CULLMAN — Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little (D-Cullman) will hold a forum Tuesday to hear public input on the fate of a newly-formed county water cooperative, and on the county’s three-commissioner form of government.

The forum will be held Tuesday, May 25 at 6 p.m. at the Cullman Civic Center. Other members of the local legislative delegation are also welcome to attend the forum, noted Little.

In response to an inundation of calls and letters, Little said he is holding the session to offer county residents a first step in expressing whether they would like to see intervention by the Alabama  Legislature on two issues: the fate of the South Cumberland Cooperative District (SCCD) and its oversight board, the Government Utility Services Corporation of Cullman County (GUSC); and whether a consensus exists on converting the three-member commission form of county government to a five-member commission.

Little said the forum is not meant to imply legislative intervention at this point, but to let county residents know what their options are—and for him to gain a better understanding of what the will of public is on both the water co-op and the continuation of the current three-member commission form of government.

Similarly, the goal of holding Tuesday’s forum is not to preempt the authority of local officials involved in creating the GUSC and SCCD. Rather, said Little, he hopes to see the public will be effective at the local level.

But, he added, if the county commission appears unresponsive to a consensus of public opinion that demonstrates a dissatisfaction with the manner in which the two bodies were formed, the Legislature can—and will—get involved.

“Philosophically, my stance has always been that I’m elected to represent this area in the state Senate,” said Little. “We have elected county commissioners, mayors and councilmen who run the cities and the counties. I don’t get in their way and tell them how to do their business. Our position as a local delegation has always been that—if the county commission wants us to do something—we ask them to pass a resolution asking us to do it, and we do it.

“But if this new commission, after the elections, wants to go to a five-member commission; if they pass a resolution to that effect, I’ll introduce a local bill and tie it to a referendum allowing the people to decide in this county whether they want to change the form of government from a three-member commission to a five-member commission. That also applies to the GUSC as well.

“I feel confident that we can get a bill passed. We’re laying out the options,” Little continued. “I want to hear from the people what it is that they want—these are two options that I will consider doing. The local delegation will need to meet and come to a consensus and come to an agreement on it.”

The forum comes in response to a flood of input Little said he has received on the two issues in recent weeks.

“My phone has rung off the hook since this [the formation of the county water cooperative] happened. And I have, for years, gotten complaints from a few on this, but now it’s just overwhelming: people are wanting to go to a five-member county commission,” he said. “I have checked with the Legislative Reference Service, and it would be four commissioners who are part-time, and run in districts that are divided according to population. It would be reapportioned every 10 years according to the census. All four districts would be equal in population, and then you would have one chairman who runs county-wide.

“People don’t really know what has happened—they don’t understand it,” he added. “I get all kinds of questions about what this means, even from employees [of the South Cumberland Cooperative District water department]. They’re concerned. There’s a question as to whether or not the county can actually lease employees to this entity, as they’re proposing to do. Obviously, this is a state statute, and there may be a legitimate reason this is being done. I don’t know what it is, though. I am getting just a lot of concern from people, and there needs to be public discussion about this issue. People are concerned that the commission is not giving them that.”

The lack of public input ahead of the fact has been a stumbling block to public support for the new water entities since their creation on April 27, said Little.

“You look at where we are, in this county: overall, Cullman is doing almost everything right. We’ve replaced more jobs than we’ve lost, and with better jobs. We’ve got ID [industrial development] boards from the city and county working together. We’ve got a great economic development team in the City of Cullman, and a wonderful county economic development office that helps our small towns immensely. We have the best Chamber [of commerce] in the state. We are doing just about everything as well as we can do it.

“But, he added, “this issue can mess all that up—water. It is the one piece right now that, if we don’t solve it, could jeopardize our future success 15 or 20 years down the road. This is a major, major step.

“This county commission—with this GUSC that they’ve created—has given a non-elected board the power of eminent domain. Now that’s a major step. It concerns me—giving a non-elected board power of eminent domain. Neither this GUSC nor this co-op are elected by the people. I’m not saying eminent domain is never appropriate by an elected board. But if there’s nothing to hide, why not do it that way? The other issue that I also see is that this entity is exempt from the competitive bid law. Section 11-97-20 [of the Code of Alabama] allows the exemption from the competitive bid law for this entity, and that’s major.”

Little said he would make copies of the GUSC statute available at the meeting.

Those who would like to view the statute online can do so anytime by visiting www.legislature.state.al.us/codeofalabama/1975/coatoc.htm and clicking on “Title 11 COUNTIES AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS” in the lefthand frame panel. From there, click on “Title 3 PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO COUNTIES AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS” in the righthand frame panel, and then just scroll down to Chapter 97, which runs from Section 11-97-1 to Section 11-97-27.

The Details

WHAT: A public forum hosted by Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little (D-Cullman)

WHEN: Tuesday, May 25 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Cullman Civic Center

WHY: To glean public comment on two issues Sen. Little said have generated an outpouring of concern from constituents in Cullman County:

1. The future of the South Cumberland Cooperative District (formerly the Cullman County Water Department), as well as the Governmental Utility Services Corporation of Cullman County (GUSC).

2. The possibility of introducing an amendment referendum to restructure the Cullman County Commission as a five-member representative body, instead of the current three-member body.

* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.