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Speakers
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Written by Ralph Weber
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Wednesday, 08 May 2013 00:00 |
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Please join the TVRC for our monthly Breakfast
in Madison at the Port O'Madison Restaurant at the
Best Western Plus Madison-Huntsville Hotel (map)
9035 Madison Boulevard, Madison, Alabama 35758
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Coffee, Talk, and Breakfast Buffet at 8 - 9 AM
Speakers and More Talk at 9 AM
Come early - we sometimes start before 9 AM to accommodate our speakers.
We finish by 10 AM. The optional breakfast buffet is $11 and very good, $2 for coffee only.
Join the TVRC - just attend a meeting.
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TVRC May Program
Mary Scott Hunter, Alabama State School Board, District 8
Nominations for TVRC board of directors
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 May 2013 18:22 |
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Written by Ralph Weber
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Tuesday, 04 September 2012 05:35 |
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Our Program for September 8th
If you want to be part of one of our future programs or if you have a suggestion, please contact our program director, David Smith, at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 256-617-2039.
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Written by Ralph Weber
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Saturday, 11 August 2012 14:18 |
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Municipal Elections, August 28
We have important municipal elections on August 28. These are non partisan, although there are some good Republicans running, you will not see any party identification on the ballot. Also, there are no write-in's and unopposed candidates will win and will not even appear on the ballot.
In the city of Madison, the office of mayor and all seven seats on the city council are up for election. In Huntsville, the office of mayor, two of five city council seats (districts 1 and 5), and two of five seats on the Huntsville Board of Education (1,5) are up for election.
Madison Mayor Paul Finley is not seeking reelection. Incumbent councilmen Steve Haraway (2), Jerry Jennings (3), and Tom Cowles (4) are not running for reelection.
Here are the Madison races:
Madison city council district 5: Tommy Overcash (unopposed de facto winner)
Here are the Huntsville races:
Huntsville Mayor: Tommy Battle, Jackie Reed, Loretta Spencer.
Huntsville city council district 1: Richard Showers, Gene Perry
Huntsville city council district 5: Will Culver (unopposed de facto winner)
Story on Huntsville school board races. |
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Candidate for Mayor of Madison by Don Palmer
I am running for the office of Mayor of Madison for two reasons:
1. Civic duty as Madison resident for 12 years and ongoing participation in helping the City grow.
2. Qualification as an experienced business executive to help the City continue to grow in prosperity.
I have been a resident since 2000, experiencing unprecedented changes that have made Madison the fastest growing city in Alabama. Most of the changes were good, but the rapid expansion of households has placed a stress on schools, roads and commuting times. Taxes have been raised, schools redistricted, the city unable to further expand beyond its thirty-square-mile borders, currently zoned 60% residential, 20% agriculture and 20% business/manufacturing – a challenging mix in maintaining fiscal viability.
The current administration has commissioned a growth plan to address the future revenue needs of our rapidly growing city in an effort to offset the rising costs of administering to a dramatically increasing resident population. The next mayor will lead the effort to prioritize and activate the growth plan to ensure continued financial sustainability.
The challenges are great and I am prepared and dedicated to meet them. I believe my military experience and CEO level background in executive management involving the planning and directing of multi-million-dollar budgets will provide the sound leadership needed to move the city forward to achieve citizen-friendly prosperity. Together with my wife, daughter, son and granddaughter – who all reside in Madison – I have a personal stake to help maintain the highest level of quality of life and education that define our great community. I look forward to serving the citizens of Madison as the city’s new Mayor on November 12th following the August 28th municipal election. Please cast your vote for “Don Palmer” and proven leadership. Don Palmer, Candidate Mayor of Madison
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Candidate for Madison City Council District 3 by D. J. Klein
D. J. Klein has announced his candidacy for Madison City Council, representing District 3. DJ has been a resident of Madison since 1998, and is a 2002 graduate of Bob Jones High School. Klein holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Athens State University and is currently employed by LMI as a consultant. D.J. is a veteran of the United States Air Force and Army Reserves. He became an active volunteer in Madison and is a current member of the Madison Rotary Club.
Klein's decision to run for City Council is based on his belief that civic involvement and engagement is crucial at this stage in the growth of the City of Madison. He states, "The fast paced growth of Madison over the last decade, has created tremendous opportunities and challenges to our community. I will be able to tackle these issues by engaging the community I will serve in a collaborative way. By doing this, we as a District, and as a City will be able to move Madison forward into the future together."
Road improvements, continued economic development, and sustainability of our successful school system are his top three priorities. "Madison offers an unparalleled quality of life to its residents, from its green space, recreation, and educational opportunities that abound throughout the community. It is paramount that we as a community continue to grow at a controlled and planned manner, with a focus on the future generations that will benefit from the success of Madison. I want to serve my District, and help lead our City toward the future."
Candidate for Madison City Council District 7 by Sheila McFerran
Sheila King McFerran was born and educated in Dublin, and has lived in Madison/Morgan county since 1980. Sheila is married to Joe Shelley, former President/CEO of The Huntsville Museum of Art, and they have six grown children. She currently serves as Director/Program Development for Still Serving Veterans, a veterans support organization that assists transitioning veterans find jobs and secure their earned benefits..
Sheila wants your vote in District 7 on August 28th for the following reasons.
