Flotte’s Notes on
Mobile and Baldwin Politics
An Unofficial Encyclopaedia
of Mobile & Baldwin Counties
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Flotte’s Notes
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Mobile Mayor and City Council
·
The elected government of Mobile consists of a Mayor and
a seven member City Council.
o
In 1985, Mobile changed from a three-member City Council
with rotating mayoral position to its current system.
·
Municipal Elections are held every 4 years, and are
non-partisan. The last elections were held on September 13, 2005.
Mayor: Sam Jones (2005-present)
City Council
District 1: Fred
Richardson (1997-present) (Vice-President)
City Council
District 2: William
Carroll William Carroll (2005-present)
City Council
District 3: Clinton
Johnson (1985-present)
City Council
District 4: John
Williams (2007-present)
City Council
District 5: Reggie
Copeland (1985-present) (President 2001-)
City Council
District 6: Connie
Hudson (2001-present)
City Council
District 7: Gina
Gregory (2005-present)
·
Mobile City Council
District Map
·
Mobile City Organizational Chart
·
Councilman Fred Richardson created a controversy when he
wrote a letter on city stationary asking the school board to reinstate a Murphy
High student who had been expelled for videoing the assault of a Murphy teacher
·
Council
members Connie Hudson, Gina Gregory, William Carroll and John Williams voted
for a moratorium on electronic billboards. Fred Richardson, Clinton Johnson and
Reggie Copeland turned it down. The measure needed five votes to pass. The
decision was a victory for Lamar Advertising, the biggest billboard player in
·
Mobile
City Councilman Clinton Johnson wanted about $900,000 transferred to a drainage
project in his district. But Councilwoman Connie Hudson wanted more information
about the expenditure and asked to delay the vote for a week. So Johnson
decided to delay every new resolution for a week. Johnson held up votes on 11
new resolutions that covered items such as funding for emergency bridge
repairs, weed mowing and buying out flooded houses in Johnson's own district.
The City Council has to have unanimous consent from all seven members to vote
on resolutions during the first meeting they are introduced, meaning that any
council member can force a week-long delay. Council President Reggie Copeland
said was the first time he could remember that a council member delayed the
entire agenda. "I'm not acting like a kid taking his marbles and going
home," Johnson said. "I'm acting like an intelligent councilman.
Sometimes you have to give the goose what the goose gives to the gander."
– PR 4/16/08
·
There are 3
county commission districts and seats.
o District 1: Merceria Ludgood was elected Oct. 2007.
o District 2: Stephen Nodine Nodine is a former
o District 3: Mike Dean is a former
two-term state legislator and
·
Juan
Chastang, a Republican, was appointed by Gov. Riley
to the District 1 seat vacated when Sam Jones was elected mayor of
o
Under
a 1985 local law, Mobile County Commission vacancies were supposed to be filled
through special elections. In 1988, however, the Alabama Supreme Court deemed
the law unconstitutional on the grounds that it conflicted with a broader
statewide statute which gave that appointment power to the governor.
o
After
Riley named Chastang to the commission in November
2005, state Rep. Yvonne Kennedy of
o
After
giving up the District 1 seat, Chastang lost an
October special election to Democratic lawyer Merceria
Ludgood by about a 4-1 margin.
o
The
U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
overturned the lower court decision and said Chastang
"may seek reinstatement to the commission" to serve out the term
ending this November. Riley hadn't decided whether to seek to put Chastang back in the job of representing a historically
Democratic district.
o
Before
the appointment occurred, Democrats and Republicans argued in state court
whether the vacancy should be filled by special election or gubernatorial appointment.
A 1985 state law said a Mobile County Commission vacancy would be filled by
special election, but in 1988 the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that law was
unconstitutional because it conflicted with the general law that gubernatorial
appointments fill all vacancies. In
2004, the state passed a new law allowing counties to have special elections to
fill such vacancies, as long as a local law is passed to establish the
elections. When Jones left office in
2005, local Democrats argued that the 2004 law meant a special election should
be held to fill the seat, as dictated by the 1985 local law. Riley, however said the 2004 state law did
not revive the previous local law, and he still had appointment power in
o
One
of Chastang’s first major acts in office was to push
the commission to kill a plan to build a park on county-owned property on
·
Angelite
Foster, a senior citizen in public housing, signed a complaint against Fleet Belle’s
runoff opponent Levon Manzie.
