The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

In view of our previous thread and the then speculation about the now apparently bankrupt tax lien company being his primary source of income. The article stems from Jack's sponsorship of a bill to "accidentally" repeal most of ethics law and allow Speaker Hubbard to lobby while he is speaker (makes his ethics inditements go away), It looks into Jack's multiple sources of income and speculates who and why and where the payments are from

http://www.alreporter.com/in-case-you-mi...liams.html

Not sure about the rest of his "facts", but the writer continually describes Aldridge Gardens as a private non-profit garden or venue, when in fact, Aldridge Gardens is owned by the City of Hoover (http://www.hooveral.org/index.aspx?NID=178) and run by a foundation, similarly to how Vulcan Park and the Birmingham Zoo are operated in Birmingham. It is anything but private.

It shows a lack of thorough fact checking on the part of the writer and calls into question the overall accuracy of his article.

(10-01-2015 07:47 PM)blazerjay Wrote:  Not sure about the rest of his "facts", but the writer continually describes Aldridge Gardens as a private non-profit garden or venue, when in fact, Aldridge Gardens is owned by the City of Hoover (http://www.hooveral.org/index.aspx?NID=178) and run by a foundation, similarly to how Vulcan Park and the Birmingham Zoo are operated in Birmingham. It is anything but private.

It shows a lack of thorough fact checking on the part of the writer and calls into question the overall accuracy of his article.

Jack hasn't worked there in a long time.

Looks like the board wants a pound of flesh. They are also worried we will strike again in Montgomery.

I think this is nothing more than an attempted hit job and will go nowhere.

This Bill Britt guy is reaching. He's basically taken publicly available info on Jack and hasn't connected anything of importance. But I will say that Jack might want to be more consistent with his reporting of family and business involvement... don't be another Kahn or Bruno.

Jack is tight with Mike Hubbard. It's not a good look. I also think that he is too smart not to have understood the implications of that lobbying bill.

when you sleep (working at montgomery) with dog (most of the people working there are criminal ) you get flee (kind of indirectly involved in shady(normal stuff for montgomery) business

when the truth come out ,,,i hope that jack is ok

I know it is an almost religious matter of faith on this board that everything bad originates with the BOT. However in this case Band dad is right the hits on Jack are coming from a group of republicans who feel betrayed by the blatant corruption and are anti Hubbard(Riley) cabal not as BOT supporters. The lasting damage to Jack may well come from trying to "accidentally"/(opps I did not know) repeal the ethics law for his unethical mentor-not these collateral attacks

The alreporter group has been on UABs side more than most mainstream media. On their TV show they have been even more critical of BOT than the following article

http://alreporter.com/archives/2015/2015...-back.html

(10-02-2015 09:39 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Looks like the board wants a pound of flesh. They are also worried we will strike again in Montgomery.

I think this is nothing more than an attempted hit job and will go nowhere.

(10-02-2015 11:10 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  Jack is tight with Mike Hubbard. It's not a good look. I also think that he is too smart not to have understood the implications of that lobbying bill.

I think I wish he would admit that he is crooked, rather than the weak-ass excuse that he sponsored a bill and didn't know what was in it.

Text of my email to Bill Britt, Editor in Chief, Alabama Political Reporter:

I just read your article entitled “Breaking Investigative Report: More Potential Problems for Rep. Jack Williams”. Your reporter did a sloppy job of investigation. He/she continually describes Aldridge Gardens as a private non-profit garden or venue, when in fact Aldridge Gardens is owned by the City of Hoover Please see the article about Aldridge Gardens on the Encyclopedia of Alabama website: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3181 Quoting the article: Aldridge and his wife Kay made the property their home until 1994. That same year, the Aldridges conveyed the estate to the city of Hoover to be dedicated as a public garden in perpetuity.” …. “Aldridge Gardens is owned by the city of Hoover, and its operations are overseen by a board of directors;..” Since the gardens is a public entity, maybe that would explain why the “Sustaining Sponsors” are involved.

Recently state tourism department included Aldridge Gardens as part of the new Alabama Garden Trail and a new sign has been erected at the entrance of Aldridge Gardens, courtesy of a grant from that department. See link: http://hooversun.com/news/new-fountain-s...ardens612/ Maybe that would explain why the board overseeing the gardens might find a lobbyist on their staff useful. And instead of stating that Jack Williams had no skill that the gardens could use, why didn’t your reporter get off of his/her duff and actually ask the Diana Knight, President of their Board of Directors, why they employed Jack.

The article cited a lot of entries from Jack’s Ethics Commission’s disclosures which seemed to be conflict. Since some of the inconsistencies concern lists of his family members, I can’t understand why that is germane to the discussion. However, if your reporter wanted to know why the apparent inconsistencies exist and/or wanted to know more about his employment record, why didn’t you reporter ask Jack for explanations. Was this just part a smear campaign or is your reporter just lazy?

I would also like to know why this very sloppy article was written in the first place. It seems curious that the all of the recent attention came after Jack joined our successful campaign to return UAB football and it is well known the tentacles of University of Alabama Board of Trustees extend throughout the state. Is your organization party to their smear campaign?

I await your reply. Either that or perhaps we can discuss your motives more thoroughly on social media.

