As my colleague Jim Ziegler reported, the Alabama Policy Institute is replicating Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) model for the state of Alabama.
ALDOGE will focus on more than just cost savings. It will tackle issues like regulatory overreach and misuse of taxpayer funds. For example, over the last decade with stagnant growth, public school support staff positions have increased by 3,332 and state government vehicle registrations grew by 801 from 2014 to 2023. Such trends highlight the need for more accountability in how taxpayer dollars are allocated.
ALDOGE’s ultimate goal is to streamline bureaucracy, cut red tape, reduce inefficiencies, and ensure Alabama taxpayers receive the best return on their dollar. ALDOGE also seeks to restore self-governance, a sentiment shared by Vivek Ramaswamy, who stated, ‘DOGE’s full success will be measured not just in cost savings, but in restoring self-governance in America.’
There are more than a few Alabama municipalities which could use the ALDOGE treatment.
The City of Athens is one of them. Just look at the Athens-Limestone County Public Library Board of Trustees. As 1819 reported last August, a meeting discussing revised library guidelines erupted into controversy, with Board Chairman Chris Anderson losing control of the meeting. This library board receives $130,000 annually, but like the Athens City Council – which has dictated the board’s chairman for the past 15 years – there appears to be skirting of accountability on both the city and county boards.
Chris Anderson has held the chair position for over 15 years, despite other qualified people applying for the chair during that time. According to a 2016 City of Athens resolution, the Athens City Council appointed Anderson for another four-year term until Sept. 30, 2020.
Carissa Callan, who applied for a library board appointment in September 2024, questioned how Anderson was still chairman of the board when bylaws reflected a four-year term limit. Callan received the following response from Holly Hollman, City of Athens Grant Coordinator/Communications Specialist:
Good morning. City staff passed your request for information on to me. I understand you are asking about Chris Anderson’s prior term of service on the library board, and why you can’t find a reappointment resolution from 2020. I can help.
There was no council resolution relating to Mr. Anderson’s library board service in 2020. Instead, in the recent time frame, Mr. Anderson has been a holdover appointee on the library board. As a holdover appointee, he continued to serve in that position, subject to being reappointed or replaced by the council at any point. He is no longer a holdover appointee. The council reappointed Mr. Anderson to the library board in August 2024.
Anderson is a CPA and partner in the firm of Mauldin & Jenkins. As an accountant, he does not appear to have any experience in library management or science. Anderson also holds the position of accountant for the City of Athens. Further, the firm Mauldin & Jenkins is the same firm which does independent audits for the Athens-Limestone Public Library Board of Trustees.
Conflicts of interest, much?
Because of the inconsistencies in legal documents and the actions of the Library Board of Trustees, an independent legal audit was commissioned and paid for by concerned citizens of Limestone County, Madison County, and the City of Athens, as well as GOP groups. The audit was performed by Bachus, Brom & Taylor LLC.
The audit revealed that the Library Board, which was first commissioned in 2001 as a county board, has operated as a municipal board (city only) since 2009, even though the Athens-Limestone Public Library Board of Trustees claimed for 15 years in their submitted policy and bylaws that they were a joint library board.
August 2009 The City of Athens ‘re-established’ a municipal library board under § 11-90-1 (Resolution 2009-1116), with appointments made by the city council (Resolution 2009-1121).
September 2009 The Board of Directors of the public library authority adopted a resolution dissolving the public corporation, turning control of the library over to the municipal library board that had just been re-established by the city.
There appear to be a number of issues surrounding the Athens-Limestone Public Library, so much so that the Limestone County Commission has called a special meeting to discuss the constitution of the board of trustees. Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly signed and sent out the notice.
Notice is hereby given of a specially called meeting of the Limestone County Commission to be jointly held with the City Council for the City of Athens, Alabama for the purpose of the consideration of the creation of a joint library service and board. Said meeting is held pursuant to [S]11-3-8 of the Code of Alabama of 1975, as amended. The agenda of the special meeting shall include the consideration of the adoption of the Joint Library Service Agreement, establishing a joint library service and board. The meeting shall be held on Monday, January 6, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at the Commission Chambers located at the Clinton Street Courthouse Annex, 100 South Clinton Street, 2nd Floor, Athens, AL 35611.
Concerned Limestone County citizens are organizing to attend this meeting and make their voices heard. These citizens of Limestone County would be wise to request the presence of an ALDOGE representative. As past meetings involving the Athens City Council have shown, they seem to have little interest in citizen self-governance.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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