Bentley bites back, says scandal isn’t hurting state’s economy

MOBILE – Governor Bentley got feisty this week when reporters wouldn’t stay on topic.

As the Bentley-Mason scandal continues to make national headlines and state legislators threaten impeachment, Bentley remains determined to finish out his term as Governor of Alabama. He went down to Mobile on Friday to sign legislation that would provide tax credits to spur industrial growth and to generate more activity at the Alabama State Port Authority.

At the signing, Bentley spoke with reporters, but said he would only respond to questions about “jobs and people.” But the reporters wouldn’t back down, and asked if the scandal could hurt economic development in the state. At this, Bentley angrily stopped the reporter and asked, “Did you hear what I just said?” He then called the reporter’s question illegitimate.

Bentley’s response Friday shows a different side of the Governor than what he showed just a few days ago. At a press conference at the Limestone Correctional Facility on Monday, Bentley made what seemed to be a heartfelt and humble apology.

“I’ve asked God to forgive me because that’s the most important thing,” he said. “But I asked other people to again forgive me and I’ve already done that and I have truly asked the people of this state – they’re the folks who love me and are the best people in the world – I have asked them to forgive me.”

Two times this week, the Governor has claimed that the scandal would not affect job creation in the state, but many economic development professionals disagree. Yellowhammer spoke to a number of sources last week about the scandal’s potential economic impact.

“We’ve got all this momentum with aerospace and Airbus suppliers are moving in and Google’s coming to the state and fiber broadband is going in and then boom — just like that the momentum is stopped by a scandal that none of us can do anything about,” said one local economic developer. “To say it is frustrating would be understating it.”

Not everyone shares the same concerns, though. Jimmy Lyons, CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority, says the scandal hasn’t had the impact that many have feared.

“We talk to people all the time and they ask about it,” he said. “It’s more of a curiosity. I don’t detect that any of the people we are talking to have less faith in the state of Alabama.”