Fairhope City Council is as dysfunctional as a square bowling ball. Led by Council President Jack Burrell who has been president for going on 7 years. The council has achieved little in the last year other than obstruct the Mayorโs office. It was more of the same at the last council meeting when it came to light that not one of the council has discussed any issues related to the budget in the last two weeks, with the Mayor, as they said they would. Now the supreme commander and self proclaimed โmediatorโ of the council has said he wishes the budget be sent to the new โAPPOINTEDโ finance committee.
Hello! Is it not the responsibility of the City Council to review the budget and ask questions while developing solutions? They are the elected officials, not the โAPPOINTEDโ finance committee. Is King Jack going to use the finance committee to further obstruct the Mayor and city budget?
OPPOSITION / OBSTRUCTION
OPPOSITION / OBSTRUCTION | THE RIPP REPORT / BALDWIN COUNTY LEGAL EAGLE
Fairhope should now begin to see the writing on the wall. The Fairhope City Council is voting as a unit and the council president, Jack Burrell, is calling the shots. One thing that is perfectly clearโฆ
Why is this committee not made up of volunteers? Because the council cannot control volunteers. A familiar name has popped up on the newly appointed committee Mr. Chunk Zunk, formally of the Fairhope Airport Authority, FAA. He resigned from this position about the time President of the Council, Burrell, was accepting free jet service provided by another board member Ray Hix, who is partners with Fairhope Municipal Judge Snedeker. Zunk has defended Mr. Burrellโs free airplane flights, flawed RFPโs and any conflicts of interest Burrell may have as a council president or his position as the cityโs liaison to the FAA. All this is under investigation.
Airport Authority Selects New Leadership
Airport Authority Selects New Leadership
Fairhope, Alabama: newspaper, information, government, events, arts, music, entertainment, travel.
Source: thefairhopetimes.blogspot.com/2015/08/airport-authority-selects-new-leadership.html
Letโs hope that Mr. Zunk is not carrying Burrellโs water, he was on the Fairhope Finance committee in 2010 when Burrell was not President and Kant was Mayor. That volunteer finance committee did a very good job, letโs hope this committee is not going to follow Jackโs political agenda and looks out for the best interests of the city. Fairhope needs to be progressive because we are behind in infrastructure and many other areas due to poor policies of past administrations, that Burrell and Boone served on.
Fairhope Financial Chairman Warns: “City Not Meeting Financial Goals.” Special Council Meeting Called
Fairhope Financial Chairman Warns: “City Not Meeting Financial Goals.” Special Council Meeting Called
Fairhope, Alabama: newspaper, information, government, events, arts, music, entertainment, travel.
Source: thefairhopetimes.blogspot.com/2010/04/fairhope-financial-chairman-warns-city.html
The council is now going to pass itโs responsibility of overseeing the budget to a select group they appoint. Wake up Fairhope. We elected the council for the job, the finance committee should review the council suggestions to the budget first, then offer itโs opinion. It should not be used as a vehicle by council to further obstruct the city operations and delay the city budget.
Here are some observations by citizens paying attention:
I thought it was interesting how Robert Brown was the only Council Member to postpone a vote to hire a consultant to recommend how much the City can collect for impact fees and then how the impact fees are spent. Did anyone else notice that he didnโt even get a second on his motion to delay until finally Burrell seconded for him. Then I believe that Boone jumped in to vote against Conyers and Robinson. Why does Brown not want anyone else to look at where the Council is spending the cityโs money? Was this so that he and all of his developer buddies can pull as many permits as possible before we can collect fair impact fees?
How sad that Brown has turned into the biggest disappointment on the Councilโฆ.I guess he and his family will be moving after he helps to destroy Fairhope.
Brown is a builder and he wants impact fees as low as they can be because the higher the fees the harder it is to afford to build. You did note that there is a cap on fees which means the more expensive houses pay a lower % impact fee. I was surprised Burrell voted that way. I realize many of the council votes are routine and uncontroversial but I find it amazing that Burrell and Boone have voted the same on every single issue. There has also not been a single issue where they voted on the losing side. Sometimes itโs 3-2 or 4-1 but they have been in the majority.
Soccer Fields; my son plays in Fairhope youth soccer. The new $6 million fields arenโt level. It is sad because the council said it would be โworld class.โ
The kids are embarrassed by their โnewโ fields that arenโt even level!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New soccer complex construction underway in Fairhope
The City of Fairhope is building a new soccer complex. 40 ACRES, NINE FIELDS. Construction began earlier this year on a 40 acre soccer complex at Manley Road and County Road 13.
Source:http://www.fox10tv.com/story/30508841/update-new-soccer-complex-in-fairhope
The fields not being level has come up many times and mostly by the kids playing on the fields. What started at an estimated 3.5 million is now approaching 6 million, for a sub standard facility that more resembles practice fields not tournaments fields.
Jack Burrell was council president when the triangle lawsuit, sewer plant, gift of wetlands to the city, soccer fields, golf course, library and city buildings in need of renovation, and all the mess at the Airport occurred, so was his trusted amigo Boone.
