WHERE HELL WERE YOU?

June 19, 2020

Fairhope is closing in on another municipal election so get ready for CATALYST and the ill informed to try and convince voters that they know best.

The latest issue is the plan for the waterfront, pier and parks at the bay. The funding comes from the BP oil spill in 2010. The cycle for funding and approval took years and grants were very specific outlining the scope of work.

The last three years the waterfront project has been on the table. The City of Fairhope advertised meetings, encouraged public engagement and was transparent through the entire project.

This article has a paywall, free copies are at news stands.

Now just before the elections a few people that did NOT attend meetings, were NOT aware of what the city was proposing, and never voiced any concern, want to kill a 6.2 million dollar grant.

Competing articles in this weeks Lagniappe by Mr Howell Raines and Mayor Wilson discuss the project.

Mr. Raines is a former executive editor of the New York Times and a commentator for MSMBC news. He is the author of the book “My Soul is Reset” An oral history of the civil rights movement.

This article also has a paywall

Mr Raines is what Councilman Boone and Brown have publicly called “carpetbagger”, both men are also CATALYST and have used their office for personal gain.

Where were you Mr Raines while this obvious corruption was going on?

Where were you Mr. Raines when Boone Brown and Burrell bought $2.65 million of farmland for recreation?

Mr Raines did you know that the main reason that the recreation property was located at the airport?

It might shock you to know that this decision by 3 councilmen was based on race. That’s right the original location was close to the black neighborhood and they did not want that to happen.

Why do you not write about that?

These are the men you support?

Where were you during these discussions.

Your hair is on fire over a waterfront project?

What about the systemic corruption? Where were you during sewer infrastructure discussions that the council delayed time and time again?

Where were you when the bought the K1 center without any plan and then had to put a roof on the condemned building, costing tens of thousands?

Where were you when the council tried to give away the triangle property that cost the city 11.25 million, it is a park, where is your anger?

Where were you when the council defeated a change of government?

They did not want a change of government because they would lose “POWER”, over their own constituents.

Where were you when Public Participation was canceled?

Where were you during the Federal Lawsuit against the council for denying citizens to speak at a city council meeting?

They lost that lawsuit and now the same lawsuit is used a precedent in similar cases around the U.S.

Your comments display a true ignorance of Fairhope politics. Sir Baldwin County is a cesspool of political corruption and Fairhope is home to CATALYST.

Mr. Rains where the hell have you been, New York?

Mr. Rains may I suggest that you read the Ripp Report, https://rippreport.com/, go back to 2016 and read the articles forward. Educate yourself before inserting your feet in your mouth. CATALYST will love you for the support but they will stab you in the back in an instant.

Constructive criticism is welcomed by the Mayor and staff. This is not a final deal the city has more public participation planned for this project. That is the forum you should have used.

This is all political and I am sure with a little research we will find CATALYST nibbling on your “carpetbag” ear, their words not mine.

You mention Fly Creek as if were a problem for a few. Where were you when the previous Mayor shoved the Fly Creek apartments down the citizens throat in favor of his developer contributor? Hundreds showed up where were you, New York? The development filled Fly Creek with mud and now the Fly Creek Basin needs dredging annually.

Where the Hell were you?

Where were you when it was discovered that the council voted themselves full family insurance and a raise.

Let me leave you with a little known fact. Mayor Wilson refused to take two paychecks, like the former Mayor, from the city. One as Mayor and one as utility director, she felt that was wrong. That is what you call a public servant, she sacrificed over 250,000 dollars in salary over 4 years, while the council took out full family insurance, that no one else employed in the city has.