The Political Round-Up
A gift for conflict; Where's Larry live?; Mobile's in Alabama? You don't say?; This & that, over & out
By Chip Drago
Mobile Bay Times
Stuart DuBose has a gift for conflict.
Seemingly, in the life of the Clarke County attorney and now circuit judge, a trip to the dry cleaners or a stroll down a grocery store aisle is even money to result in litigation.
DuBose has tangled with La-Z-Boys, crossed swords with clients and irritated those in places high and low. But David or Goliath, size of foe is not necessarily a deciding factor in which of DuBose's encounters will lead to a courtroom.
The latest installment in DuBose's "I'm right, you're wrong" saga pits the cantankerous judge against Alabama Power Co. and its muscular legal arm, Balch & Bingham.
The power company wants to erect a transmission line across property in south Clarke County now owned by DuBose. Alabama Power claims it acquired right-of-way by condemnation almost 70 years ago.
Wrong, says DuBose, now git. Or legalese to that effect.
"... stay off my property ... stay off of my roads," DuBose counseled the power company.
In September, 2006, Alabama Power again sought access through a condemnation proceeding.
"Alabama Power ain't getting on my land anywhere … Forget it. Stop it. Quit it. It's over. Now, live with it," he suggested.
In October, Balch & Bingham attorneys sued DuBose for the legal right to take the necessary steps preliminary to gaining an easement through condemnation. Baldwin County Circuit Judge Charles Partin was called in to hear the case. Earlier this year he ruled in favor of the power company. DuBose resisted the order. Partin issued a second order, not ruling out a future contempt holding against DuBose if the landowner continued his defiance.
A hearing had been set for last week on the matter. Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb tapped Covington County Probate Judge Sherrie Phillips to step in for Clarke County Probate Judge Becky Presnell who had recused herself because of DuBose's position on the local bench.
DuBose asked that the matter be continued indefinitely because his calendar was booked solid into 2009. Furthermore, his attorney was feeling poorly, putting the judge in the market for another lawyer, DuBose added.
DuBose described the power company's petition as "frivolous, vexatious, without merit, hateful, mean-spirited, and contrary to Rule 11 and the Legal Responsibility Act of the State of Alabama." Other than that, it was an honest disagreement worthy of civil resolution.
Balch & Bingham attorneys expressed doubt that DuBose was so busy that more than a year must pass before he could find time to walk down the hallway for a one-hour hearing.
Phillips set the case for hearing Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 10:30 a.m.
According to DuBose, he's having a hard time finding a lawyer to speak for him. They turn him down, the judge contends, all saying in essence, "'I (we) can't take on the money and the power of the Alabama Power company and everything they will throw at us.'"
Like a modern, south Alabama legal needs' Diogenes, DuBose said he required more time to scour the countryside or the lawyers' section of the Yellow Pages in search of "somebody with the guts and the capability to fight a legal attempt by the Alabama Power Company to steal a poor man's land one more time."
The chance to grapple with the power company and Balch & Bingham might prove irresistible though to a young lawyer itching to make his bones by besting "the biggest law firm in the state of Alabama with over 100 lawyers and nothing else to do but spend the bill payer's money filing meaningless, frivolous, vexatious, misleading, prejudicial, irrelevant, and immaterial wrong conclusions of another person, who is obviously bought and paid for by the Alabama Power Company."
Such opportunities knock only so often.
A Mobile judge recently held DuBose personally liable for a $1.2 million judgment in a will dispute with a former client. The Alabama Bar Association is pleading with the state Supreme Court for permission to discipline DuBose for his alleged professional misconduct before he was elected to the circuit judgeship.
"Where's Larry live?" Cooper asks
Mobile native Patrick Cooper, runner-up in Birmingham's recent mayoral election, will contest Mayor-elect Larry Langford's apparent victory in a court hearing set for Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Cooper contends that Langford resides in Fairfield, not Birmingham, and therefore was not qualified to seek the Magic City's mayorship.
Langford, a former member of the University of South Alabama board of trustees, won 50.3 percent of the vote in the Oct. 9 election against a field of nine other candidates. Cooper came in second with about 30 percent of the vote. Langford avoided a runoff with Cooper by 174 votes.
In an email to supporters, Cooper's camp intimated that issues beyond Langford's residency also fouled the election. It read:
"Immediately after the election, we received numerous calls from voters, poll watchers and several precinct Chief Inspectors regarding irregularities at the polls. The thrust of these calls was that voter support for Patrick had been artificially suppressed. Many residents did not receive notification of changes in polling sites, particularly in those areas where Patrick was strong. If voters went to the incorrect site, they were turned away with either no instruction or incorrect instruction to where they should vote. Some long-time residents simply disappeared from voter lists. Some Cooper supporters spent two to three hours trying to find the correct place to vote for Patrick."
