Alabama Ethics Commission is an organization that doles out immunity from prosecution to politicians seeking legal graft.
The Ripp Report has filed numerous complaints with the Ethics commission in the last dozen years. Complaints ranging from the BP Oil Spill and our, last State Senator, boom boom Pittman, who skimmed a cool $750.000.00 for his personal company, while being the trustee of the funds. Pittman’s Bible buddy, Jack Burrell, and the lawyers and judges, who all were involved with the “alleged” bid-rigging at the Fairhope, “Jack Burrell Airport.” Former councilman Robert Brown who at the same time was on the Fairhope Art Center board, awarded himself a 300,000 plus contract. The Ethics Commission found nothing wrong, everyone just collected his money and kept on trucking.
The Ripp Report filed a complaint against the Ethics Commission itself for not enforcing it own rules. They had no sense of humor and dismissed the complaint citing they were immune from complaints against themselves, Ha. We are aware of dozens of complaints, filed by numerous people, that have either been dismissed or batted around like something was being done only to have the complaint fall into the Ethics black hole file.
The Ethics Commission has now reached a milestone in hypocrisy. With every complaint they have dismissed, they provide either a simple dismissal or some jackass ignorant explanation why, what may appear to some people as illegal or unethical is actually perfectly legal and ethical. The Ethics Opinion they issue guarantees, the individual,”politician,” that he has been granted immunity from prosecution. I am not making this up.
Get ready to hear how Regions Bank and the Head of the Alabama Ethics Commission, Mr Tom Albritton, are going to spread enough bullshit to fertilize the entire state.
Please get a Lagniappe and read this article. It explains why corruption flourishes through the entire state, especially Baldwin County.
Self-dealing? — Ethics director’s kids’ tuition paid from trust he oversees
Lagniappe | Posted by Rob Holbert | Jun 29, 2021
As director of the Alabama Ethics Commission, Tom Albritton is the state’s policeman for conflicts of interest and ethical breaches that can arise throughout all levels of government, but having a private charitable trust he helps oversee pay more than $100,000 for his kids’ college tuition is r…
Lagniappe subscription not required.
Source: https://ethics.alabama.gov/directors-welcome.aspx
Please read the second sentence of the above website statement: the mission of the Alabama Ethics Commission, and then keep in mind that the Director Tom Albritton, of the same Ethics Commission is skimming a trust for the underprivileged for his personal gain.
“The Internal Revenue Service Section 4941(d) description of self-dealing would appear to prohibit a trust from paying tuition or other expenses for a trustee’s child or children, as that would directly benefit the trustee, referred to in the will as a “disqualified person.”
“(1) In general for purposes of this section, the term “self-dealing” means any direct or indirect — (A) sale or exchange, or leasing, of property between a private foundation and a disqualified person; (B) lending of money or other extension of credit between a private foundation and a disqualified person; (C) furnishing of goods, services or facilities between a private foundation and a disqualified person; (D) payment of compensation (or payment or reimbursement of expenses) by a private foundation to a disqualified person; (E) transfer to, or use by or for the benefit of, a disqualified person of the income or assets of a private foundation; and (F) agreement by a private foundation to make any payment of money or other property to a government official (as defined in section 4946(c)), other than an agreement to employ such individual for any period after the termination of his government service if such individual is terminating his government service within a 90-day period.”
“Richard Fording stumbled upon the Mabel Amos Scholarship that was being awarded each year in the Department of Political Science.
Fording, who is the Marilyn Williams Elmore and John Durr Elmore Endowed Professor in that department, said a colleague told him the department had a scholarship named after Amos. Well, sort of.
“We had it on our website as Amos Mabel Sanders, so we had it backwards — it’s supposed to be Mabel Sanders Amos, and she was the first female secretary of state in Alabama,” Fording said.
He looked her up and noted that she had been the first female secretary of state, and the personal secretary to six governors, but also that her time as secretary of state coincided with Gov. George Wallace’s attempts to thwart integration.
Fording first found no evidence the trust was doing anything to target and help the African American community in Alabama, having donated just $500 to a Historically Black College or University — Tuskegee University.
He also noticed Regions Bank had received what he considered an inordinately large amount of money for managing the fund — more than $1 million since its inception.”
