Culver Becomes ACCA President

August 24, 2000

"President Hayes, Vice Presidents Williams and Flowers. Immediate Past President Jones, Past Presidents Menefee, Key, McCollum, McNair, Bennich and Dunn, members of the board of directors, fellow county officials, ladies and gentlemen.

Tonight's occasion, as we begin another year together, is both an exciting and a challenging one for me and for this association. Certainly I am honored to be elected president of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, a group of county elected officials that I believe is having a dramatic impact on the lives of people throughout our state. This Association has become a strong voice for Alabama county government and I take very seriously the challenge before me with this election as your president. It is a challenge that will require a commitment of time, energy and hard work that I recognize not only as an honor but also as a responsibility.

I realize that the leadership of the past presidents and the members of the board of directors and the hard work of the membership has placed our Association in a position that, honestly, few of us would have thought possible just a few years ago. And becoming president of this Association on the heels of Dunn, Bennich, McNair, McCollum, Key, Menefee, Jones and Hayes may put me in a position that some would consider difficult -- given how successful those former presidents have been and especially since I am so much younger than those old guys.

I guess, in a very limited way, I am feeling tonight what Doug Barfield felt at Auburn University when he replaced Shug Jordan and what Ray Perkins felt when he replaced Bear Bryant at that other little college across the state. Like the Auburn and Alabama alumni on those occasions, most of you are sitting out there tonight thinking, "Man, things have been going so well for so long, I hope this new guy doesn't get in there and foul it up!"…….Well, now that I think about it, I guess I'm thinking the same thing!

But I want you to know that I'm committed, with your help, to making sure that we continue the progress that has been made over the last several years. At the same time I am just as committed to looking toward some new challenges and some new goals that are very important to me and to our Association.

Tonight I am reminded of a scene from one of the best sports movies that I've ever seen, "Field of Dreams." During that movie the lead character, Kevin Costner, has a conversation with an old baseball player who, years before, had made it to the major leagues but was only allowed to play in one half inning on the season's final day when he was inserted in right field in the bottom of the ninth inning.

By the time the next season rolled around, the player had dropped out of baseball and he never made it back to the big leagues. During the scene, the baseball player -- Archie "Moonlight" Graham -- regrets not paying close attention to all the details of his single moment in the major leagues. And then, he says something that I think is very important for us tonight. He casts his eyes back to that one half inning in right field and he says, "You know, we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the ONLY day."

Tonight, as I look toward the next 12 months, I want us all to realize the importance of the work that we will perform together because, in our lifetimes, there may not be another "day" for counties like the one that we have before us in the coming year.

In November, Alabama voters will be asked to endorse a constitutional amendment that would clear the way for a bond issue of $250 million dollars for county bridge and road projects. This idea was just a gleam in the eye of former president Sam Jones two short years ago. And now, tonight, we stand 76 days before it becomes a reality. For it is only 76 days from now that voters will ratify Amendment 1, starting in motion the greatest investment in county roads and bridges in more than four decades. Not since the Folsom Farm-to-Market Road Program has this state focused in such a powerful way on its rural transportation system. And I say we have waited long enough.

There are a few people out there who are going to oppose this amendment. But we have overcome opposition before and we will overcome opposition again this time. I remember not too long ago another president & my predecessor on the Houston County Commission stood before you on a night like this one and said we should pass a law requiring all new county commissioners to take five courses of training during this first two years in office. They said we couldn't pass such a law, but we did.

I also remember another president saying we should construct a constitutional amendment severely restricting the legislature's ability to pass unfunded mandates on county government. They said we couldn't pass that one either, but we did.

And still another president, actually several presidents, said we should enact a new law linking county officials' salary to the size of the county and allowing for reasonable, automatic cost-of-living raises for local elected officials. They certainly said we couldn't pass that one -- the Omnibus Pay bill. In fact, they thought we were crazy. But we all know we did that, too.

In this room tonight there sits enough influence, enough elbow grease and enough determination to see that Amendment 1 passes this November. We just have to be as focused as we were on those other occasions. And I believe we will be.

Next year, when Billy Ray Williams stands before you as the new president, he is going to ask each of you about the new bridges that are being built in your districts. I know he is going to ask you that question because I believe in your ability to work on the local level to secure the passage of Amendment 1 76 days from now.

I can assure you that, unlike that old ball player, I realize -- and I know you realize, too -- the importance of the day and the opportunity that lies before us on this amendment. There will be other important days somewhere down the road, but it may be a long time before we have a day as important for rural transportation in our state as November 7, 2000.

