With all the competition to be the "head" Bozo, it is pretty hard to tell who is really running things at City Hall and, as usual, the citizens of Decatur lose.

How many votes will it take to get rid of the mayor, Jackson and Russell?? For Jackson to make derogratory remarks about the mayor is like the pot calling the kettle black.. The whole bunch is a political joke!!!

Jackson endorsed Stanford during the election!!! People in the city of Decatur need to remind him of that after the comments he just made about Stanford. Jackson was so quick to get Kyle out the door, because Kyle to not bow to him, that Jackson did something that most council members never do, and that was publicly endorse a mayoral candidate that was not the incumbent. Now Jackson looks like an even bigger idiot!

I

See it here only in " The Decatur Daily"

“When you’ve got basically an idiot like our mayor who can barely spell his own name,...." That's just precious.

And someone asked why Decatur wasn't included in activities that Huntsville, Madison and Athens were working on together! We can't get even our own city officials working together. I'm sure B.R.A.C. employees want to come to a city that has nothing to offer but mass confusion!!

Thanks, Billy Jackson.. for telling the truth and Stanford wants to be the financial director for Decatur. LOL I think Decatur is in agreement with you. We didn't have a good choice for the Mayor race and settled for someone that was less than the one we had.

So, it looks like we will have to grin and bear it. Isn't it strange how these men change once they get into office and do what they want to do and when they are running for office they are going to serve the people but they soon forget.

Don't you think it is time they started serving the people instead of getting us more in debt each term. We don't want more debt.. just run the city with what you have.. What about that don't you understand?

Seems, like we have some counsilmen that use the strong arm (overbearing) to get what they want. Someone must be pleased with the two counsilmen who have been in office a long time because they keep getting elected and you novice come in wanting to run the show and you know nothing. You are the ones who could learn from those who are in there but you seem to be self seeking.

pat collins.....retired employee....gail has done nothing but devote her life to the city of decatur....educating herself above and beyond....to meet the requirements of her job position....she is ethical and professional....and is being railroaded......by political and personal power conspiracy....sounds like stanford is vying to put himself in a position to pad his pockets...at the expense of a devoted and trustworthy employee....ignorance has no place in decatur's city government....and it seems we are eaten up with it lately...............

We have such a LOSER for a Mayor. This will probably seal his fate.

I 'm not too sure of Reeves and Jackson. Reeves seems to think he's knows everything, and Jackson just seems to run his mouth about everything. What a wonderful city council we have. Wally Terry for Mayor!!!!

DD, you do a good job reporting the news. I can't wait each morning for my daily entertainment of "local" news. You know how Huntsville and Madison could persuade BRAC people to locate to their cities - give them all a free subscription to the Decatur Daily. Read it for a month or so, put youself in their shoes, would you locate here????? What impression of a nice, clean, well run city are we portraying to potential newcomers? Again, would you locate here? Objectively speaking, I would not.

Decatur made a huge mistake by electing Stanford. You were much better off with Don Kyle, who is an honest person. Now you are seeing the fallout from your bad decision.

I think Ms Busbey has save the City a million dollars by not allowing the Mayor and his two to get their hands on that million. Could that million have been used to buy new cars for the Mayors staff? I guess it could be use to get the BRAC people to move here, not. I think it would be used wastefully like giving it to the Chamber for BRAC, rebuilding the railroad depot or the bike trail.

Bubba remembers the Mayor saying "Amen" when he got his new car do you? I say Amen to Gail! Thanks you for your service and my prayers are with you and yours. Bubba loves an Amen.

Jackson needs to remember he was the one who favored Stanford for mayor and bad mouthed Kyle all the way to the polls. I agree with the post about "Wally Terry" for mayor. I'm in favor of that, honesty and integrity. Truth is Wally Terry is a smart man and wouldn't want to work with our current "disfunctional" city council, who would?

I agree. Decatur made a colossal mistake electing Stanford.

don't really understand why Reeves said he was "shocked" when he learned the manner in which in which the debt was refinanced...as this information below from him seems to show that he knew exactly what was going on in detail......i just wish people that represent our city would act honestly at all times and remember that people DO remember everything you say and do, so don't go back and say "I didn't know about THIS" when there is usually someone who will remind you indeed do remember it, you just don't want to admit it for fear of looking bad".

