Alternative news and discussion for Scottsboro, Jackson County Alabama and the Tennessee River Valley as I see it. Responsible comments to articles welcome. As always, "Watch for Snakes," particularly those wearing suits.
JAMES MADISON QUOTE - 1822
"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."
Photo by J.Holt, Facebook, Fair Use for non-profit news reporting
Scottsboro, Alabama Jackson County Courthouse, February 23, 2015. Hot Topics - Citizen Complains of Dogs, Roads and Prisoner Health Care. March meetings will take place at the Courthouse, Time 4:30PM
Fair Use Rights - non-profit use for news reporting, photographer unknown
Scottsboro Department Heads and Annual Salary
Mayor Melton Potter supervises all city department heads, Mayor Potters salary - $74,000
The City Council approves the hiring and firing of 3 positions, City Attorney, City Clerk, Police Chief. Most to least pay is listed in order per Mayor Potter on February 23, 2015 based on city financial data.
Finance and Accounting - Mr. Rick Wheeler - $77,868.00
Public Works Department (Streets &Solid Waste) - Mr. Eddie Blizzard - $77,568,00
City Engineer/Planner - Mr. Josh Little - $71,508.00
City Clerk - Ms. Whitney Phillips - $71,000.00
Police Department, City Jail and Animal Control - Chief Ralph Dawe - $69,168.00
Parks & Recreation - Ms. Yvonne Yockel - $68,844.00
Human Resources - Ms. Erin Dixon - $66,000.00
Fire & Rescue - Chief Gene Nicklaus - $65,000.00
City Attorney - Mr. Steve Kennamer, Esq. - $63,600.00
City Maintenance Department - Mr. Chad Green - $55,000.00
Airport, Word Field - Mr. Don (Ty) Towery - $50,820.00
Cemetery Department - Mr. Benny Bell - $49,324.00
I.T. Department - Mr. Clint Sebring - (start) $45,000, increase to $50,000.00 after 6 months
Scottsboro Municipal Court - Hon. James Mick - $24,000.00
City Council pay per month - President - $975.00; President pro tem - $950.00
Council Member - $925.00
Discretionary Funds - City Council - $5000.00 for the council; Mayor - $5000.00
AGENDA
Current Council Agenda
New Business:
1. Consider Resolution 2015-01-07: Reallocation of RZED Money - approved
3. Announce Tree Commission Appointments - Ms. Arlene Greeb, Jason Shelton
4. Announce Personnel Board Appointments - Mr. Kelly Goodowens, Ms. Nora Sebring Reports: Council President - Patrick Stewart: This week is Arbor Week in Alabama. March 2, 2015 there will be a combined work session and regular meeting of the City Council; there will be no meeting on March 9, 2015
Ribbon Cutting - Friday, February 27th at 11:00 AM. This event will take place at the Ben Sanford Boys and Girls Club. Everyone is invited to attend. For more information contact James Allen at 256-259-3405.
The Jackson County Commission held its work session this week at the Paint Rock Community Center, 6 local citizens were in attendance. Topics such as streets and Fire Department issues were discussed.
There was one item on the agenda, discussion of the alcohol beverage ordinance. Council Member Brent Miller commented to me after the meeting that there were 18 ordinances which needed to be consolidated. The issue will be presented to the Jackson County Alabama Legislative Delegation to be placed on the current State Legislative Session Agenda.
"As provided by the TVA Act and the TVA Bylaws, the principal responsibilities of the Board are to establish the broad strategies, goals, and objectives, long-range plans, and policies of TVA and to ensure that those are achieved by the TVA staff led by the Chief Executive Officer. Each Director takes an oath to faithfully and impartially perform the duties of office. Directors serve part-time."
February 12, 2015, TVA Board of Directors Meeting at Chattanooga, Tn. Listening session presentations by BREDL/BEST/MATRR members Sandy Kurtz and Garry Morgan.
February 12, 2015, TVA Board of Directors 1st Quarter 2015 Meeting at Chattanooga, Tn. Finance Report by CFO John Thomas,
February 12, 2015, TVA Board of Directors 1st Quarter 2015 Meeting at Chattanooga, Tn. Presidents Report by Bill Johnson. Engineer of the Year Award - Jeff Phillips.