“So it turns out one of the board members, I discovered, their two children had received a total of $105,000 through 2018 to attend the University of Texas. That board member was Tom Albritton, the director of our State Ethics Commission.”
The African American Community gets $500.00 and the Director of Alabama Ethics gets $105.000.00 while Regions Bank gets a cool million! What is Ethical about this?
The Ripp Report will keep you updated as to where and when you need to bring your wheelbarrow for free manure provided by the Director of the Ethics Commission, who personally will shovel you a “load”.
Mr. Albritton should resign immediately.
Ripp,
The Alabama “Ethics” (cough) Commission is a joke. As a state employee, I have to watch a computerized ethics course that this commission produces. It takes over an hour to suffer through
Half the time I am laughing and the other time I am trying not to throw up.
This commission is a disgrace to the concept of ethics
As one of your readers put it, “The Alabama Ethics Commission looks after ethics like a pimp looks after his hookers’ virginity.”
Thomas B. Albritton of Andalusia- not to be confused with House Rep. Greg Albritton from Evergreen.
Watch yourself Ripp. These are Christians you’re exposing. They may start praying for you. Thanks for trying.
Don’t underestimate Ripp. He is a tough old Marine
He can hold his own against the fake Christian pussies that never served in the military. The current politicians are weaklings that have never had to go through what Ripp has
Hey you Catalysts: Ripp has exposed you for what you are. Burrell tried to come after him and Ripp made bank
Boone had to stop the council meeting so he could run and hide
Oh yes. Call out these guys and you will see the lying cowards that they are
This is the dirty south. No looney old man with a website is gonna make a hill of beans difference in local politics. The system works for the select few. We ain’t one of em. Get that through yiur thick heads.
Don’t be so negative, Mr Collins
Ripp is growing an audience day by day
Whether Ripp is kooky or not, people are reading his blog and the local corrupt politicians are nervous
They tried to make him look crazy with Baldwin Insider but Ripp exposed them
Burrell threatened to put him in jail but Ripp sued him and won.
When Ripp exposed the council during a meeting, Boone had to stop the meeting and ran out of the room.
Ripp is a force to be contended with
You are wrong we have made a difference many times. You never succeed if you never try.
Unscrupulous.
Fairhope now has 53k metro area. When is the new high school being built?
As soon as they can tax you for it. Ha ha ha
You folks in Baldwin are a bunch of fools just waiting to be taxed and governed. But hey at least the political machine say they are Christian conservatives Does that make you feel better, Richard?
Unethical ethics Commission is an indication of a corrupt state.
There will be no new high school. There is no money. I suggest private school if you are smart.
TAXES Fairhope wants its own School System
Sad that people read this site as “NEWS”. Catalyst and the machine run this place. There is nothing you can do because the judges and law enforcement work for them. So Mister Ripp you cry about the ethics when the solution is just to stop and move your a** to another place to live!!!
Hey “Catalyst Strong”
Let us just watch the next election. WE THE PEOPLE are TARGETING Catalyst candidates. We know who finances Catalyst candidates. We will be watching for the donations. Catalyst candidates hide their payments to Catalyst (or whatever the name will be then) until after the election. You see, we can do research. We know who you are, We know your tactics. We know how you operate. We have been studying your moves and have gone back and watched Lynn Stacey’s organization morph into Elliot Haygood and Stacey, watched it morph into Catalyst, and watched it morph into Scott Boone Consulting. We have followed the money. We even know who you buy those 4X4 signs from. We even know the people you hire to put them up. We even know who your propaganda people are. We even know who your king contributors are. We will identify Catalyst candidates and out them to the voters.
Go ahead and hide your tracks. We will still find you…..
A mistake was made a couple of times in the original post. “Greg” Albritton was named instead of Tom Albrittion. Sorry for the mistake it will be corrected.
Nothing will be done. His dad is a federal judge and his brother works for the state attorney generals office. And this is a family that needed money to fund their kids education which could’ve gone to families of smart kids who couldn’t afford it?? My kids have student loans that are going to shoulder them for the rest of their lives and I try to help them out the best way I could. His kids go to school for free on the scholarship that the foundation board he served on award of them. So disgusting. The family should get involved and there should be a civil suit to get this money back if nothing criminal ever happens which probably won’t. The system is screwed and so our we.