An attorney in Birmingham, Cooper is the son of retired Maj. Gen. J. Gary Cooper and his wife, Beverly, of Mobile.
Eight other candidates divided up the remaining 20 percent of the vote as follows: incumbent Mayor Bernard Kincaid, 8 percent; City Councilman and former interim mayor William Bell, 6.7 percent; City Council President Carole Smitherman, 3.5 percent; City Councilwoman Valerie Abbott, 1.4; assorted negligible also-rans, less than one percent combined.
"Notwithstanding Patrick's concern regarding voter disfranchisement; he decided to contest the election only on a single ground: the residency of mayor-elect Larry Langford," reads the Cooper camp's notice.
Cooper reportedly made the decision after viewing a pair of television interviews in which Langford purportedly admitted not living in the Birmingham apartment he had leased in June because the complex did not allow dogs.
"Although we may not go into particulars regarding the merits of the case because of a gag order entered by the Court, we strongly believe -- given the law and the facts -- that Patrick will prevail," his campaign asserted.
Mobile's in Alabama? You don't say?
Mobile will again host the state's elected officials over a Mardi Gras weekend next year to increase their familiarity with the area, its needs and contributions to the state and its economy, according to local lobbyist/attorney Beth Marietta Lyons.
Lyons and University of South Alabama lobbyist Happy Fulford are organizing the Jan. 25-27 visit as chairpersons of an informal group of community leaders. The event will be privately funded.
Among the invitees, said Lyons, will be Gov. Bob Riley, Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., Speaker of the House Seth Hammett and all the representatives, senators and their spouses. The contingent will be housed at the Battle House.
Lyons said local community and business leaders try to schedule the visit every four or five years. She said the last effort drew about 40 percent attendance.
"We like to bring them down for two nights during Mardi Gras," said Lyons. "They enjoy the parades and festivities and tour the area, tour the port and they'll see the University of South Alabama Cancer Center, the USS Alabama and other attractions. It's a goodwill visit. Hopefully, they learn more about our area of the state. It also allows our community and business leaders to get know the state's elected officials better. We feel like it's beneficial for us and for them."
This & that
State Sen. Ben Brooks had a "thank you" get-together for supporters at the Captain Quarters restaurant on Bellingrath Road near Fowl River Saturday. A former Mobile city councilman, Brooks recently completed his rookie session as a state senator. He said he planned to host a supporter appreciation event annually because he didn't want to be one of those elected officials whose constituents hear from once every four years. Contributions were neither solicited nor accepted. Barbecued ribs provided by Frank Palmer, 83, formerly of Palmer's Seafood Restaurant on the Causeway, were a big hit at the event. It's an old family recipe and he ain't telling, said Brooks. Among those on hand for the affair were Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran and Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier.
John Weichman, formerly of Weichman's All Seasons Restaurant on the Beltline, is the new town manager/town clerk on Dauphin Island.
The Downtown Mobile Alliance will host a reception for newly-elected Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood Thursday, Nov. 8 from 5-7 p.m. at Space 301 Off Centre, 6 South Joachim St. There is no charge for members of the Downtown Mobile District Management Corporation or DMA members. The cost is $10 per person for all others. Sponsors include:
For more information call 434-8498. Space is limited and reservations are required.
Bonner on the move
U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) has moved his Mobile district office to 11 North Water Street, Suite 15290, Mobile AL 36602. The phone number remains unchanged at 251.690.2811. The fax number, however, is now 251.690.2815. For more information, contact Eliska Morgan at the number above.
In other news from the congressman, Bonner recently announced the opening of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s grant application period for the FY 2007 Fire Prevention and Safety grant program. The application period for this program began on October 22, 2007, and applications will be accepted until November 30, 2007.
The grants, administered by the U.S. Fire Administration, a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are intended to help mitigate the danger caused by fire through focusing on high-risk target groups such as children and the elderly. The grants also support firefighter safety research and development activities.
The program application and additional guidance can be found at www.firegrantsupport.com and www.grants.gov.
A Bonner staff member will make two stops in Mobile County on Thursday, Nov. 1 to assist constituents who are having problems with the federal government. The representative will be available in Citronelle City Hall between 10:30-11:30 a.m. and at Bayou la Batre City Hall between 1-2 p.m.
For more information, contact Frazier Payne, Bonner’s District Representative, at 251-690-2811 or 800-288-8721.
