricting map passed by the Legislature in a special session in July. The state is appealing. The special master will complete his redistricting map by September 25. The major party primaries will be held on March 5. The Mid-Alabama Republican Club meets on the second Saturday of each month in the Vestavia Hills Public Library at 8:30 a.m. John Lyda is the current President of MARC. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Republicans seek appointments in Jefferson County
The Mid-Alabama Republican Club (MARC) met on Saturday for their regular meeting and a legal briefing on the Congressional redistricting case in federal court by attorney Albert “Bert” Jordan. Hoover City Council President John Lyda is the President of MARC. Former State Representative Johnny Curry asked the MARC members to write Governor Kay Ivey on his behalf. “My name is Johnny Curry – I seek appointment by the Governor to tax assessor for the Bessemer Cutoff,” Curry said. “Currently, there are no Republicans in the Bessemer Courthouse. I served four terms in the Alabama Legislature representing Hueytown.” “I am not the only Republican seeking the office,” Curry said. “I can win reelection.” Appointments are up to Gov. Ivey. Ivey is a Republican, but some Republicans have criticized her in the past for appointing Democrats in Democrat-controlled areas of the state – areas like Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Tax Collector’s Office in the Bessemer Division became open following the sudden death of Assistant Tax Collector Eric Burks in July. Former Judge Brian Huff was also at the MARC event. He is also seeking an appointment from Gov. Ivey. Huff said that he previously was a Jefferson County judge appointed by Gov. Fob James and then elected in 1998. “I lost in 2012 along with all the other Republicans,” Huff said. “Now a vacancy has opened in divorce court in Place 1 in Jefferson County.” “My name went down to Governor Ivey on Wednesday with three other peoples,” Huff said. “I think the bench is important in Jefferson County.” “I would appreciate any support that you can give me,” Huff said. Huff is currently in private practice. He is a former Circuit Judge at Jefferson County Family Court. He is a graduate of Gardendale High School and West Birmingham Christian School. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama and a law degree from the Birmingham School of Law. Greg Fanin is running in a special election for Alabama House District 16, which was vacated by Rep. Kyle South when South accepted a position as head of the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce. Fanin said that he became a Republican in the 1980s. “I was a Reagan Republican,” Fanin explained. “I served in the Army.” “I am asking for your vote,” Fanin said. “September 26 is the date.” HD16 includes parts of Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, and Fayette Counties. “I have a super strong connection to Jefferson County,” Fanin said, citing attending school in the county growing up. “I am asking for your support.” Fanin is a veteran of both the Army and the Air Force. He currently serves as the Commissioner of Coal Mines (ASMC) appointed by Gov. Ivey. He is a real estate appraiser and President of Gemini GEM Inc. He is the father to two daughters, Erin and Meg. He attends the Church of the Highlands. Allison Hepola is the head of the Republican Women of Shelby County. She asked for members of the MARC to support the club in its ongoing efforts to elect Republicans. Hepola was also soliciting signatures so Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could have ballot access in Alabama’s upcoming Presidential primary on March 5. Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight thanked the members of the MARC for their help electing former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Mike Bolin in a special election last month to fill an open position on the county commission. The GOP victory means that the Republicans maintain their narrow 3 to 2 control over the County Commission. Chris Brown is the Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. Brown similarly thanked the group for their efforts in electing Bolin to the Commission. “I am very proud f the cooperation we got from the Alabama Republican Party,” Brown said. “The Jefferson County GOP knocked on over 2,000 doors in three weeks.” Brown also thanked U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville for recording a robo-call to remind voters to get out and vote for Judge Bolin. The Republican Party lost its last countywide elected official in Jefferson County in 2018 when Sheriff Mike Hale (R) was unseated by Mark Pettway. Gov. Ivey defeated Democratic nominee Yolanda Flowers 67.38% to 29.36% in 2022, but Ivey lost Jefferson County to Flowers. Brown was unmoved by the last decade of history, saying that if you look at where the growth is in Jefferson County, Gardendale, Trussville, Vestavia, and Hoover, are Republican areas. “I think we are at a point where we can flip the county back to the Republicans,” Brown declared. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Mid-Alabama Republican Club discusses congressional redistricting issue