- Committed to be the voice of the people and asks to be the choice of the people in district 7.
- 25 years of servant leadership fulfilling the critical need of communication with her district and listening to the people.
- Executive corporate and non-profit leader working full-time, raising 4 children and volunteering in many capacities throughout the City of Madison.
- Excellent communicator and collaborator who understands the importance of teamwork and innovative ideas on generating revenue for the city.
In 2009, Sheila received an outstanding award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts as one of 50 artists in the State that has made a significant difference in the lives of our residents and the first to bring Irish step dancing to the state. She was recognized as a “Women of Distinction” by the International Society of Birmingham in 2010.
Sheila’s enthusiasm and “can-do” attitude is reflected in everything she does!
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Richard Showers and Chris Messervy … What Do They Have in Common? by Thomas Scovill
In May of this year, Chris Messervy was disqualified from the Republican nomination for Madison County district court judge. Perhaps, in his 2008 election for district 1 of the Huntsville city council, Richard Showers should have been disqualified as well. The Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act ( Section 17-5-18) says one cannot be elected or nominated if the person has failed to file required campaign finance reports. The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the law in 2008, however it ruled that late preelection reports are OK as long as they are submitted before the election. Messervy was disqualified because he submitted a last before-the-election campaign finance report on election day. The report due on March 9 was not submitted until March 13, voters were denied campaign finance information to which they were entitled, and a momentary victory was taken away because receipts and expenditures of $5,751 during the last week before the election were reported one day late.
Showers is a long serving Huntsville city councilman. In 2008, he submitted his last-before-the-election campaign finance report on the day before the August 26 election. This was four days late but not necessarily disqualifying … unless the report was defective in some significant way. And in this case perhaps it was.
The report in question showed an end of reporting period balance of $26,240.34. This is a rather large balance with which to end a campaign in which the candidate had collected over $51,000 in contributions. And as it turns out it was a very incorrect amount.
Contrary to law, after August 25, 2008, Showers did not do much with his campaign finance reports until late in 2011 as he began his campaign to be reelected on August 28, 2012. On July 19, 2012, he caught up some unfinished business by filing his 2008 annual report three and a half years late. This report was due in January 2009. If it had been filed on time, the defects in Showers’ compliance with the law could have been known early in his term, early enough to have mattered, early enough to disqualify Showers from election if appropriate.
Would disqualification of Richard Showers be or have been appropriate for his significantly flawed report of August 2008 and for filing his annual report for 2008 more than three years late?
In the late annual report for 2008, Showers revealed that $26,240.34 was not his balance on August 25, 2008. He now reports that over $10,000 of this balance was actually spent between January 2008 and before the election on August 26, 2008 and most of the rest was spent before the end of the year. At the least, this is sloppy bookkeeping. But Messervy could say the same.
In 2008, Showers spent over $37,000 before election day but reported spending only $27,000, or about 75 percent of the real amount. Is this good enough? We are not likely to find out because the passage of time is now Richard Showers’ protector.
There are other defects in Showers’ reports. For example, he reported seven expenditures totaling $5,001.64 between January and May 2008 to Campaign. These expenditure records are incomplete because the ultimate recipient of the expenditure is not identified by name and complete address. These expenditures may be legitimate, but they are improperly reported and certainly this raises the suspicion that campaign funds may have been misused.
Another curiosity is a contribution of $250 on February 23, 2012 where the contributor is identified as “anonymous by donor’s request.” Richard Showers’ does not seem to get the point the point that the whole idea behind campaign finance law is to identify who is giving money to his campaign.
At some level of incompetence cunning must be presumed. Are we there yet?
Folks have been convicted for less. You can read what happened last year to Troy Smithwick here. Maybe the rules are different north of the Tennessee River. References:
Code of Alabama, see Title 17, Chapter 5, Section 18 (17-5-18): Failure to file required statement or report. A certificate of election or nomination shall not be issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who shall fail to file any statement or report required by this chapter. A certificate of election or nomination already issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who fails to file any statement or report required by this chapter shall be revoked.
Campaign finance reports for Richard Showers:
7-9-07 45 day report, 8-25-08 5 day report, 7-19-12 annual report for 2008, 5-25-12 February 2012 monthly
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Written by Ralph Weber
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Tuesday, 07 August 2012 05:52 |
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Our August Program
Candidates for municipal office in the city of Madison will speak to us at our August meeting. The office of mayor and all seven city council seats are up for election. Candidates are listed in an article below and several of the candidates submitted articles which you can also see below.
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Written by Ralph Weber
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Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:09 |
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Our July Program
Our speakers for July are three candidates for mayor of Huntsville and two candidates for city council in Madison. Mayor Tommy Battle (above left) is seeking reelection. Former three term mayor Loretta Spencer is seeking to regain the office she lost in 2008. Jackie Reed (center) is a community activist and perennial candidate.
Devinti Williams and Steve Smith (right) are competing for city council district 2 in Madison to replace retiring councilman Jerry Jennings.
For more on city elections in Madison and Huntsville see the article in last months newsletter.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:11 |
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Copyright © 2013 TVRC. All Rights Reserved.
Tennessee Valley Republican Club, PO Box 1802, Madison AL, 35758.
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Republican Candidates