Fleet followed up two days later with his own complaint against Manzie. Foster said school board attorney Frank Taylor
helped her write the filing. Taylor said that he did not write the complaint
and he has never met Foster. Taylor is a
member of the Atchison Firm, which bills over $700,000 annually for
representing the system. Two other lawyers, John White and Jim Vollmer, claimed
Foster is their client and refused to say who’s paying them. She said she received
some information about Manzie's campaign filings from
Belle's brother, who in turn put her in touch with a lawyer to write the
complaint. Donald Belle, Fleet Belle's brother and campaign chairman, said he
met Foster once at a senior citizen event at Boykin Towers. He said they talked
about the campaign some, but that he did not help her get information about Manzie or find a lawyer. He added that she is elderly and
may be attributing some things she heard from other people to him. – Holbert, Lagniappe,
6/17/08; PR 6/11/08, 6/12/08, 6/13/08, 6/27/08
o
Lawyers
with The Atchison Firm have contributed $2,250 to Belle's campaign. One lawyer
in the firm, Donald Beebe, is representing Belle's brother, William Bell, a
Bishop State Community College employee who was arrested on theft charges about
a year ago. William Bell spells his last name differently from his brothers. –
PR 6/12/08
o Mobile County schools Superintendent
Roy Nichols proposed that the system could save money by replacing The Atchison
Firm with in-house council. The board discussed the proposal during a May work
session, but Nichols pulled it from consideration before the board voted. – PR
6/12/08
o The Mobile County Education
Association asked for an investigation into allegations that Taylor, school
board attorney, may have been used to draft the complaint and has endorsed Manzie in the runoff. "I believe you owe it to the
taxpayers to make absolutely sure that no taxpayer money or resources have been
used to help Fleet overcome his abysmal record on the school board," MCEA
director Wade Perry wrote to Nichols. – PR 6/16/08
o Board president Fleet Belle was
appointed in 2006 to fill the unexpired term of former member David Thomas, who
was impeached. He is the founder and
leader of Rock of Faith Missionary Baptist Church. Lagniappe found that at
least eight liens have been filed personally against Belle since 1985, and 16
against his church and daycare. – Rob Holbert, Lagniappe, 5/18/08
·
Hazel
Fournier retired from the School Board in 2008 after serving 18 years. Fournier
was instrumental in establishing Mobile County's six elementary and middle
magnet schools in the 1980s. – PR 11/8/08
·
Detailed South Alabama
House Map
|
Yvonne
Kennedy |
Democratic |
|
1982 |
|
|
James O.
Gordon |
Democratic |
Saraland |
2006 |
|
|
James Buskey |
Democratic |
|
1976 |
|
|
Victor
Gaston |
Republican |
|
1982 |
|
|
Jamie Ison |
Republican |
|
2002 |
|
|
|
Republican |
Semmes |
2006 |
|
|
Joseph C.
Mitchell |
Democratic |
|
1994 |
|
|
Jim Barton |
Republican |
|
2006 |
|
|
Spencer
Collier |
Republican |
|
2002 |
·
Rep.
Spencer Collier (R-Irvington) now works in investigations for the law firm
Cunningham, Bounds, Yance, Crowder
& Brown LLC. – PR 2/2/08
|
Vivian
Davis Figures |
Democrat |
|
1997 |
|
|
Rusty
Glover |
Republican |
Semmes |
2006 |
|
|
Ben Brooks |
Republican |
|
2006 |
·
Rusty
Glover, Republican
o Sen.
Glover voted FOR
the 62% raise the legislature voted itself on 3/19/07
o
Sen.