I can't wait to get home and get to work and I know you are with me.

When that work is finished, we will turn our attention to a host of other challenges equally as important and exciting. Because, again, unlike that old baseball player, this is not our last season in the big leagues. We will come back next year and we don't intend to be content with playing right field, either. We are going to be hitting in the cleanup spot around here for a very long time so folks need to get used to it. This association has become a force in this State and we need to keep the momentum!

A few minutes ago I called the names of the former presidents of our Association who are still in office. These presidents serve on our board of directors as long as the public sees fit to keep them in office as county commissioners. In that role on the board, they provide for us outstanding leadership, the ability to look to the future with the knowledge of the past and -- to get right to the point -- they bring a great deal of political clout and leadership that benefits us all.

These gentlemen have given more to our association than most of you realize. The stature this Association enjoys today is the result of enormous commitment on the part of these past presidents, the board members who have served with them and our staff.

Our state is changing, every day. Those of you who used to live out in rural Alabama know very well what I mean because rural Alabama isn't the same place it was even five years ago. And things are only going to continue to change, but perhaps at a more rapid pace. Alabama is becoming a leader in the technology, automotive and aerospace industry, just to name a few. We're not a sleepy little state any more and we probably never will be again.

The Alabama Commerce Commission, whose report we heard on Wednesday, has set out an agenda for our state that has the potential to create an economic explosion in every Alabama county and the people in this room know first hand how desperately some parts of our state need economic growth. But as I read that report and as I listened on Wednesday, I began to wonder if our county governments are ready.

For all the improvements that have been made over the last six or seven years, county government in Alabama continues to operate under the same basic set of rules that were imposed in the constitution of 1901. Now, I realize there have been important though piecemeal changes like unfunded mandates and subdivision regulations, but the fact remains that there has been no MAJOR reform of county government in Alabama in 100 years. 100 YEARS.

This Association and many of the past presidents sitting here tonight have talked about home rule -- and I believe a couple of years ago Sam Jones began calling it "Self Governance" -- until they were blue in the face. As we look toward the first day of the year 2001, we do so in Alabama with a county government that can only utilize the authority granted to it in the year 1901 and self governance is only a part of the issue. Is it any wonder that the public doesn't understand when we look across the county commission table and say "We're sorry, we don't have the authority to help you with that problem"? Our county commissions are struggling with rules from the year 1901, while the voters that evaluate our performance are living in the year 2000. Now, that explains a lot of things that happen around election time, doesn't it?

Also during this convention we heard from two members of the Alabama Legislature that are working on constitutional reform. Each one of them had great ideas and is committed to seeing improvements in our state. Elsewhere in Alabama there are other groups and organizations working on the subject of constitutional revision. I don't know if this movement will get to first base this year but I believe that we must be prepared to be part of the effort when it happens. Almost everyone agrees that there needs to be some type of constitutional reform in our state and it is just a matter of time. We should be part of the process on the front end and be in the lead when it comes to fruition. I've seen this group get out front before and, you know, it could be that, at the proper time, constitutional reform will need a little push from the county commissions in this state so that our county concerns are addressed.

I want to make something perfectly clear tonight and I want each of you to listen to these words very carefully, because I believe they are extremely important to our state and to the future of county government……. Any effort to change Alabama's constitution, as the Commerce Commission recommended -- to bring it into the 21st century -- that does not focus on granting county governments the ability to deal with problems on the local level and to be organized in an efficient manner is a waste of time and will meet resistance. We cannot have constitutional reform in our state without reforming the portions of our constitution that hamstring the most local of all local governments -- our 67 county commissions. It is time for counties to draw the line in the dirt. People can talk all they want to about constitutional reform. But when they get around to working on the problem, tonight we serve notice that the structure of county government in our state had better be a part of their agenda. We simply cannot let this opportunity pass without addressing the problems of county government because again, we have waited long enough and the time is now.

Now I want to turn back to those past Presidents I mentioned earlier. When we do get serious about constitutional reform in our state, the Association must be ready with its position and its proposals for changes. Tonight I want to create the ACCA Presidential Task Force to begin work on this important matter. I am going to ask a person we honored today with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to County Government, Larry Bennich of Morgan County, to chair this Task Force and to develop a set of recommendations that can be considered first by our board of directors and then by our full membership. It will be asked to work on this important matter to the Association and continue to provide the capable leadership that each member showed as president. I know these leaders will continue to serve us well and I look forward to working along side of you.