"It started with a phone call . . .It was Ken with Merchant's Capital wanting to meet with me. He had an idea that would save the city money.What would you have done?As council president, I receive these sort of calls wanting to "save" the city money - typically by people wanting to engage in business with the city of Decatur. Would you be skeptical? Given all the telemarketing calls I get, it is difficult not to be. Yet, you never know - so, I met with Ken and Reid and what they said made sense: the interest rates had dropped and Decatur had an opportunity to refinance its debt, keep the payments the same, and get money back.A couple of days later, I get another call.This time, Johnny Dill, our financial advisor. We meet. Same thing: rates have dropped and it is time to refinance. I then call Hammond and he tells me that Region's has been wanting to meet with him. Gary kindly invites me to attend, as well. We meet with a great guy, Larry Ward, with Morgan Keegan (owned by Region's) and the local Region's president, Tom. A very informative and pleasant meeting. Same thing.By this time, I was so excited that I went straight to Dr. Houston's office to tell him the possibility, as the schools stood to gain, too. Then, I went straight to DU to meet with Ray Hardin. Not surprisingly, Ray and Steve Pirkle were on top of this and had already been evaluating whether DU should refinance.I then called a special work session solely on whether to refinance.A couple of puzzled looks and a question before the meeting from a council member - "what are we doing here?"I responded, "I know that this may be odd, heck, it may not be Decatur politics as usual, I don't know, but I think it would be good if the council actually deliberated on something of this significance, in public, with an entire evening to discuss this one issue." Remember, I had only attended one council meeting in my entire life, before being appointed to council. Yet I had heard enough of the last term gathering to vote without any authentic discussion at meetings. So, I simply thought that we were supposed to have special meetings on such issues (and, if you read the Decatur Daily, you know that I still do think so).

And, it was a great meeting. Special, not just in name only. We had several of the reps from the financial institutions present, our advisor Johnny Dill, directors - legal, etc., and, for me, it was a healthy, learning experience. We heard about rates, resolutions, ratings, Moody's, negotiated sale, public auction . . . unfamiliar territory, but I could smell green money.In a time when muni bonds are being downgraded, at the advice of Johnny Dill, the city took a chance and went to NYC in the hopes of getting our ratings upgraded. We were swimming upstream. I had said over and over again, I was not going to go, as I had devoted quite a bit of time already to the issue. The Mayor, Roger Anders, Gary Hammond, Herman, Gail and Johnny could handle it. No question. Pirkle and Hardin were going to go for DU. On a Friday a few weeks ago, Dill called me and he did not mince words: "you have to go. You can be back on Monday night." I did not ask why, I heard myself saying, "OK." And, the next day I was on a plane to NYC . . . and by the end of the day Monday I was back in Decatur, having been through 2 bond review meetings. In between, we all prepared for the meetings, reviewed the materials, and, along the way, I gained a deeper appreciation for the financial aspect of running a city - as well as getting know, better, our Mayor, Anders and Hammond.

Next. Good news. Moody's and S&P. One upgraded us. The other kept us the same. Public sale versus negotiated sale.

Dill had avised us to do a public sale. The calls kept coming. Meet with us. A former Alabama football player, a really good former Alabama football player, even called and I heard the, by now, familiar refrain: "negotiated sales are the way to go. And, do business with us." I responded to each caller the same way, that I was not a muni bond expert and I had to trust our advisor. As time passed, I read about the differences of public sale versus negotiated sale in issuing muni bonds. I begin to feel more comfortable about the route were taking of holding a public sale.Today. The culmination of a lot of hours, a lot of time and a lot of effort, by a lot of people. We took risks. And we had, yes, another special council meeting. Today at 10:45am - attended by Ronny Russell, Gary Hammond, the Mayor, Herman and myself - as well as our bond attorney Jim Birchfield, and Mr. Johnny Dill. The meeting was fast paced, when we began the clock was close to the sale time of 11:00am . . . the requisite two ordinances were adopted.We held a bid, a public sale, everything came by computer, sort of a modern day ebay auction . . . tick, tock, wait, wait . . . the results were announced . . . our debt was refinanced, lower rates, same payments, same term. The upshot . . .Approximately $2,000,000.00 better off for the city, DU, and our schools. The rates confirmed that the public sale was the most cost effective way, not only in the lower rates, but that our expenses to refinance were lower. I wanted to celebrate. Yea!!Being an integral part of obtaining $1.8 million for road resurfacing projects felt good. $2 million, today, was even better. And, yes, the itch that led me to run for office is now being scratched.I see the combined efforts of so many working to help our community . . . many names, all pitching in and making a contribution: enhancement grants for purchasing the train depot, upgrading the downtown area, bringing Calhoun and Athens State Downtown. Exciting.

