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Mayor's letter on alcohol issue Dear Citizens of Thomasville: In my entire political career encompassing over 16 years of service on the council and as mayor; I remember responding to stories or comments in the newspaper only 2 times. I did not sleep at all last night due to the fact I was so troubled by some the comments and advertisements made by CAAST in recent newspapers. Last week I chose to remain silent because I hoped the comments and the misrepresentation of facts were a mistake or a misunderstanding. However, as I read today's Thomasville Times there seems to be a deliberate attempt by someone in leadership at CAAST to give a totally false representation of several issues involving what is legally allowed by the Alcohol Control Ordinance as well as to smear my good name and leadership ability in the managing of Thomasville's finances. I would like to respond. I have tried to stay on the sidelines of this issue and let the people of Thomasville make up their minds on their own about this issue. However, I cannot sit by and let either side be untruthful with you the citizens. You deserve the facts so that you can make an informed and educated decision before Aug. 14th. 1) The Leadership of CAAST has not played fair with the citizens and the good Christian people who gave them money. (Many of which are elderly on fixed incomes) According to the Alabama Secretary of State's office and the Clarke County Probate Judge, CAAST is an illegal entity at this point because they have not complied with the state and federal laws regarding the operation of a Political Action Committee-PAC. As reported in the Clarke County Democrat and Thomasville Times, they have not filed the appropriate paperwork to be legal. That is a violation of the state and federal fair campaign practices act and someone could go to jail and be fined up to 3 times of the contributions received by their campaign. This process is nothing new. During the wet/dry voting in Jackson and Monroeville both sides of the issue met those basic requirements and were legal. What is puzzling to me is; even if this was an oversight; CAAST has now had over 2 weeks since this was discovered to correct the matter and as of this writing they have not made any known attempt to do so. It is one thing to violate the law and not know it ; once you know it and don't correct the situation it is deliberate. One reason for this law is to make sure the public knows who is contributing to the CAAST organization, how the money is being spent and who is responsible for operating the organization. Since CAAST has not filed these important reports, no one has public access to any of this information and it gives the appearance of "back room politics". Who is really making the decisions for CAAST? Do they even live in Thomasville? Who is giving them the 10's of Thousands of dollars to run all those ads? Could it be out of county folks that don't want to loose sales in their business? We may never know because CAAST has illegally withheld this information from the state and federal government and most importantly from you the citizens of Thomasville. 2) CAAST has advertised that strip clubs and adult entertainment would be allowed in Thomasville. The leadership of CAAST was at every city council meeting in which the alcohol control ordinance and the zoning ordinance were discussed, they know good and well that ALL forms of adult entertainment are strictly banned in the entire city limits. See zoning ordinance passed in November 2006 in the chart section that specifies every use that is allowed in the city and what zone(s) it is allowed in. On page 44 of that section under adult entertainment it states in overly bold letters "not allowed in any district". A definition of Adult entertainment is listed in section 6.2 of Article VI of the Zoning ordinance. CAAST was told in these meetings as well as others that the Zoning ordinance and Alcohol Control ordinance would work hand in hand to make sure that Adult entertainment of any type would never be allowed in Thomasville. The City council made a promise in the beginning of this wet/dry debate that we would not allow an election until the appropriate ordinances were in place to govern alcohol sales and restrict any other unwanted activities. WE kept our promise. CAAST's Leadership got copies of every revision made to these ordinances and got a final copy the night of passage. Why would CAAST intentionally mislead the good people of Thomasville in their advertisements? Don't they know that this is violation of another law called the "truth in advertising law" as well as a violation of the fair campaign practices law? Maybe someone else outside CAAST leadership team is calling the shots. We may never know; due to the fact that CAAST has not filed their required reports with the state and federal government. 3) CAAST has led the good people of Thomasville to believe that Alcohol could be sold within 300ft. of our school children. Again this is not true. All of our K-12 schools and most of our churches and day care facilities are located in designated residential areas and the new zoning ordinance does not allow .any.... business to be located in a residential area whether they sell alcohol or not. CAAST attended all our meetings in which this was discussed and they know that the original footage specified in the first draft of the ordinance was 200ft. (the same as virtually every community in the state) After much discussion and input from the CAAST leadership the council raised this to 300ft. which is the greatest distance in any ordinance in the state according to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board Agents in attendance. 4) CAAST has continually questioned the legality of actions of our city council for the last year and a half. We have been accused of using "smoke and mirrors" but, I know of no way we could have been more public. The council has been accused of delaying the election process. Our actions have been open, honest, and legal. CAAST itself caused a ten week delay because they questioned the legal number of signatures the council was using for the petitions. We were following the law. We even sought legal council from the Alabama League of Municipalities attorneys who confirmed our opinion. That was not good enough for CAAST. CAAST then asked the City Council to seek an Attorney Generals opinion on the issue and we granted that request even though we knew we were legally right. We all know what the Attorney General said and we all know that this election process could have been over 3 months ago. Isn't it ironic how CAAST constantly questioned the city's legal authority and the interpretation of law at every turn only to learn CAAST themselves has been violating the laws of the state and federal government the whole time. 5) CAAST has insinuated in some of their advertisements that the city needs to be more fiscally accountable. I have no problem in telling anyone that we are always looking for ways to be more efficient and I am sure we will continue to find ways we can do a better job but, as a city we have increased accountability tremendously since I have been mayor. We installed a purchase order system and budget system that tracks every expenditure in every department. We look at numbers every day and our department heads will tell you that they are held accountable for any purchase. The mayor and city clerk are responsible for submitting