Glover sponsored a Senate resolution claiming that
o
Alabama
State Legislature - Senator Rusty Glover; Project Vote Smart -
Senator Rusty Glover (AL); Follow the Money - Rusty Glover 2006
2002
campaign contributions
·
Ben Brooks, Republican, is a practicing attorney
in
o
Senator
Brooks voted no and promised to return the money from the 62% raise the
legislature voted itself on 3/19/07
o
Alabama
State Legislature - Senator Ben Brooks; Project Vote Smart -
Senator Ben Brooks (AL) profile; Follow
the Money - Ben Brooks 2006
campaign contributions
·
Vivian Davis Figures, Democrat, was elected in 1997 to serve the remaining term of her
late husband, Senator Michael A. Figures, who was the President Pro Tempore of
the Senate. She was re-elected without opposition in 1998 and 2002. Figures
received her B.S. degree in Management Science from the
o
She has announced that she running for the United States
Senate seat currently held by Republican Jeff Sessions. An August 28, 2007
Survey
o
Figures voted
for the 62% raise the legislature voted itself on 3/19/07
o
Alabama
State Legislature - Senator Vivian Davis Figures official government website Project Vote Smart -
Senator Vivian Davis Figures (AL) profile Follow the Money - Vivian
Davis Figures 2006
2002
1998
campaign contributions Vivian Davis Figures 2008 US Senate campaign website
|
Joe Faust |
Republican |
Fairhope |
2004 |
|
|
Steve
McMillan |
Republican |
Bay Minette |
1982 |
|
|
Randy Davis |
Republican |
Daphne |
2002 |
Alabama Senate District 32 (
·
Alabama
Senator Trip
Pittman was elected in 2007
·
Alabama 1st
Congressional District covers
·
Alabama
1st Congressional District Map
·
Congressman
Jo Bonner (R) was elected in 2002.
Bonner was the chief of staff for his predecessor, Sonny Callahan. He
was born in
o
In the House, Bonner has earned a consistent voting
record and has made few waves as a party loyalist. Perhaps most notable
dissention was his opposition on on-shore LNG terminals for Mobile, but went on
to propose an off-shore option for the future.
o
Jo Bonner’s Group Ratings: National
Journal: Economic: 87% Conservative, Social: 76% Conservative, Foreign: 96%
Conservative. Americans for Democratic Action: 0. American Civil Liberties Union:
0. Chamber of Commerce of the
o
U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner official Houses
site. Jo
Bonner at the Biographical Directory of the
o Congressman
Bonner received a 27% (unfavorable)
rating in 2006 from Citizens
Against Government Waste. His lifetime score is 55%.
o
Rep. Bonner was ranked #382 (of 435) in the Congressional
Power Rankings by Congress.org
o
Interview
with Rep. Bonner regarding earmarks on Fox News (YouTube)
o Bonner won a coveted seat Thursday on
the House Appropriations Committee in 2008. – PR 2/15/08
§ His appointment was opposed by
watchdog groups Citizens Against Government Waste and
Taxpayers for Common Sense. Bonner is now a co-sponsor of a resolution that
would create a committee to study avenues for earmark reform and touted his
backing for a moratorium on earmarking.
·
Former
o
Herbert Leon "Sonny"
Callahan (R), 1985-2003: Sonny Callahan
was born in 
When
retiring representative Jack Edwards requested that Callahan run for his seat
as a Republican, Callahan switched and was elected in 1984. - Wikipedia
§
When the Republicans won control of Congress in 1994,
Callahan became the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs. Callahan had voted
against numerous foreign aid bills before taking his chairman post and he
remained skeptical of foreign aid.
§
After leaving Congress, Callahan founded Sonny Callahan and Associates, a
lobbying firm that he currently heads.
§
He is an investor in the
§
Braxton Counts was also General Counsel for the Alabama
State Docks (1995-1999). Because he is the son of Linda Lee Counts, then-Gov.Fob James' first cousin and a close friend of First Lady
Bobbie James, the appointment was controversial. James also signed an agreement
to hire Counts as one of the lawyers to sue oil companies on charges that they
shorted the state on millions of dollars in severance taxes. William E. ``Ebb''
Counts, the younger brother of Braxton Counts III, was reportedly given an
extra year to fulfill a $156,000 sand-buying contract by the State Docks in
1997. Counts was a partner with Tim James in his plan
to develop Bayou La Batre. Counts
is also chairman of the board of Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
§
Thompson Engineering, engineer of record for the
o
William Jackson (Jack)
Edwards (R) 1965-1985
o
John McDuffie (D) 1919-1935. McDuffie was born in
River Ridge in
·
Senator
Jeff Sessions (R): Sessions
was born in
o
In 1986, Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship
by Reagan. The nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. One of
those voting against him was Democratic Senator Howell Heflin
o
Sessions was ranked by National Journal as the
fifth-most conservative United States Senator in 2007. Sessions serves on the
Senate Judiciary Committee
o
Sessions has taken a strong stand against any form of
citizenship for illegal immigrants. Sessions was one of the most vocal critics
of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, leading the charge to its
being tabled.
o
Sen. Sessions voted against an amendment that would have added optional
windstorm coverage to the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program –
PR 5/8/08
o
Sen. Sessions received a 81%
(favorable) rating in 2006 from Citizens
Against Government Waste. His lifetime score is 83%.
