It might be your only chance to see Tommy Battle take on Loretta Spencer, so pay attention.  Oh, and the Madison candidates will be there too.

The Committee of 100 & NewsChannel 19 have joined forces to present a live debate with the candidates for mayor in Huntsville and Madison this election year. Two separate races, two separate debates in one live program that will be shown on the big screen at Monaco Pictures at Bridge Street.

The candidates will debate live from the NewsChannel 19 studios on Tuesday, August 12, 6:30-8:00 p.m.

The debates will be aired live on Newschannel 19 and streamed live on whnt.com and in a unique opportunity shown live on the big screen of Monaco Pictures’ Prive 1 Theater. NewsChannel 19 will provide live (broadcast) and internet capability for the public to pose questions from the Monaco Pictures’ Scene Lounge to the candidates back at the NewsChannel 19 studios.

As a side note, the article goes on to say that “The Committee of 100 is a group of 180 local business leaders …”  180 business leaders in the Committee of 100.  Because that isn’t confusing.

Stephanie Bell of Montgomery is running for a fifth term (first elected 1994) on the State Board of Education, District 3. She defeated Skip Smithwick (AEA-funded) in the Primary.

She graduated from Auburn with a degree in English / Journalism, taught English in Taiwan, reported for the Montgomery Advertiser, and then worked for Education reform prior to her election to the Board of Education.

The State Board of Education members: Governor Bob Riley (R - President),  Joe Morton (Superintendent), Randy McKinney (R - District 1), Betty Peters (R - District 2), Stephanie Bell (R - District 3), Ethel Hall (D - District 4, VP), Ella Bell ( - District 5), David Byers (R - District 6, VP), Sandra Ray (D - District 7), and Mary Jane Caylor (D - District 8).

Note that the Board seems to vote along Party lines on most issues.

WHNT just called Beth Kellum the winner in the Court of Criminal Appeals runoff (50,968 vs McLemore’s 42,098, with 94% reporting, 55% to 45%). She faces Democrat Jefferson County Circuit Judge Clyde Jones in the General Election.

Wayne Parker looks to have won the AL-05 House of Representatives candidacy (16,028 vs Guthrie’s 4,330, with 97% reporting, 79% to 21%). He faces Democrat State Senator Parker Griffith in November. Almost 14,000 of the more than 20,000 votes cast were from Madison County.

Twinkle Cavanaugh looks to have won the PSC President candidacy (60,493 vs Chancey’s 40,101, with 94% reporting, 60% to 40%). She faces Democrat former Lieutenant Governor Lucy Baxley in November.

Cory Brown looks to have won the Madison County Tax Collector candidacy (6,370 vs Stafford’s 5,269, with 98% reporting, 55% to 45%). He faces Democrat incumbent Lynda Hall in November.  If he wins, he will work to abolish the office (actually combine with the Tax Assessor’s office to form a ‘Revenue Commissioner’ office).

The Madison County unoffical results are here.

The polls were slow today. I put out signs for Cory Brown last night at my polling place, then schmoozed a little at lunch and after work.  It was interesting to see which of the neighbors were GOP supporters (the only ballots today at my polling place were GOP); saw most of my Neighborhood Watch, plus a few guys named ‘Coach’.

I have to admit that I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the dismal science.  It is probably an extension of the engineer in me.  There’s just something about numbers, graphs, and cold logic…

Anyway, Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw authored a fine column in today’s New York Times about what politicians would say in the unlikely event they pandered to economists.  He figured there were eight items that most economists could agree on that would make a solid platform:

1. SUPPORT FREE TRADE
2. OPPOSE FARM SUBSIDIES
3. LEAVE OIL COMPANIES AND SPECULATORS ALONE
4. TAX THE USE OF ENERGY
5. RAISE THE RETIREMENT AGE
6. INVITE MORE SKILLED IMMIGRANTS
7. LIBERALIZE DRUG POLICY
8. RAISE FUNDS FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

Ok, so that last one is a bit of a standard request from any interest group, but other than that I agree with all of those propositions (with a caveat on the energy tax).

The Alabama Republican Primary Runoff will be held this Tuesday, July 15th.  Here is a copy of the Madison County sample ballot.  I didn’t endorse any candidates before the primary.  I was a guest on a radio program that morning discussing the races and did not feel it would be appropriate.  This time I have no reason to not offer up my preferred candidates.