Leading a trip to meet with ALDOT officials in Montgomery to ask for more than the $1.8 million in funds, then going with our Chamber to D.C. (thanks John and Jim . . . and the many other chamber members) to meet our representatives and staff, face to face, and, you guessed it, to ask for millions more in funds for our community . . . it is more fun than anyone should be allowed to have.Overall, though, to see our council coming to work together as a team with our Mayor - well, practically all of the members of our council, that is . . . it is difficult to express, I am honored to be a part of this process. Thank you - Greg Reeves"

This is to Greg, Good job and here's a pat on the back. Pat, Pat, Pat. Now, run this city in a professional manner. ( Know what's going on) (Stay in the loop) Each one of you (council, mayor, dept. heads) have a job to do. It's called manage the city and manage it with sound business principles and intelligence, not politics. You guys are smart, responsible, and to varying degrees, experienced, educated people. Ack like it! It's not rocket science, represent the people, do what's best for the city, make smart (and informed) business decisions. Where will poor management lead us - look at the country, look at GM/Chrysler, look at Bernie in prison. Would you buy stock in a company with this city government making up the board of directors? We probably should be thankful for the good bond ratings,huh? Stop the bickering and negative press and someone please move us forward.

PS: That $2 million dollars could have paid for the dog pound. Are you kidding me, a $2 million dollar dog pound. I would not have given us a better bond rating just for that kind of decision making. You could have built every dog and cat there a furnished 3 bedroon/2 bath apartment in a gated complex with a courtyard, gym, and pool for $2 million dollars. Had to get that off my chest!!

Folks, I can stress this enough, and Susie again pointed it out...while many of you are bashing Stanford, and for good reason, just please don't forget that Jackson endorsed him during the election and is now making derogatory remarks about the guy he was very vocally supportive of during the election. Jackson has shown his duplicity and Stanford has shown that he is all about politics! This council, led by Jackson, has been running the city of Decatur in the ground and they got rid of a mayor who was trying to stop it. Instead, we have a mayor that is playing politics and just as bad as the council.

As Charlie stated, why would BRAC people want to live in Decatur? Between the mayor and council acting like idiots and the city and The Daily going around being yard Nazis by splashing negativity all over the front page of The Daily, who would really see this kind of stuff and want to live in Decatur? Heck, I know many, many people that have left Decatur because of the moronic ways of the city leadership.

Sounds like school kids playing politics. Who is the popular one here? This is about a team not all yes men doing what Reeves wants them to do. The city did ok before he arrived. Mr. know it all gives the impression of do it my way or else we will have special sessions and leave you older ones who have been there and done that out. I think Mr Reeves came in forcefully and took over and I think it is time he chills out. Speaking of problems with the counsil .. I think Mr.. run the show is the problem.

From what I read here about the million dollars.. some men smarter than some in our counsil worked it out for him.

The WHOLE city is wanting representation not just one section. Some of us are tired of all the pats on the back a few are getting.

Stop the school kid tactics .. you are not impressing anyone..

I just want to know what kind of a person you folks would vote for? I know a man I worked for at Monsanto that took a part of the plant that was ready for Denbo's and turned it into a 24/7 operation. He has a high school education from Decatur High but a heart for us that worked for him. He is just plain down to earth Morgan County. Why can't people elect someone with just down to earth common way of taking care of others ? We don't need PHD's, we need ordinary home folks that love their city to run it from the heart.

Are these the best Decatur has to offer? I expect this out of Washington, not here

What a mess

Decaur officials are living in a parallel universe if they believe BRAC relocators would consider moving here. The city has always catered to the few and believe everyone(the majority) should accept their decisions as if everyone benefits if the few benefit. This is the most difficult city, from a business standpoint to a residential perspective, to reside. Where is Don Klye? AND, don't let your pet out in your own yard or you could be facing life without.

It sound as if the JACKSON-BUSBY TRAIN is about to run off track and it is about time, after railroading their programs the last 8 years. Hang in there Mayor, Mr. Reeves, Mr. Hammon and Mr. Anders, when you are doing the right thing, it will be tough. Jackson and Russell are really showing their class as leaders. If the Mayor can count to 10 he can do better than some on the council.

What a Zoo.