o
Sen. Session was ranked #58 in the Congressional Power
Rankings by Congress.org
o
United States Senator Jeff Sessions Website,
Jeff Sessions's biography, Jeff Sessions's voting record (Washington Post), Jeff Sessions's campaign finance reports and data (FEC), Jeff
Sessions's campaign contributions (OpenSecrets.org),
Project Vote Smart
biography, Jeff Sessions's issue positions and quotes (On The Issues), SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jeff
Sessions
·
Senator
Richard Shelby (R)
o
o
In 1986, he won the Democratic nomination for the Senate
seat held by Republican Jeremiah Denton.
o
o
He is considered to be much more independent-minded than
his Senate colleague, Jeff Sessions. For instance, shortly after becoming a
Republican he voted against two major tort reform bills, the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act and the Common Sense Product Liability and Legal Reform
Act.
o
In 2004, a federal investigation concluded that
o
o Shelby supports a bill, favored by
insurance companies, that would raise insurance premiums 25 percent on
businesses, vacation homes and homes that have been previously been affected by
a flood. – Jeff Poor, Lagniappe, 1/1/08
o
Sen. Shelby voted against an amendment that would have added optional
windstorm coverage to the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program –
PR 5/8/08
o
Sen.
Shelby gained national renown for opposing the $700 billion TARP economic
“bailout” package in Sept. 2008, as well as the loan packages to the major U.S.
automakers in Dec. 2008. As the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee,
Shelby had emerged as a high-profile critic of the package. – PR 10/2/08
o National
Journal: Economic: 57% Conservative, Social: 81% Conservative, Foreign: 67%
Conservative. Americans for Democratic Action: 20. American Civil Liberties
o Sen.
Shelby received a 52% (neutral) rating in 2006 from Citizens
Against Government Waste. His lifetime score is
54%.
o Sen. Shelby was third in dollar amount
in the Citizens Against Government Waste “2008 Congressional
Pig Book” with $464.5 million in pork projects.
o
Sen. Shelby was ranked #55 in the Congressional Power
Rankings by Congress.org
o
United States Senator Richard Shelby,
U.S. Senate site. Richard
Shelby's biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States
Congress. Richard
Shelby's voting record maintained by The Washington Post. Richard Shelby's
campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission. Richard
Shelby's campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org. Richard Shelby's biography, voting
record, and interest
group ratings at Project Vote Smart. Richard Shelby's
issue positions and quotes at On The Issues. New
York Times — Richard C. Shelby News collected news and commentary. SourceWatch Congresspedia —
Richard Shelby profile.
National Politics
and
·
Pat
Edington is a Mobile-area antiques appraiser and wife
of former State Rep. Robert Edington, who, by her
count, has pulled in more than $300,000 for Hillary Clinton and is named as a Hillraiser on the campaign Web site. Gregory Breedlove, a
partner in plaintiff's attorney firm Cunningham, Bounds, Crowder, Brown &
Breedlove LLC, is a bundler for John Edwards, according to a report released
last month by Public Citizen and the Campaign Finance Institute, both based in
Washington, D.C. – PR 1/7/08
·
All
three members of the
·
The
University of South Alabama would receive $30 million for construction of a
science and engineering building, while a proposed National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration disaster response center likely to be built in Mobile
is in line for almost $11.1 million in the latest $517 billion catch-all
federal spending bill. – PR 12/18/07
o Coupled with a previously approved $10
million installment, the bill would give
o With Democrats in control of both
houses of Congress for the first time since 1994, the legislation incorporates
new rules requiring lawmakers to attach their names to the projects they
support. But in a statement, Taxpayers for Common Sense criticized
congressional leaders for pushing ahead with the legislation less than 24 hours
after the final version was unveiled.
o The bill also includes: $2.6 million
for the Center for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management at the Dauphin Island
Sea Lab, $940,000 for oyster bed reseeding and fishery habitat enhancement at
USA, $611,000 for the Coastal Inland Hurricane Monitoring and Prediction
Program at USA, $470,000 for the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of
Mexico, $258,500 for coastal weather monitoring for catastrophic events at USA,
$235,000 for the Gulf Coast Exploreum in Mobile, $94,000 for the city of Orange
Beach Fishing Mortality Education Program.