Fair Use rights for all photographs usage - not for profit news reporting. Photographer listed where known.
"Photo by Hank Allen - Fair use for non-profit news reporting.)
B.B. Comer Bridge by John Warr Fair Use for non-profit news reporting.
(photo by G. Morgan)
Now we move to visions of what could be on the river - how does the area's business and political leadership bring vision and planning for our future? There is considerable valuable public land in the area. Running along the river bank north and south of the river's western bank; Scottsboro owns the "Public Purpose Property" on Dock Street extending to the Tennessee River. What a nice place to be developed into a park with a restaurant. This would coincide with the National Trust for Historic Places planning a trail from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Huntsville, Alabama.
A river side restaurant built like an old steamboat.
All sorts of possibilities exist.
Other possibilities for a park
The end, no vision, no planning, continuing depopulation of Jackson County. Ecological Tourism via a sound business plan and program of development will net jobs and additional tax revenue.
The Scottsboro City Council voted down the B.B. Comer Bridge Preservation Project/Tourism Authority (7min 10sec in the full city council video) . There was no business plan submitted to support the economic impact of the tourism project. Sunday alcohol sales was passed, the issue will now proceed to the State Legislature via the Jackson County Legislative Delegation for submission during the current legislative session for approval.
Tuesday, 3 Feruary the Redevelopment Authority was supposed to meet at 5PM in the Scottsboro City Hall, however City Hall was closed, the meeting was moved to Deborah Light's business location Veranda Catering.
Original photograph owned by Garry Morgan, earliest known photo of First Monday, known at that time as Horse Swappers Day or as the Asheville Postcard Company Proof stated, "Jockey Day in Scottsboro, Alabama."
All Rights Reserved for writings, video, photographs and art by Garry L. Morgan.
U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Rule: "Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, nonprofit educational purposes and research. Link: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
Total "In the Boro" Pageviews
Scottsboro Police Department Web Site
""The police are the public, the public are the police. The police are the only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties that are incumbent on every citizen in the interest to community welfare and existence." - Sir Robert Peel, 1829 https://www.scottsboropd.org/
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Click on image to learn more.
THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
"I can say with confidence that the federal government needs a major overhaul. Don’t get me wrong, most public servants in government are highly educated and dedicated professionals who are committed to “the greater good.” At the same time, the government has become a bloated bureaucracy that is based on past conditions and in too many cases, federal programs and policies can’t demonstrate that they are generating real results that benefit the American people."
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David Walker President and CEO The Peter G. Peterson Foundation http://www.pgpf.org/ ; former, recently served for 10 years, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
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NPR's story on David Walker: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124460237
"public intelligence"
"What is Public Intelligence? Public Intelligence is an international, collaborative research project aimed at aggregating the collective work of independent researchers around the globe who wish to defend the public’s right to access information." http://publicintelligence.net/
A Nuclear Engineer's Report on the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant
Danger Zone: Aging Nuclear Reactors
Incident at Browns Ferry (PBS 1977)
History of nuclear power safety issues which the 1975 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant fire brought forward. This video has been censored by the nuclear industry. The trillion dollar multinational nuclear death industry prefers to keep you the citizen in the dark and feed you crap.
Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. Click on image for a tour. Left click & hold mouse to move image.
Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team/Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation http://www.matrr.org/
"TVA at the Crossroads" a SACE Film.
"America is at an energy crossroads and the Tennessee Valley Authority has a choice to make: Will it cling to old coal power because of its historic significance or will it retire its oldest, dirtiest and least efficient plants and lead America into a clean energy future?" TVA At The Crossroads from SACE.
****************************I'm GARRY MORGAN, a Christian, U.S. Army (AMEDD) retired, Race Relations/Equal Opportunity Specialist (U.S.Army, Retired DOD-DRRI-DEOMI) a citizen of Scottsboro Alabama, a Baylor University grad-Go Bears, a political activist and a political Independent as I believe political parties divide the citizenry whom they are suppose to represent. We must learn the lessons of our history or we will surely repeat our mistakes. I think the greatest problem facing our nation is the massive national and personal debt.