YOU DONโT KNOW JACK
YOU DONโT KNOW JACK | THE RIPP REPORT / BALDWIN COUNTY LEGAL EAGLE
I have followed four Fairhope city councils and one thing I can tell you is with each new council several things became abundantly clear. The new members of the council are usually influenced byโฆ
Jack also has said the sewer spills are unavoidable and he and Boone said nothing when 10 million dollars was transferred from utilities to the general budget, in 15 and 16, for non-utility expenses, damn the infrastructure.
RE-GIFT GIFT ??
RE-GIFT GIFT ?? | THE RIPP REPORT / BALDWIN COUNTY LEGAL EAGLE
ATTENTION FAIRHOPE TAXPAYERS FW: Fly Creek PUD Amendment & the Deed to the City of the Most Sensitive 4 Acres Mitsy, โemail to all council members and Mayor Wilson would greatly benefit the City.
From your observation point you should see by now Jack is not a leader and has a poor track record as council president. The council is putting all itโs eggs in Burrellโs basket, if he falls all the eggs break.
Burrell will soon no longer be a factor.
I noticed today while checking out new real estate listings that Robert Brown has listed his home for sale. I wonder if he is moving out of town because of the ‘unavoidable’ sewer issues or if he and his family are receiving some negative feedback from his Council actions?
The highlite is…maybe everyone of these worms move..but, they can never go far enough away, unless they leave the country, to avoid prosecution and public humiliation for all of their misdeeds and criminal kick backs. The truth will come to light. All it takes is a very small pinprick size dot to pierce darkness. We are getting there…and we all need to make phone calls to anyone who will listen..that the committee appointed by the council for financial oversight, must certainly be rescinded. This committee must be kept away from the council influence at all cost.
Is there reason to believe that the Committee is dishonest? I don’t know anything about the Members or how they were selected, but I would bet that no one with any assets would accept these positions if they had less than stellar intentions to do the best for Fairhope and Mobile Bay (that includes Fly Creek).
I was also so happy to hear that the State Attorney General’s office is beginning to pay a good bit of attention to our little cesspool!
Can you imagine that, if anyone on this Committee has ulterior motives, how high their damages could go or how long their prison sentence could be? Hell has no fury like a woman who cannot allow her children to swim in her backyard bay!
The 3 B’s are toxic waste……can we not get a petition and remove them from office? I am all for being fair, but Monday night sent a clear message…….even if Boone & Burrell don’t agree with Brown, they will vote with him (and vice versa).
No tax paying citizen deserves to be represented by this little coward coalition.
No one said the committee is corrupt,it is appointed
Then have our Mayor appoint this committee, not the council. Period. To avoid what we seem to always deal with…anyone but that council.
Its not inherent that this committee is dishonest, necessarily. But to err on the side of caution, from being bit too many times, it would be clearly logical to not allow this council to appoint this committee.
Georgia, do you volunteer to help the city? Have you ever volunteered to help this city? You move here from Georiga, right? Why? If this city is so poorly run why did you come here? And the only person with a criminal defense attorney within the city government is the mayor. All I ask is for the people that criticize everyone to have tried to do something positive to change this city before they start pointing fingers. I would have loved to serve on the committee, I would make the mayor have 3 columns on the budget, 2016, 2017 as is, then 2017 as she wants to recategorizes the items. Let everyone compare apples to apples. Idle minds create idle gossip!
No one should be surprised how awful a job that Jack Burrell is doing. This son of a bitch has screwed every last one of us including his own council. Council President for the past 7 years. What a waste of oxygen. Get this excuse for birth control out of Fairhope before it’s too late. The nasty guys who flank him during the Fairhope City Council meetings should be clearly ran out of town. It’s sickening to look at all the videos of the Council meetings and see without question how Jack Burrell is one sorry ass human being with no concern for Fairhope. Brown and Boone should all be put in prison with Burrell for the crap that they have put this city through!!! How much longer is this crap going to continue.
Follow the $$$. Audit sewer. Audit soccer field.
Has Burrell committed any crimes or is he just an Ahole sob?
If the first is true why has he not been indicted?
The videos of the meetings I have watched he is definitely guilty of the second!
I believe there will be indictments. However, for as many years as we have had to deal w an unethical Ethics Commission, and a city attorney in bed with all these Fairhope scoundrels…it is a pure blessing we have gotten this far…and this all never would have come to the light of day if Kant were still in office. Thank you, thank you, thank you Mayor Karin
As far as is Jack just an a**hole…no human behaves in the manner he behaves, and council looks the other way, if they ALL were not terrified of being found out. There is much blackmailing going around this town right now, I can guarantee you that. There is no other reason for the councils complicity to Jack otherwise.
Alabama is number one, hands down, when it comes to political corruption and the Ethics Commission is a joke.
Until the good people of Fairhope other than Paul Ripp and Karin Wilson speak out against Burrell and Snedeker et al…Fairhope the city is in trouble. They are thieves.
Funniest thing I heard in a while was that Fairhope is run by a Mississippi State grad.
Ran into the ground!!!