AL-05 Congressional Race

The big race on the ballot is for the 5th district congressional seat Republican nomination.  Wayne Parker nearly won the primary outright in a field of six contenders, but came up 1% of the vote shy of doing so.  He will almost certainly defeat Cheryl Baswell Guthrie in the runoff.  Wayne is clearly the better of the two Republicans and has secured endorsements from two of his primary opponents: Angelo Mancuso and George Barry.

I recommend Wayne Parker.

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 1

I’ll just say that I’m not a big fan of voting for judges.  I don’t consider myself skilled at assessing their qualifications.  Both Beth Kellum and Lucie McLemore seem capable of doing a fine job in this capacity.  That said, I’m voting for Beth Kellum.

Public Service Commission President

This has been a rather strange race.  Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, who won the most votes in the three-way primary, is certainly a faithful member of the Republican party and has made that quite clear in all her advertising.  She has also curiously run ads boasting that she is pro-life (this is Alabama, after all), which has no significance in this race since last I checked Alabama Power and other entities she would oversee don’t perform abortions.  Matt Chancey came in second in the primary and it seems that most of the criticism about him has come as a result of his more conservative religious beliefs and some of his wife’s thoughts on women’s roles.  Cavanaugh’s party ties will help in the runoff when only the faithful come out to vote.  But, I do think that Matt has better ideas on how to keep our utility rates low by encouraging things like expanding nuclear power.

I recommend Matt Chancey.

Madison County Tax Collector

This race pits Angela Stafford against Cory Brown.  Stafford has worked for the Tax Collector’s office for nearly a decade and has offered up some good ideas for improving operations there.  But Brown has proposed a better idea: consolidating the offices of the Tax Collector and Tax Assessor into a single Revenue Commissioner office like other parts of the state.  That will save us, the taxpayers, serious money.

I recommend Cory Brown.

(Full disclosure: I believe strongly enough in Brown that I will be working my polling place for him on Tuesday.)

Reactionary Update:

AL-05 Congressional Race

I went to middle school with Wayne Parker, played on the same basketball team at the YMCA with him, have a Parker yard sign and bumper sticker.  Note that at times I’ve been positively impressed by Cheryl, plus I like ads featuring monkeys (okay, chimpanzees).

I’m voting for Wayne Parker.

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 1

Beth Kellum was kind enough to speak with me for almost 30 minutes after one of her speeches. I’m certain that she knows the job of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Note that Lucie McLemore has a judge’s demeanor (which is a good thing for a judge - thoughtful and reserved). 

I’m voting for Beth Kellum.

Public Service Commission President

The PSC Presidency seems to me to be more of an administrative job, with some PR.  IMO Twinkle knows State Government well enough to perform the job; note that I expect great things from Matt Chancey (run for and win an office).

I’m voting for Twinkle Cavanaugh.

Madison County Tax Collector

I like the idea of efficient Government and I think that combining the Tax Collector and Tax Assessor offices is a good plan.  I’ve met Cory Brown, and aside from appreciating his gardening knowledge (he used to host the Saturday morning WVNN garden show), I like his energy and ideas. I have a Brown yard sign, plus I will also be working polling places on Tuesday. Note that Angela Stafford is competent and would be a good choice.

I’m voting for Cory Brown.

Very sad.

Tony Snow, a conservative writer and commentator who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush’s press secretary, died Saturday of colon cancer. He was 53.

Snow was a fine man with a pleasant personality.  I had no idea that the cancer had returned, however in retrospect I do realize he had been out of the limelight for a while.  You have to feel terrible for his wife and three children.

In light of the cancer that took Snow’s life I’d like to point all readers towards this Dave Barry column about getting a colonoscopy.  A little levity always helps highlight a valuable, but undesirable medical checkup. (Kudos to Lee)

Unfortunately the leftist hate machine is already in full motion in response to the news of Snow’s passing (edits are mine):

Tony knew that his boss was full of s*** and that he was lying to the American people everyday. He gets no kudos for being a lying sack of s***. Yes its terrible for his young children, but it is also terrible for the young children of soldiers who keep getting killed because of the bulls*** this lying sack of crap spewed everyday from his podeium. rest in hell.

…

I am a little baffled by the kind words for Mr. Snow on this blog today. …  I can’t be sad that he’s gone.

…

When Bagdad Bob dies I’ll feel the same way I do right now!