·
In
fiscal 2007, the federal government awarded almost $1.35 billion for contract
work in
·
Mobile Municipal Code of
Ordinances
·
Mobile
·
o
Circuit Court Judges:
Julian Banks, Rosemary deJuan Chambers,
Charlie
Graddick
(R), Joseph S. Johnston, John R. Lockett, Edmund G. Naman,
Robert Smith, Sarah Stewart, Roderick P. Stout, James C. Wood, Michael Youngpeter
o
District
Court Judges: George Hardesty (R); Michael McMaken
(R); George Brown (R, Juvenile Court), Charles N. McKnight, Judson W. Wells
(Wells is retiring 12/31/07)
§
District
Judge George Hardesty reversed a decision where he initially refused to send to
a grand jury the case of twin sisters, Dykesha and Dynesha Harris, charged with assaulting a Murphy High teacher
during a school fight. – PR 6/22/08
o
Probate
Court Judge: Don Davis
o
Mobile
County District court processed more than 70,000 cases in 2007. District court
cases include everything from violent felonies to misdemeanors, as well as
civil cases, which include small claims -- cases involving disputes up to
$3,000 -- and district cases involving disputes up to $10,000 – PR 12/26/07
·
o
Circuit Court Judges: J. Langford Floyd, Charles C. Partin, James H. Reid (Presiding), Robert E. Wilters
o
District Court Judges: Jody W. Bishop, Carmen E. Bosch
·
Mobile County District Attorney: John M. Tyson, Jr.
·
U.S. District Court Southern District of Alabama.
o
U.S. Southern District of Alabama Judges
o
The U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama represents the
o
Federal
prosecutors brought 346 criminal cases in fiscal year 2007 – a record number –
while such cases are declining nationwide.
§
Greg
Bordenkircher, the first assistant
·
o
These districts were originally part of the Fifth
Circuit, but were split off to form the Eleventh in 1981. Fifth Circuit
decisions from before this split are considered binding precedent in the
Eleventh Circuit. The court is based in
o
William H. Pryor, Jr. was appointed Circuit Judge by
President Bush in 2004.
Miscellaneous
·
The "
o
D.H. ‘Buck’ Long, vice president
of WKRG brought the idea of Congressional Report to the attention of
Jack Edwards in 1973, who joined with Trent Lott and Bob Sikes of
o
In June 2006, WKRG halted further airings of Congressional
Report in response to an equal-time complaint by Mobile lawyer Vivian Beckerle, Jo Bonner’s opponent in the 2006 election for
Congress. WKRG subsequently decided to drop the show permanently.
·
In
2003, Volkert & Associates was tossed out by
Mobile County Politics Hall of Shame
·
In
1965, Lambert Mims was elected to
Mobile's City Commission and rotated the post of mayor with support from his
friends at Riverside Baptist Church on Dauphin Island Parkway. In his 1969 book
"For Christ and Country," Mims wrote that "moral pollution"
was the biggest threat to Mobile's well-being. He helped to pass an
anti-pornography regulation and shut down a play he found too racy at the
University of South Alabama. Mims opposed dismantling the all-white commission
system. Instead, Mims supported the Special Advisory Commission, a group of
prominent blacks and whites meant to guide the city government in matters of
race relations. Mims sparred frequently with a local civil rights group called
the Neighborhood Organized Workers, which he called a radical fringe
group. When the city finally moved to
the present day mayor-council form of government in 1985, Mims decided not to
run. In 1989, Mims announced his candidacy for mayor. But during the campaign,
Mims and others were indicted by a federal grand jury in an extortion and
racketeering case. The prosecution was led by Jeff Sessions who accused Mims, a
Democrat, and two local businessmen of conspiring to build a garbage-to-steam
plant that would have illegally profited Mims, though the project was never
realized. A jury convicted Mims in 1990. He served three years. Mims was a
former director of the Men's Ministry for the Mobile Baptist Association and
former president of the Alabama Baptist Brotherhood and the Alabama Baptist
Convention. – PR 11/26/08
·
In
2004, former Mobile County Commissioner Freeman
Jockisch was sentenced to two years and nine
months for lying on tax returns and ethics forms.
·
Mobile
County Sheriff Jack Tillman's 11-year reign as
·
o Thomas and his cousin, Circuit Judge
Herman Thomas, toured the
o An arbitrator decided that Thomas was
fired unjustly by
·
Darren Lee Flott (no relation), candidate for Alabama
House District 98 (Prichard), was arrested and charged with voter fraud for
submitting absentee ballots in the names of infirm, “comatose” nursing home
patients. The respiratory therapist was initially declared the winner, but the
results were reversed.