This site is a good start for people to hear about some of the things going on in this town, however, if you are interested in getting rid of the scoundrels then start showing up for the City Council meetings and get up and walk to the podium and start asking questions and being a citizen of this town then tell them how you feel about what is going on and exactly what you expect them to do. Is it too much to ask the Mayor and City Council to take care of the business of the city ?? It is raining heavy right now at my house and I am thinking about the sewer problems in Fairhope. We as citizens could not care less about which one of them has the last word or has control of someone else and can make the other one look bad. THAT IS NOT WHAT THEY WERE ELECTED TO DO!!!!
Speak at a Council meeting? You could get thrown in jail
FUNNY!! I suppose this is your attempt at humor!! Get off your ROYAL ASS AND DO SOMETHING OR SHUT UP!!!!
What is wrong with all the men in Fairhope being scared of Burrell?
I guess Paul Ripp is the only man in town.
Jack has a mean right cross according to reports. He is also known as a cheap shot artist. Gonna have to strike first. Get his nose.
I live near the soccer complex. One neighborhood over, off 44. I rode by on 13 daily when they constructed the new fields. First of all, the property was not level to begin with. It was undulating plain with a high side and a low side. The SUMMIT contractors (written on their white work trucks) had to haul in hundreds of loads of dirt in an effort to level the fields.t
So, first of all, they chose to build soccer fields on uneven ground and then brought in their own dirt to level it. This cost extra money. They then had to pay the bulldozer folks to grade it out, and make the fields. This went on for weeks. The task of leveling the fields are difficult, as they are placed at different levels. I don’t know if the engineers knew they had to be level for tournament play, but they ignored that fact and delivered a sub-par, practice field complex without locker rooms for $6.7 million.
SUMMIT is owned by Clarence Burke. Fyi.
There were sub contractors on the job also. I think the entire thing stinks. No one ever cared about the fields and the kids. It was all about the contract.
Amen on the soccer fields. County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey had one of his LLC companies deliver some dirt. They all can go to hell as far as I’m concerned. Level is meant for ANY type of work or building. Soccer fields, out houses, barns ( my granddaddy leveled his dirt where he built a barn!) so I ask you why??? With all that money spent, even more than the 6.7 you mentioned, we have a crappy soccer field where no one can conveniently eat and certainly can not spend the night. As I was driving past last night about 8pm. I noticed the parking lot (the inadequate parking lot) had all the lights on. How much is this costing us per night when no one at all is even in the parking lot and the lights are off on the fields.
Tim Kant promised a ‘world-class’ soccer facility that would attract eco-tourism and sports fans.
Tim Kant was Corte’s bitch; Kant has been replaced by Robert Brown, who now owns Boone & Burrell b/c they all have so many skeletons in their bars.
I have NO sympathy for Boone & Burrell, but I feel sorry for Brown and his family….he does not appear to be very intelligent and I think that he is caught up with being ‘in charge’ of something.
Jay Robinson began his Council term making stupid remarks, but he has grown up and into his position. How I wish that Brown would do the same.
Go back and watch the video of the last Council meeting where Brown states that ‘the Council’ are the only votes that matter as to impact fees and how they are spent. He was the only Council member who had issues. What is he hiding? His head is bigger than Kant’s stupid flower clock!
I understand that he is selling his home. Who wants to bet that a Corte buys it for a massive gain to Brown? Fairhope is toast if Brown is a crook……fingers crossed that I am ill-informed.
The only thing Jay has grown into is a dick.
He and Conyers are lap dogs for Jack.
Jack says lick and they say sure.
Poor ole Gerogia, there you go again. Robert Brown is highly intelligent that listens, and he doesn’t speak just to hear himself speak. Perhaps you should try this tactic when posting. You are ill-informed if your information is from the gossip circles around this town. I willing to bet that if your real name was exposed, you would have cobwebs on your skeletons.
To anonymous about poor ole Georgia. Go back to school and learn how to write. I can see why you put Anonymous. You don’t want anyone to know who you are because you are illiterate. You should get someone to help you write when you post something. I can see that it doesn’t take much for you to think that someone is intelligent. She possibly might have cobwebs on her skeleton, but it’s a fact that you have a huge empty hole In your head. Must be drinking buddies with Burrell and Boone and Brown. The three B’s of Fairhope!
Mr Brown is new to the office and there are numerous issues that he does not know the history or does not care, such as the Airport, Sewer infrastructure and of course the unfinished soccer fields. He is a developer and his partner is on the single tax colony board, what the hell do you expect, he will not be reelected.
The soccer complex isn’t finished from what I heard. But, it does look subpar. I was expecting something nicer for the price tag. I heard that because the fields are not level they will not be allowed to host tourneys. This is why they were built to attract sports tourism like Foley.
Foley must have smarter politicians and people.
No one knows the real price tag. It was a good ole boy deal in the middle of a real estate recession, and we paid top dollar for a piece of land with a 22% slope, for future sports. I guess maybe down hill skiing? More money is trying to be raised now to try and finish the project. It is estimated at 5 to 7 million, INSANE! taxpayers should demand forensic audit of money and contractors.