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."
Mike Ashburn (Credit - unknown photo of Mike Ashburn from web - Fair Use for non-profit news reporting) Mr. Ashburn will replace current Jackson County Chair Matthew Hodges on October 1, 2017 Mr. Ashburn is currently the Director of the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency
Current Chair Matthew Hodges recently resigned due to taking a full time job in Huntsville, Al. Mr. Hodges resignation date will be September 30, 2017.
Jackson County Commission Chair Matthew Hodges - photo by G. Morgan
Today a letter of Resignation from the Jackson County Commission Chair, Matthew Hodges, was submitted to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, effective date September 30, 2017. Governor Ivey is expected to appoint a Chair to the Commission shortly after Mr. Hodges resignation.
Jackson County Commission Chair Matthew Hodges addresses citizens at the Bridgeport Community Center regarding a request to annex parts of County Road 75 into Bridgeport. Photo by G. Morgan
Jackson County Commission Chair and Second Job - Options
Jackson County Commission Chair seeks options regarding his second job and elected position. Commissioners have mixed emotions about the situation. Will an Attorney Generals opinion be forthcoming? What do the commissioners have to say about Mr. Hodges' actions? One Commissioner did state that he thought Mr. Hodges' actions brings discredit to the commission. The full Jackson County Commission will have to vote on the issue and decide what question(s) to send to the Alabama Attorney General. Mr. Hodges declined an opportunity for a video interview at his office earlier in the day regarding this issue.
Alabama Ethics Laws Handbook for Public Officials may be found at - http://ethics.alabama.gov/docs/GuidelinesPublicOfficialsEmployees7-2012.pdf The Conflict of Interest law has this to say - Section 36-25-1 states: "(8) CONFLICT OF INTEREST. "A conflict of interest involves any action, inaction, or decision by a public official or public employee in the discharge of his or her official duties which would materially affect his or her financial interest..." His failing to fulfil his full time commitment as an elected official ("Section 8 ...Chairman of the board shall be required to give his entire time and attention to the business of the board...") while employed in another full time job, in my opinion, may be a conflict of interest. Mr. Hodges as the Chair of the Commission is the decision maker, him taking off of work for a financial gain at another job reeks of a conflict of interest.
Video of Citizen's Listening Session About Expansion of Bridgeport City Limits
Scottsboro, Alabama March 21, 2014 at the Jackson County Courthouse. Interview with Commission Chairman Matthew Hodges.
Questions for this interview were provided to Mr. Hodges 24 hours prior to the interview.
The interview - video below.
3-21-2014 –
Matthew Hodges Interview, Chairman of the Jackson County Commission
Intro: I'm Garry Morgan of
"In the Boro" of Google Blogger at arklite.blogspot.com; I'm with
Matthew Hodges, Chairman of the Jackson County Commission and this is a video
interview with Mr. Hodges about his thoughts on challenges, accomplishments
while he has been in office, and questions about the $225,000 transfer of TVA
in lieu of taxes from the Discretionary Fund to the Jackson County Legislative
Delegation Building Fund. There are eight questions in this interview which
were provided to Mr. Hodges yesterday afternoon.
Thank you for taking the
time out of your busy schedule for this video interview.
1) Mr. Hodges how long
have you been in office now as the commission chairman?
2) What do you think is the
biggest challenge facing the Jackson County Commission at this point?
3) What do you think are
your largest accomplishments since being elected as commission chairman?
Let’s discuss the fund
transfer of $225,000 from the TVA in lieu of tax Discretionary Fund to the
Legislative Delegation's Office Account.
4) The vote to transfer
$225,000 of the TVA in lieu of tax from the Discretionary Fund to the
Legislative Delegation's Office Account was 4 votes for the transfer, 2 votes
against the transfer. All members of the legislative delegationand you voted for the fund transfer, Mr.
Crawford and Mr. Ledwell voted no. Why did you vote to approve the transfer of
funds from the TVA in lieu of tax Discretionary Fund to the Legislative Delegations
Building Fund in the amount of $225,000?
5) Did you have any prior
knowledge of how the $225,000 would be utilized?
6) Is there any truth to
rumors that you knew that the $225K was going to be utilized to purchase the
current building the delegation uses instead of remodeling the previous
purchased building?
7) Did any member of the
current legislative delegation or private party suggest to you that it would be
beneficial for you to support the transfer of the $225,000?
8) Do you have anything
that you would like to add?
Thank you Mr. Hodges for
taking your time for this discussion.
One chapter ends as another one begins; Mr. Matthew Hodges resigns to take his new position as the Jackson County Commission Chairman.
City Council President Patrick Stewart presents Matthew Hodges an award of Distinguished Service for his dedication and professionalism as a Scottsboro City Councilman for 10 years. Matthew Hodges was the youngest city councilman at 18 years of age in Alabama at the time of his election. Patrick Stewart was elected as Council President last week at the organizational meeting of the new city council.
President Pro Tem of the Scottsboro City Council Matthew Hodges. (The pro tem of the council assumes the role of Council President in the event of the absence of the President.) What do you think is the Scottsboro City Council's #1 priority for 2008? " Bring local industry and business into Scottsboro. I think we can do a better job of strongly vocalizing this need for the citizens of Scottsboro."
Mr. Hodges expressed the need for all departments within the City of Scottsboro to work together in the absence of the Mayor. Mr. Hodges Biography, http://www.cityofscottsboro.com , click on the Mayor/Council heading then the Council members name, the biography area will not link .
I will be listing the answers of the council members in the next couple of days. Council members are welcome to add their comments.
Facebook has permanently suspended my account, CENSORED, for telling the truth about Donald Trump's criminal history and disclosing facts about racial discrimination in Scottsboro and our nation. Garry Morgan : 03/15/2025
Copyright Info
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
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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.