Signed

Bill Britt and the Alabama Political Reporter is no friend of Mike Hubbard's. They have shone a lot of light on him and his corruption, and on corruption in Montgomery in general. I have heard it said that he has ties/is friendly with the AEA. I don't know how accurate that is. The Alabama Political Reporter also has a Sunday TV show called "The V" which looks at Alabama politics and you can get their content on Facebook. In a general sense I agree with much of their reporting.

I don't know that the show has taken a position on the UAB vs. the BOT mess. If anything it looks to me as though they have avoided the subject.

(10-02-2015 12:12 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I think I wish he would admit that he is crooked, rather than the weak-ass excuse that he sponsored a bill and didn't know what was in it.

Hard to admit one of our biggest supporters may be dirty.

If he is he is, but until they have concrete proof or he's found guilty, I'm good with him.

Nothing but a hit piece that tries to draw lines with little evidence and lots of assumptions. The words "potential problems" in the title are a dead give away of the author's intentions for writing the article.

(10-02-2015 12:12 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I think I wish he would admit that he is crooked, rather than the weak-ass excuse that he sponsored a bill and didn't know what was in it.

Ha, an honest politician? Good luck. They are all doing similar crap all the time.

Politicians are as honest as the voters who elect them. The saying that the people get the government they deserve reflects this truth. The fact is that Hubbard was overwhelmingly reelected to his seat and then to his legislative post while under indictment. No one was fooled by any denials they did not wish to believe for their own agendas.

The Alabama politicians attack (and heap taxes on) the powerless. That's why they constantly attack their academic classroom teachers and public educators (but never their sports coaches) and their professional organization (AEA). They NEVER attack the Farm Bureau (the main protector of the million acre land holders keeping their taxes as close to zero as possible) or the Business Councils (a major protector of those out of state companies that go state tax free) who are the real powers funding politics in Montgomery. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

See the text of an email I sent to Bill Britt, Editor in Chief for the Alabama Political Reporter. This is the text of his response:

Your threats are not appreciated. Please refrain from making further threats or they will be met with an appropriate legal response.

And here is how I responded to him:

Is this your professional response?! A threat of a "legal response"? The only "threat" I made was the possibility of discussing my opinion that your reporting on this subject was lazy and sloppy on social media. Is this how a professional journalist reacts to an email like mine which points out problems in one of your articles? If your counter treat is legal action, I look forward hearing from your lawyer. I will publicize that as well and I am sure that my lawyer will be able to muster an appropriate response.

I would have thought instead that you would have either defended your reporting by pointing out information which may not have been evident or, alternatively, I would have expected an admission from you that due diligence in the investigation for the article was lacking.

Given the lack of quality of the article and the fact that your response was not that which would normally be expected from the Editor in Chief of a media website, I have come to the conclusion that you do not run a professional organization which can be relied upon to provide factual information to the general public.

Signed

Wow that guy is a piece of work. Tell him to bring it on! Good job Cajun.

(10-02-2015 01:44 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Politicians are as honest as the voters who elect them. The saying that the people get the government they deserve reflects this truth. The fact is that Hubbard was overwhelmingly reelected to his seat and then to his legislative post while under indictment. No one was fooled by any denials they did not wish to believe for their own agendas.

The Alabama politicians attack (and heap taxes on) the powerless. That's why they constantly attack their academic classroom teachers and public educators (but never their sports coaches) and their professional organization (AEA). They NEVER attack the Farm Bureau (the main protector of the million acre land holders keeping their taxes as close to zero as possible) or the Business Councils (a major protector of those out of state companies that go state tax free) who are the real powers funding politics in Montgomery. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

That's a complete crock. Most times elections are between two people and we have to decide which of the two we think will screw things up less. Who gets to run for office? Poor people from the streets or a farm in the middle of nowhere? Hell no. It's two seemingly well to do people who a majority of the time are white and male. We are no democracy in that aspect. A large portion of the population stands no chance at holding a public office because they don't have the money, power, or ties to do so.

(10-02-2015 02:59 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 01:44 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Politicians are as honest as the voters who elect them. The saying that the people get the government they deserve reflects this truth. The fact is that Hubbard was overwhelmingly reelected to his seat and then to his legislative post while under indictment. No one was fooled by any denials they did not wish to believe for their own agendas.

The Alabama politicians attack (and heap taxes on) the powerless. That's why they constantly attack their academic classroom teachers and public educators (but never their sports coaches) and their professional organization (AEA). They NEVER attack the Farm Bureau (the main protector of the million acre land holders keeping their taxes as close to zero as possible) or the Business Councils (a major protector of those out of state companies that go state tax free) who are the real powers funding politics in Montgomery. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

That's a complete crock. Most times elections are between two people and we have to decide which of the two we think will screw things up less. Who gets to run for office? Poor people from the streets or a farm in the middle of nowhere? Hell no. It's two seemingly well to do people who a majority of the time are white and male. We are no democracy in that aspect. A large portion of the population stands no chance at holding a public office because they don't have the money, power, or ties to do so.

You guys are missing the point. This is not about all politicians, this is about one person, Jack Williams, someone that I have come to know personally. Jack put his reputation and his career on the line for UAB and our football program. Jack told me during this effort that he expected blow back because of his efforts; by taking on the BOT how could he expect anything less. This is and the other recent "investigations" are probably a direct result.

Jack and I have totally different political philosophies and we are on different sides of many issues, but one thing I can categorically say about Jack is that he is an honest individual and he bleeds green and gold. That's good enough for me.

Jack is not dirty and I will stand with him anyday. He is loyal and a true believer of the green and gold.