I want to tell you about something else new that we are going to try this year. You may not be aware that prior to the 2000 regular legislation session your president Roger Hayes and I met with the presidents of the other elected officials groups to iron out some of the problems that existed with the Omnibus Pay Bill. I believe this frank and open discussion between our leadership and the leadership of the sheriffs, probate judges and tax officials was one of the reasons the bill passed this year.

At that time, we expressed an interest in continuing this cooperative spirit and we are going to extend an invitation to do just that. Your three officers, along with two other members of the ACCA Board, will ask the other elected officials' organization to appoint 5 persons each to form a 20-member Council of Alabama Elected County Officials that can work on legislation and other matters that are important to all four groups. That invitation will be extended to those groups in the next month so that we better understand each other and can get ready for the 2001 regular legislative session. We believe this effort has tremendous possibilities and that by working together we can create beneficial results for Counties in Alabama.

Another area that is very important to me and that I feel we must begin to address or we will never resolve is the area of fiscal responsibility. Don't misinterpret my meaning. I know that all of you are already fiscally responsible in your own county. That's not the fiscal responsibility I'm alluding to. What I am speaking of are the many ways that county government is used to fund areas that should be the responsibility of others. Well I don't like being used and I don't think you do either. It is time that the county-level of government is reimbursed properly for collecting business license and other fees for State and other levels of government. Most of us presently can't even cover our costs. It is time that the cities in this State that can afford to maintain roads in their corporate limits do so. The 67 county governments should not continue to shoulder the burden for municipal government that controls most of the tax base and has the ability to raise revenue whenever it sees fit. It is time that arresting entities were responsible for the incarceration costs of juveniles in our counties, a cost that is increasing every year. In Houston County our costs have risen from $250,000 in 1994 to $1,000,000 this year, a 400% increase in seven years, a trend that must be stopped. And finally, it is time that the State of Alabama takes control and responsiblity for its prisoners and relieves forced overcrowding in our county jails. I will consider my year a bit of a failure if next year at this time we still have such an enormous problem with overcrowding in our jails. According to the most recent count, more than 1500 state prisoners are in our county jails in violation of a court order requiring their swift removal. We cannot sit by and allow this disease to continue to fester.

The solutions to this and the other fiscal responsibility areas I mentioned will not be easy, will not be done over night, and will not be painless. But they are solutions that must be forged and issues that will not intimidate me ... nor should they intimidate you. They are the right thing to do and we should be about doing the right thing for county government in Alabama.

There are many other things we could -- and perhaps should -- discuss in detail but just don't have time tonight. It is time in our state to finally bring some sense to the business of land use in the rural areas; and our association will be a leader in advocating that position in the coming 12 months. We must move forward with two very important projects that are already underway -- the delivery of credit card usage in Alabama's courthouses and our innovative program to conduct joint bids for the purchase of materials and personal property. Both of these projects are in the beginning stages, but have the potential to produce very positive impacts for the taxpayers during the next year. We must continue to work for a solution to the problem of collecting sales taxes on internet transactions so as not to loose vital revenue. We are excited that this may be the year that most counties are able to "transition" their juvenile probation officers to the state of Alabama and get relief from that burden. We will continue to assist counties in their efforts to become technologically advanced by offering web page and access assistance. Counties must become active in economic development and we will be ready to work with the Commerce Commission to see to it. And I could go on and on but I won't. As I said, our Association is now one that people in Montgomery look toward for leadership. And I promise you tonight that I am ready to lead.

I began tonight by telling you that this is both an exciting and a challenging time. I hope that by now you understand a little bit about why we chose those two words. The next 12 months will have an immeasurable impact on the future of county government in our state. And I am honored to be a part of it.

As Alabama moves forward into the 21st century, it will do so at its own peril if it elects to leave its county government marred back in the 19th century. It is our task to see that such a grave mistake is not made. That task is a challenging one, but is also one that excites me, excites your board and, I trust, excites you as well.

Thank you for the honor of serving as your president. I promise to work hard for you so that this opportunity, this day won't be our only day.

Finally, before we adjourn, don't let me miss this chance to remind you to enjoy yourselves tonight, be careful on your way home tommorrow, but starting tommorrow let's work hard to get everyone to vote"YES" on Amendment 1and Amendment 3. Good night.