…

[H]e was a professional liar who would not have batted an eyelash at the “opposition” being rounded up and put in camps…

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I hope there really is a hell and he’s burning in it right now.

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If Hannity or O’Reilly or Limbaugh died I would be having a celebration at my house. i would be writing a diary pissing on them even … He’s dead- WTFever.

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adios a**hole

…

OH. F***ING. WELL. Spread filth and lies during your life, work for a networks full of a**holes, and spreading Bush propaganda. No fake a** eulogies here. Good riddance motherf***er. Hopefully Bill o Reilly can kick the bucket soon, him and limbaugh. F*** Tony Snow. Rest in hell.

Always classy.  Parents, this is what happens when you give your thirteen year old unsupervised time on the computer.  Fortunately there are some who did show a good bit more respect.

Fellow Madison County residents are painfully familiar with the slow service that comes with renewing a driver’s license or registering a car in the department run by Mark Craig. Well, now that it’s an election year he is finally trying to do his job.

From the Madison County Record:

Madison County’s license office may soon be moving from its location at Southern Family Market to the old post office on Hughes Road.

License Commissioner Mark Craig spoke about the plans Tuesday at the Madison County Commission’s budget hearings. He said he’d like to move the license office in Madison from its current location in the Southern Family Market on the corner of Wall Triana and Highway 72 to where the old post office building is located on Hughes Road.

…

Craig did ask for more money to help increase the number of employees in order to staff the new larger facilities.

From AL.com:

Q. Why can we not get a driver’s license in the county satellite office in Southern Family Markets on Bailey Cove Road? This would certainly help with other offices that have outgrown their space.

A. Madison County License Director Mark Craig said he is trying to get the state’s permission to issue driver’s licenses at the south Huntsville supermarket. Craig said his office is prepared to buy the more than $21,000 computer system needed to print licenses there as soon as the Alabama Department of Public Safety gives the thumbs-up.

And just think - if you vote for Mark Craig this November in just six short years he’ll start trying to earn his pay again!

Of course, we have a better choice: Susan Newman. She is pledging to increase the efficiency of the Madison County License Department and give us shorter lines. She has some pictures posted of the lines in a couple of the branches - one of which is the Madison Satellite at Southern Family Markets that has made my blood boil numerous times.

Newman’s first objective is to cross-train employees in the satellite offices. This would be a major improvement that would deal with something that I have personally recognized as a shamefully obvious measure that Mark Craig has chosen not to do. Every time I’ve gone to a branch to register a vehicle or get a new drivers license I find myself standing in a very slow line of ten or more people while I watch a couple of employees in the property tax line (well, a line without people) filing their nails, reading magazines, and chatting on their phones. Meanwhile those of us who are missing work to stand in line glare at them - hoping one of them will put down their issue of Soap Opera Digest and help us. It can’t possibly be that hard, all the departments use the same software. Susan Newman would ease our pain and stop wasting tax dollars by working with those departments to make sure all employees can help whatever taxpayers are standing in line.

Too many people don’t pay attention to the “down ballot” races and we’ve found out what happens in Madison County when you do that: you get Mark Craig and long lines. Pause briefly this November before you vote and visualize those long lines you’ve stood in time after time. Then vote for Susan Newman and shrink those lines.

On my way home from work today I was listening to a show called The World on a local NPR station.  The host was reading some emails from listeners and one caught my attention.  It was from a man named David Brown who said the following about a segment two days earlier that featured an interview with the man who ran the “Hanoi Hilton” where John McCain spent over five years of his life against his will.  (Brown’s letter is read about two minutes into the segment.)

So much for integrity and neutrality.  What a glowing endorsement for John McCain - how he’s a true American hero.  The true purpose of your piece became obvious when you followed it with a trivial snippet on how Barack Obama received an endorsement from a Hindu temple in India. The word Hindu to most Americans is indistinguishable from Muslim.  the intent is obvious, McCain is the true American whereas Obama is not. Shame on your program.

When I got home I looked up the McCain segment from two days prior.  Not surprisingly, it was far from a “glowing endorsement.”  McCain’s jailer said that McCain “lies to American voters about what happened to him in Vietnam in order to win support for his presidential campaign.”  Of course, the man claims that McCain was well treated during his stay and that the two are friends.  He even said he would vote for McCain in part because of his efforts to improve relations between Vietnam and the U.S.  Overall the piece could hardly be called even a tepid endorsement.