On Saturday, attorney Bert Jordan briefed the influential Mid-Alabama Republican Club (MARC) on the pending federal litigation over Alabama’s disputed congressional redistricting. On Monday morning, the State of Alabama will defend a congressional redistricting plan passed by the Alabama Legislature in July’s second 2023 special session. Plaintiffs have challenged that plan as violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Hoover City Councilman John Lyda is the President of MARC. “Burt Jordan has practiced law here for 43 years,” Lyda said. “His law firm, Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff, & Brandt, represents the City of Hoover, and I am very grateful for that.” Lyda said Jordan represented Perry Hooper Sr. in his disputed Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court race in 1992. He has been counsel for the Alabama Republican party. He also served as County chairman from 1995 to 1999. Jordan criticized the media coverage, particularly that of al.com in this case, as inaccurate. “I know al.com could do a better job,” he stated. “In early 2022, a U.S. District Court consisting of three judges issued an injunction because the 2021 Congressional redistricting likely violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” Jordan said. “Section 5 was struck down in 2012 in a decision by Chief Justice John Roberts. John Roberts has received a lot of criticism for that decision.” Jordan explained that in 1982, the City of Mobile’s city council districts were upheld by the Supreme Court. The city had three council districts that were voted on city-wide, but no Black representative had been elected to the council, even though the city was 33% Black. The Supreme Court found that the Mobile redistricting did not violate Section 2 because there was no intent to prevent a Black person from being elected. It just hadn’t happened. Following the Mobile decision, Section 2 of the VRA was rewritten by Congress from showing intent to a results outcome. Jordan explained 27% of Alabamians are Black. The plaintiffs argue that based on the results test, then two out of the seven congressional districts should be majority Black. “Nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population,” Jordan stated. Jordan said that a key Supreme Court decision here was Thornburg v Gingles. “The Gingles factors: First, the minority group must be sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a reasonably configured district. Second, the minority group must show that it is politically cohesive. Third, the minority must demonstrate that the White majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to enable it……..to defeat the minority’s preferred candidate. Finally, a plaintiff who demonstrates the three preconditions must also show, under the “totality for the circumstances,” that the political process is not “equally open” to minority voters.” Jordan said that the Court ruled that the 2021 Alabama congressional redistricting was “likely a violation of section 2 of the voting rights act. That is why we are where we are today.” Jordan explained that there are three separate lawsuits challenging the 2021 congressional redistricting that have all been wrapped together into one suit. Those plaintiffs are Milligan from Montgomery, Castor from Mobile, and state Senator Bobby Singleton from Hale County. “They say that the Legislature’s remedial plan does not comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” Jordan said. “It comes down to the racial composition of (Congressional) District 2. The complaint of the plaintiffs is that (the remedial congressional redistricting map passed by the Legislature in July) is not going to remedy the problem.” The Legislature increased the number of Black voters in CD2 to almost 40%. Jordan said that Milligan and the other plaintiffs will argue that “the Legislature did not produce two majority Black Districts”; thus, that violates the results test of Section 2 of the VRA. “The way the state is defending this is important,” Jordan said. “The state is defending this on the grounds that it united the Black Belt and is preserving communities of interest while minimizing the number of county splits. The counterpoint is this, as seen from Terri Sewell, is that Alabama has defied the Supreme Court.” “The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2021 redistricting likely violated Section 2,” Jordan said. “There has never been a final ruling. The state is arguing that there has never been a final judgment, only a preliminary ruling, so the burden of proof is still on Milligan, Castor, and Singleton.” “We don’t know how that will play out exactly,” in the hearing on Monday, Jordan said. “There will be a lot of legal discussion between the judges and the attorneys.” Jordan said that the VRA had been misused at times in the past for gerrymandering. “One of the ways that it was misused was in drawing bizarrely shaped districts such as North Carolina District 12 (in 1990),” Jordan said. That redistricting snaked through multiple counties in North Carolina, connecting communities of color into a majority Black district. One consequence is that it made it easier for Republicans to win the neighboring districts. The Supreme Court rejected the gerrymandered District 12, Jordan explained. Jordan said that that decision was then used as a precedent in a 1990s case that he and Ferris Stephens brought challenging what was then Alabama state board of education district 4, where Jefferson County was in a school district with just the Black neighborhood of Tuscaloosa connected by a narrow lasso. The Court overturned the school board redistricting because it violated the North Carolina District 12 decision. Jordan said that Singleton has presented a map to the Court where Jefferson County is kept as a whole but is connected with Bibb to Hale and Perry Counties in the Blackbelt. Jordan said that this is dilution and thus would not pass legal scrutiny. Jordan said that the Court has declined to eliminate partisan gerrymandering. “The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it couldn’t resolve partisan gerrymandering because it can’t make the decision on what is too much and what is fair,” Jordan said. “There is a lot of elite thinking that partisanship is distasteful. It may be, but it may be the best thing that
Jeff Sessions stresses Donald Trump loyalty in Alabama Senate race
Sessions was the first US Senator to endorse Donald Trump in 2016.