budgets and the council votes on them. We are responsible for the management of all the cities monies and the city's good credit. I think our record of accomplishments over the years speaks for itself. I would hope that the good people of Thomasville know by now that we have made incredible improvements to Thomasville in the last 11 years that I have been Mayor. a) We have put in over 25 miles of new water lines and built water storage for over 4 million gallons of additional capacity. Does any one remember red water? Ruining white clothes? We fixed it but it cost millions of dollars to do it. Remember water restrictions and shortages? Those new tanks took care of most of those problems. b) Our schools and our recreation program and facilities have always been a source of great pride and crown jewels for our city. We have financed the construction of the Middle School addition, Elementary School Kindergarten wing, Elementary multi-purpose building, New Football stadium and track complex, Baseball field improvements at the Thomasville high school field and Tucker field, built a new girls 3 field softball complex, upgraded facilities at Gates Drive Park, added batting cages at Gates Drive and Tucker Facilities. We have done a complete upgrade of McFadden Park with landscaping and a new pavilion. Our city recreation crews began all the grounds keeping duties at all the schools back during proration so that the monies the schools spent on those services could be put back into the classroom. We continue that today. c) We have done millions of dollars of renovation downtown that has spurred over $10 million in private investment in our city. We have landscaped areas of US 43 and about to do a project on 154 near Johnson's Shopping Center. D) We have installed new sidewalks on MILK from 154 to McFadden Park and on Old Hwy 5. e) We have started construction of the new civic center with revenues generated by separate taxes passed for that project. f) We have bought over $2 million in advance firefighting equipment to better protect our citizens. g) We have bought over 180 acres of property for the new south industrial park and began the process of installing roads, water, and sewer lines into it. We now have over $60 million worth of projects ready to enter that park in the next year and a park that is preparing us to lure additional industry. h) We have upgraded all of our sewer lift stations and sewer lagoon system requiring over $1.5 Million of work and property. I) we have greatly expanded our grass cutting and trimming of the right of ways and added landscaped entrance signage. This is a short list of the major items we have accomplished in 10 years. We have done many other small projects along with investing heavily in our economic development efforts. Many of these projects were funded in part by over $20 million in grants that we have gotten from Washington and Montgomery. Grants don't just fall out of the sky we have worked and fought very hard to get these grants and the city must have the matching monies available before any of these grants can be used. We have managed our finances well in having large amounts of cash available to match these grants. We have done all of this and what does the financial folks in New York say about Thomasville and it finances. When we sold the bonds for the civic center project in the last 2 weeks they said this: Thomasville is one of the best run little city's that we come across. The insuring agencies in New York gave us an AAA credit rating, (the highest you can get) after reviewing the last 4 years financial records and audits. Projects don't just happen. We must plan them and find a way to pay for them. Due to rapidly rising operating costs the city cannot continue to fund additional projects over and above our normal operating expenses. We will continue to manage our funds to maximize the use of grants and other monies to get as many projects accomplished as possible. Without additional revenue some projects will not get done. Why not use money for alcohol use that is already present in our city? This will not be a tax increase on anyone. Would CAAST prefer that we not allow the Library Board to pursue a long term plan for a new library that will house a large high tech computer lab so that children and adults who cannot afford a computer at home will have greater access to these needed services? Would CAAST not want us to pursue the restoration of the drainage system in the Martin Luther King and Sixth Alley area along with street and sidewalk improvements that are so badly needed? It is estimated that it will cost $2 million to do this total project. Do they want us to cut this project? Would CAAST not want us to spend additional monies to implement a long term strategy for continual improvement of our schools and recreational facilities so that we can be prepared for future growth and offer greater opportunities to our children and their families? Would CAAST not want us to continue the improvements made in Downtown and other areas so that we can continue to restore the historic areas of our community? Would CAAST prefer to step up, endorse, and actively campaign for a property tax hike to help fund future projects in the place of potential Alcohol revenue? Would CAAST just prefer that we DO NOTHING .instead of take alcohol taxes on alcohol that is already being consumed here? I could go on and on. I guess I have just had it with the deception - real and perceived - during this whole process. I love this town and the people in it. I have always been taught to shoot straight with people. I would never do anything intentionally to hurt this city. I came back to my hometown to make a difference and I am proud of what we have done together to make our city a better place. I respect criticism and I will stand up and admit when I am wrong. I just cannot tolerate people who deliberately want to tear down another person. This letter is not meant to be directed to any one person but it is directed to the leadership of CAAST the "organization" who in my opinion have failed their contributors. I don't think anyone who gave money to this group ever dreamed they would be taking part in the illegal and deceitful behavior of a few of their leaders. I think CAAST owes each person who has supported them an explanation and if nothing else a refund and an apology. After looking at all the facts, after talking to the leaders in wet communities all over the state, after giving tours of Thomasville with CEO's of major company's who are shocked that a "very progressive community like Thomasville is not open to the legal use of alcohol" and understanding that their view of Thomasville has been negatively effected by that; after realizing that many of the potential new businesses and the growth of existing businesses in Thomasville will be lost or the chances for growth will be damaged by a no vote; and as a Mayor who takes very seriously his role in the long term economic health and growth of our community; I will VOTE YES on August 14th.
I do not advocate nor encourage the use of alcohol. However, I do "not" think that the responsible use of it by legal aged adults within the law is a sin. If it is then it is not my place to judge them. God knows my heart and he knows my faults. I just hope that some how people in this city will allow God to do the judging from now on and hope that we all can do some forgiving after this election.
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