Could it be that Mr. Brown himself is a bit ashamed at the obvious disparity in sacrifice and love for this country between the two candidates and wants to make the mere mention of it off limits like any other speech that might be unfavorable to Obama?

Beth Kellum faces Lucie McLemore in the GOP Primary Run-off for Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 1. Kellum got 34% of the vote in the Primary, McLemore got 24%, Peggy Givhan lost with 22%, and Teresa Petelos lost with 21%. The winner faces Democrat Clyde Jones in the General Election.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is “composed of five judges, one of whom is elected by the members of the court to serve as presiding judge. The Court of Criminal Appeals hears all appeals of felony and misdemeanor cases, including violations of city ordinances and all post-conviction writs in criminal cases”.

Beth Kellum:

…served as an Assistant Attorney General; staff attorney for the Court of Criminal Appeals; private law practitioner for seven years, and as a  senior staff attorney for the Alabama Supreme Court.

Lucie McLemore:

…private law practice in Montgomery with her father… District Court of Montgomery County, winning primary and general elections in 2000.

 UPDATE:

Just had the pleasure of hearing both candidates present 5 minute speeches.  Both candidates gave great speeches; both noted their Conservative approach; either of them would make a fine Appeals Court judge.

Beth Kellum noted her work as Staff Attorney for the Court of Criminal Appeals and her work with the Republican Party.  She spoke of her legal opinion-writing experience and knowledge of the Court and Court Administration. 

Her handout headline: “Fair, Experienced, Conservative”.

Lucie McLemore said she was a Conservative like Ronald Reagan, Mo Brooks, and Faye Dyer.  She received applause when she noted that as a District Judge, she actually made criminals pay their fines and restitution (collected $1.5 million).  She also noted her work with the Republican Party. 

Her handout headline: “Experienced, Fair, Conservative”.

Twinkle Andress Cavanuagh and Matt Chancey are candidates in the GOP Primary Run-off for President of the Alabama Public Service Commission.  Cavanaugh received 47% of the GOP vote; Chancey received 29%; Jack Hornady lost with 24%.  The winner of the run-off faces Democrat Lucy Baxley in the General Election.

The PSC mission is “to ensure a regulatory balance between regulated companies and consumers in order to provide consumers with safe, adequate and reliable services at rates that are equitable and economical”. 

The PSC evolved from the Railroad Commission and regulates: “railroads… express companies, sleeping car companies, railroad depot or terminal stations, telephone and telegraph companies, plus transportation companies operating as common carriers over water, toll bridges, toll ferries, and toll roads… utilities providing electricity, gas, water, and steam, companies operating streets or inter-urban railways… approving the sale or lease of utility property or franchises… utility rates… motor transportation companies… Air carriers… natural gas transmission and distribution systems… radio common carriers… railroad tracks and equipment”.

The PSC regulates Energy (Electricity, Natural Gas, and Water) Companies like Alabama Power, Mobile Gas Service, and Hiwanee Water; Telecommunications Companies like Bellsouth; Gas Pipelines like Enbridge Pipelines; and thousands of Motor Carriers (Trucking, Towing, Buses, Limos, Cabs).

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh:

Elected Chairman Alabama Republican Party, served as Senior Advisor to Governor Bob Riley, served as State Director of Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Matt Chancey:

The Chancey Five-Point Plan to Improve the Public Service Commission

1.  Nuclear Power Expansion

2.  Clean Coal and Other Fossil Fuels

3.  Hydro-electric Expansion

4.  Supporting Economic Development

5.  PSC Performance Review

 UPDATE:

Just had the pleasure of hearing five minute speeches by both candidates.

Twinkle Cavanaugh noted her experience with Citizens for a Sound Economy and as a Senior Advisor to Governor Riley, working with the Alabama Development Office, EMA, and Homeland Security.  She tied her experience to issues facing the PSC, for example noting that one of the key factors in the Thyssen-Kruppe decision to locate the steel plant in Mobile was lower utility rates. She also noted her work as the Chair of the Alabama Republican Party.

Matt Chancey said he wanted to “Mo Brooksify” the PSC.  He noted that the PSC should educate consumers about nuclear power, and he supports the TVA Bellefonte Nuclear Plant.  He said that the PSC should examine their policies as part of a Performance Review of the agency. He also noted his work with the Republican Party (Vice-Chair Dale County Executive Committee).