·
Gordon Waller is a former lawman, GOP political figure and director of the
Alabama Safety Institute – a driving school used as a referral service by the
court system – who reportedly fled to Manila, the Philippines to avoid trial on
charges that he used his influence with the courts to obtain freedom for young
men from whom he then demanded sexual favors. – MBT
·
Noble Beasley is either a major local
civil rights icon or
·
Benjamin Lodmell, the Democrat vying for U.S. Rep. Jo
Bonner's 1st District congressional seat, was arrested in January 2008 in
Mobile Legal Hall of Shame
·
Mobile
County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas
was suspended from the bench for alleged ethical violations in 2007and later
resigned from office. – PR 10/2/07
o At his own request, Thomas became the
focus of a probe by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission. Thomas was charged
with 30 violations of judicial ethics. Those charges ranged from allegations
that Thomas unduly helped his friends or family members with their legal
troubles to literally changing the legal status or reducing sentences of
convicted criminals after other judges on the 13th Judicial Circuit had already
sentenced them.
o Mobile County District Attorney John
Tyson Jr. suggested that Thomas' resignation made the formal charges against
him "moot." As for his office's own criminal investigation of Thomas,
Tyson said, the resignation will make no difference.
o There was an investigation into claims
by a number of young men, who were prisoners at the Mobile County Metro Jail,
that Circuit Judge Herman Thomas paddled them after checking them out of the
jail and taking them to a private room in the courthouse after hours. – PR
9/6/07
§ The Press-Register reported that four
men signed affidavits as part of a federal suit alleging that Thomas tried to
initiate sexual encounters with them and threatened them with retaliation in
their criminal cases if they refused.
§ Jimmy Gardner, president of
o The Mobile City Council cleaned house
at Municipal Court, denying additional terms to full-time Judges James Lackey and Wanda Rahman, and turning down the
application of prominent acting Judge John Coleman's request for a part-time
appointment. The purge came after Lackey, Coleman and Rahman
told council members conflicting stories about how former Mobile County school
board member David Thomas' 1998 DUI was expunged.
·
Circuit
Judge James Wood sentenced a Mobile
teenager who helped rob a west Mobile pharmacy to serve seven days in jail. – PR12/18/07
·
Following
Eddie Smith’s arrest on a theft
charge in November 2008, Mobile County Sheriff's Office investigators asked
District Judge Michael McMaken for a no-bail order,
and got it, given Smith’s previous flight to Costa Rica while out on bail in
May 2007. Hours later, Circuit Judge Robert
Smith set bail at $7,500, and allowed Smith to get out of jail. District
Attorney John Tyson Jr. said prosecutors were astonished when Smith's lawyer, Daniel Mims suggested that Smith
deserved a reasonable bond because he was a hunter and deer hunting season
started Saturday. – PR 11/27/08
Law Enforcement
·
2005 Alabama FBI
Crime Statistics
·
2006 Mobile County Sheriff’s Office
Calls Hotspots
·
The
"City Crime Rankings" published by CQ Press based on the FBI's crime
statistics looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita
crime rates:
·
Preliminary
2007 FBI Crime Statistics:
o Burglaries, car thefts and other
property crimes fell by 11%.
o Violent crime rose 1%, including a 10%
increase in robberies.
·
There
were 40 homicides in
·
·
In
late 2006,
·
In
2007,
o Takeover robberies of banks, in which
more than one armed robber took physical control of the scene, jumped from two
to 15 from 2006 to 2007 in
Mobile
Gangs and Criminals
·
Whether
gangs exist in
o Police Chief Phillip Garrett said he
passed by some gang-like
graffiti one day on his way to work but couldn't recall where he saw it. – PR
6/18/08
o The Police Department does not believe
this graffiti on vacant buildings in midtown
·
In
o Principal Doug Estle
and Police Chief Phillip Garrett saw no evidence of a gang connection.
Principal Estle said he does not believe that Murphy
has a gang problem, although it
does have groups of teenagers who "like to represent their
community."
o Police Capt Jack Dove and prosecutors
contend the attack was a gang initiation rite due to the manner in which the
attack took place, the fact that it was videotaped, and the fact that gang
symbols appeared around the prime suspect's house shortly after the attack
o City Councilman Fred Richardson
unsuccessfully tried to intervene on behalf of Dominick Harris to prevent his
expulsion after the teacher assault. Harris was later involved in a drive-by
shooting.
