Held hostage by aldont (Huntsville, Madison: appointed, 2015, house)

[AU HSV]

just another tactic by good ole boy aldont to cripple this region.
This has been going on since the wallace debacle as governor.
The director should be fired tonight

from al.com

The director of the Alabama Department of Transportation said he halted road projects in a north Alabama senator's district because of a billboard the senator put up critical of Gov. Robert Bentley.

John Cooper, an appointee of Bentley, said he thought Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison went "over the line" when Holtzclaw rented space on a billboard that said, "Governor Bentley wants to raise your taxes. I will not let that happen. Semper Fi - Senator Bill Holtzclaw." Holtzclaw served in the Marines.

"I simply thought the billboard was just a step too far," Cooper said

Yellowhammer reported the story.

Cooper told AL.com he did not know a specific number of projects he ordered stopped, but said they would have cost in the range of $100 million over the next two to three years.

"If Sen. Holtzclaw is that concerned with taxes I think he probably would be uncomfortable with us spending tax money in his district, so I pulled the projects," Cooper said.

Bentley announced last week that he would propose a $700 million tax increase to close a shortfall in the General Fund budget.

Moderator cut: copyright

[Big Grumpy]

Amazing to me that Cooper says the billboard is "over the top" and "went too far" yet somehow can't see that him pulling $100 million in highway funding in retaliation for a senator publicly declaring his intention to fight Governor Bentley's tax proposal sets a new standard for "over the top" and "went too far". How childish can a grown man in a position of leadership and authority be?

If you're displeased with this childish decision that will impact North Alabama please email this gentleman and let him know how you feel and share his email with others in hopes that they will also let him hear about the level of his childishness.

Here's Mr. Cooper's email address at ALDOT: cooperjr@dot.state.al.us.

[LCTMadison]

The dirtiest of dirty politics.

Bill Holtzclaw won't back down on this, and I hope he doesn't. If I could take my Bentley vote back I would.

John Cooper won't get fired. He was appointed by Bentley and is doing his dirty work.

[Reactionary]

Ironic that Cooper was appointed to reach out to north Alabama since historically we've been screwed on road projects.

If the story is true, Cooper should be fired. Personally, I've been puzzled by this issue; Bentley doesn't seem like a vindictive person.

EDIT:

The director of the Alabama Department of Transportation said he halted road projects in a north Alabama senator's district because of a billboard the senator put up critical of Gov. Robert Bentley.

John Cooper, an appointee of Bentley, said he thought Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison went "over the line" when Holtzclaw rented space on a billboard...

"I simply thought the billboard was just a step too far," Cooper said....

Cooper told AL.com he did not know a specific number of projects he ordered stopped, but said they would have cost in the range of $100 million over the next two to three years.

"If Sen. Holtzclaw is that concerned with taxes I think he probably would be uncomfortable with us spending tax money in his district, so I pulled the projects," Cooper said.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/201...l#incart_river

Yellowhammer News first reported the story:

"ALDOT Director John Cooper, a Bentley Administration cabinet member, told local officials that the projects have now been shuttered.

“They were put on hold because of the billboard Senator Holtzclaw put up,” Cooper told Yellowhammer on Thursday. “The governor is aware that I did it.”

Holtzclaw, a retired U.S. Marine, earlier this week rented space on a billboard in Madison saying, “Governor Bentley wants to raise your taxes. I will not let that happen. Semper Fi – Senator Bill Holtzclaw.”

http://yellowhammernews.com/politics...osed-tax-hike/

Yep, Cooper should be fired.

[Huntsville_secede]

This is a disgrace.

[Big Grumpy]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

The dirtiest of dirty politics.

Bill Holtzclaw won't back down on this, and I hope he doesn't. If I could take my Bentley vote back I would.

John Cooper won't get fired. He was appointed by Bentley and is doing his dirty work.

Sad thing is Cooper actually lived and worked here when he was the CEO of Avocent. Talk about a dirty and over-the-top reaction to something Bill Holtzclaw is allowed to express; his opinion and, namely, his intention to oppose Governor Bentley's tax proposal. I'm quite certain Bill didn't expect a grown man to behave like a six year-old child over a billboard. I hope the public outcry and backlash on Cooper is swift and severe because it will be well-deserved.

[NoleFanHSV]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

The dirtiest of dirty politics.

Bill Holtzclaw won't back down on this, and I hope he doesn't. If I could take my Bentley vote back I would.

John Cooper won't get fired. He was appointed by Bentley and is doing his dirty work.

While I'm on board with no raised taxes, I guess the question is, how'd we get here in the first place? Can the budget be satisfied simply with cuts?

[AU HSV]

It also proves what we have speculated on how aldot determines what projects get completed. Or in Huntsville area projects get started at all. If the Governor has any integrity he will order his boy to get is ass in gear and not only reinstate these projects but forbid him from stalling on all of the other ones.

[MrBobo]

Does this mean work on the County Line exit and Old Madison Pike will stop?

[Reactionary]

NoleFan - Bentley knows the budget better than almost anyone - he was known as a budget expert when he was a legislator.

Here's Holtzclaw on the budget:

The Budgets – I am a member of the General Fund Committee and feel that I am well versed in the components of that budget. As a reminder, Alabama has two budgets – the General Fund and the Education Trust Fund or ETF. I am not a member of the ETF Committee and therefore play catch-up on the ins and outs of the ETF budget. As has been reported in the media, a falling out of sorts is ongoing between the legislature and the Governor regarding the budgets – will he veto the budgets and call a special session, or will he sign them into law? I was briefed on the ongoing discussions which lead to the “compromise deal” between the governor and leadership weeks ago. The deal was suspect from the start and as such we were unable to pass the budgets until the final hours of the session last week.

The $1.8B General Fund Budget, while austere, passed the legislature with little fanfare; the problems lie with the $5.9B Education Trust Fund Budget. I voted for the General Fund Budget. I voted against the ETF, twice. The first “no” vote occurred when the budget first passed the Senate (details reported here) and forwarded to the House; the second “no” vote was when the budget came back to the Senate last week. The House made their changes - not unexpected - requiring the ETF to go to a Conference Committee. When asked why I voted against the budget, I was quoted in the media stating – “we need to prioritize our priorities”.

Prioritizing our Priorities – what do I mean by this? Well, just like with your household budget – we must identify the most important items in the budget and fund those – when revenues are flat or down we should carefully consider expanding programs and determine at what cost; not just fiscal but opportunity cost as well. I don’t think we do a very good job of that with the ETF. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of the fact that over the past four years we have passed conservative, balanced budgets. We have not gone into proration during a single budget cycle.

*Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw - Bill's Blog

Simply put, the budget is split into 2 parts: general fund and education fund - the ed fund is earmarked which limits legislators ability to shift money around. IIRC Holtzclaw would like to try un-earmarking before considering raising taxes.