City of Hoover cracking down on controversial businesses
A city councilman in Hoover, Ala. proposed a temporary moratorium on shops he feels does not present the city in the best light. While the current proposal being considered at this weeks Hoover city council meeting will include a moratorium within the city limits; ultimately the plan is to change zoning to limit where they can go in the future. Councilman Casey Middlebrooks proposed the ban on “vape shops, check cashing, pay-day loan type businesses, pawn shops, adult sex shops, and so forth,” until the city can rework their zoning ordinances WBMA reported. Middlebrooks is worried that too many of these types of shops may drive away future business for the city, The temporary ban means that new businesses would not be allowed to apply for a business license within the city, and has caused some contention with current business owners already in operation. Randy Toffel owns the Vapeology vape store in Hoover, and told WBRC that if “Middlebrooks is worried about his store’s clientele, he shouldn’t be.” “I have doctors, I have attorneys, I have car salesmen, I have mechanics, I have firemen, I have grandmothers that come in my shop,” he continued. Toffel also told WBRC that “he’s dedicated to helping people quit smoking,” and that his shop shouldn’t be penalized for it. Another city councilman, Mike Shaw somewhat agrees with Middlebrooks, but thinks the city should focus on rezoning, instead of an outright ban. “I think these businesses can have negative connotations in certain locations, but again, these are legal businesses. So however we feel about them, we still have to allow that according to state law,” Shaw told WBMA. “I don’t think we have problem with these businesses.” Other council members disagree. “We need to define what the real problem is. If the issue is surrounding where these business are located , I think there are better ways to address the problem,” councilman John Lyda told WIAT.
Uber, Lyft ridesharing in Alabama gets mixed reaction from lawmakers
Lawmakers can’t agree whether bringing an app-based ride-hailing service like Uber or Lyft to Alabama is a good thing. Just this week, House lawmakers declined to vote on legislation by Rep. Jack Williams that would have forced the companies to operate under greater state supervision. Legislators’ responses to the bill were mixed, according to reporters at the hearing, ranging from concerns over sexual assaults of passengers to the low proposed registration fee. That may not be surprising, since the public is reporting mixed views on ridesharing. Uber and Lyft are mobile-app based ridesharing networks. In a nutshell, they provide passengers who need a ride with a driver able to provide it. Passengers can use a smartphone to schedule a ride alone or to arrange to share with several strangers headed the same way. Riders in major cities worldwide are already using the service. Though both companies are privately-owned and not required to issue financial projections, Uber is projected to earn upward of $10B in 2015; Lyft is expected to generate $1B in revenue. Uber has already made several attempts to break into Alabama markets: Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Birmingham and Auburn. Last year, Uber launched a social media campaign to rally supporters in Birmingham to the idea and block the city’s attempt to add regulations to their model. Hundreds of tweets using the hashtag #BirminghamNeedsUber showed overall support from would-be passengers. Birmingham resident Amanda Watkins tweeted “Friends in Alabama: If you want to have a good time in Birmingham and a safe ride home, then support @Uber! #BirminghamNeedsUber” In Wednesday’s hearing, Hoover City Council member John Lyda reportedly said that he was in favor of bring the model to the state, saying it would bring “choice and competition” to his residents. Former driver Harry Poole said, “When I was in Auburn, everybody loved Uber,” and that parents would often tell students to call Uber rather than a traditional taxi service. But some have voiced concern over Uber’s tiered approach to service. In an interview, Birmingham City Council president Johnathan Austin said that cheaper UberX version was problematic because of lower driver requirements and training: “We want Uber but With UberX you just don’t know because it’s a different model. So you could have a driver who might not have been trained, you could have a driver who does not know the city.” The company maintains that its insurance and training requirements help to ensure passenger safety. “All uberX rides are insured up to $1M per incident–twice what is required of taxicabs in Birmingham,” Uber officials said in that same story. “Drivers must pass rigorous background checks at the county, state and federal level before they are ever allowed access to the technology.” Despite the company’s assurances, there have been several reports alleging driver misconduct in Alabama and nationwide. The company’s launch in Tuscaloosa quickly devolved into a fight with city officials over ordinances that govern taxi services. Soon after that, an Uber driver was caught in an undercover sting and charged with ordinance violations along with several drug and alcohol offences. Uber and Lyft have also been the subject of lawsuits by passengers, with allegations including negligent driving, assault, and sexual assault. In fact, Birmingham City Councilor Kim Rafferty cited concerns over passenger safety in a leaked email exchange with Mayor Walt Maddox. In her email, Rafferty suggested the formation of an ad-hoc committee to work with ridesharing companies in and out of the state on a model that meets regulatory and safety concerns. “Change in the on-demand for hire transportation industry is coming,” she said. “We need to be not just prepared but proactive.” No vote from lawmakers on Wednesday could mean that – for good or ill – change is unlikely to come to Alabama in this legislative session. In the interim, Uber has taken another approach to attracting local fans. The Uber in Alabama Twitter accounted tweeted on Friday, “Though regulations prevent us from connecting you with rides in #Birmingham, we can still connect you with giving” with a link to have an Uber driver pick up donations and drop them off at a Goodwill center in Birmingham.