·
"Hoodies" robbers were named by the FBI for the attire
worn during robberies trademarked by an aggressive style of corralling
employees and customers to seize control. Federal and local law enforcement
officials have made nearly a dozen arrests and have begun to dismantle the
group. Tim White, the acting assistant special agent in charge of the FBI
office in
|
|
2004 Total |
Per 100,000 People |
National per 100,000 People |
|
Overall |
15514 |
6210 |
4627 |
|
Mobile
Violent Crimes |
1165 |
466 |
554.4 |
|
Mobile
Murders |
35 |
14 |
7 |
|
Mobile
Rapes |
74 |
29 |
34 |
|
Mobile
Robberies |
597 |
239 |
195 |
|
Mobile
Aggravated Assaults |
459 |
183 |
340 |
|
Mobile
Property Crimes |
14349 |
5744 |
4073 |
|
Mobile
Burglaries |
3832 |
1534 |
814 |
|
Mobile
Larceny/Thefts |
9396 |
3761 |
2734 |
|
Mobile
Motor Vehicle Thefts |
1121 |
449 |
526 |
o The Mobile Police Department announced
it was was investigating a ban on the sale hoodies.
·
Pat
Cannedy, the intake supervisor at
·
Methamphetamine
lab seizures in Mobile County numbered 48 in 2005, 17 in 2006, and 33 in 2007.
– PR 7/13/08
o In 2005, an Alabama law was passed
limiting the purchase of medications containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine,
key ingredients in meth, to two packages at a time and no more than 6 grams in
a 30-day period. Although stores are required to record the names of people who
buy medicine with ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, there is no central database. Pill
shoppers discovered they could hop from one store to another and avoid
detection.
o The law also mandates that retailers
place the products behind the counter or in a locked display case, record all
sales on video and make customers produce photo identification and sign a form
that includes their printed names and addresses. But Sheriff Sam Cochran said no
one checked to make sure the businesses were complying until his office
obtained a two-year, $450,000 federal grant and hired Joe Bettner,
a retired federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, as methamphetamine
reduction coordinator to start an inspection program. He since has begun
training 30 deputies to examine the logs of 94 pharmacies and more than 400
other businesses licensed to sell over-the-counter medication. Bettner said he quickly discovered compliance with the new
law was spotty or nonexistent. Some logs had illegible names written in ink; on
others, customers had signed Mickey Mouse and other obviously bogus names.Even when the stores did comply, Bettner
added, the law provides for no centralized data collection between pharmacies.
o Officials said nearly all of the
imported meth in Alabama comes by way of Atlanta, a major distribution hub.
Dealers flooded the area with cheap "ice" to establish a market and
then began gradually raising the price. Methamphetamine now sells for about
$100 to $140 a gram. Pill shoppers sometimes take their pay in meth.
·
Mobile Fire and Rescue Department
o After
o
In
1888, a paid Fire Department was organized as a regular branch of the City. The
City purchased the engine equipment of Phoenix No. 6 Volunteer Company for
$3,000.00. Creole No. 1 was willing to continue service as part of the
Professional Fire Department
o
TOP
|
Defend
|
$305,000 |
|
$206,249 |
|
|
Collazo Enterprises |
$168,000 |
|
Drummond Co |
$146,200 |
|
Regions Financial |
$141,300 |
|
State
of |
$128,654 |
|
Tallatchee Creek Inc |
$123,000 |
|
Compass Bancshares |
$117,000 |
|
|
$111,593 |
|
Beasley, Allen et al |
$109,163 |
|
Vulcan Materials |
$97,411 |
|
HealthSouth Corp |
$83,750 |
|
Americans for Good Government |
$76,500 |
|
Friends of Bud Cramer |
$76,000 |
|
Radiance Technologies |
$73,250 |
|
Bachus for Congress |
$69,800 |
|
Dynetics Inc |
$69,750 |
|
Davidson Technologies |
$69,300 |
|
NHS Management |
$67,075 |
|
AmSouth Bancorp |
$61,100 |
Revised
8/17/08
Text
Copyright 2008
Disclaimer: These Notes are not
original. They are complied
from various sources, primarily the Press-Register (PR),