“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential.
1.AEA vs. RSA
The hottest buzz among Montgomery insiders right now is the covert war between AEA (Alabama Education Association) and RSA (Retirement Systems of Alabama) that has finally bubbled up to the surface. The two traditionally Democrat-friendly Montgomery powerhouses are fighting over control of the Teachers Retirement System board.
To say RSA chief David Bronner and AEA head Henry Mabry have a clash of personalities would be an understatement. Mabry is going after Bronner hard for horrible returns and questionable investments. Mabry’s power play to take control of the TRS board has been met with fierce opposition from Bronner & co.
Most insiders see Mabry’s motive being to take control of the board so he can underfund the system to give more raises to his members at the expense of the taxpayers. It’s also rumored that he wants to take control of the Teacher Retirement System investments.
One interesting nugget is that AEA runs the elections for the RSA board positions. The chain of custody for the majority of ballots, which come from AEA members, lies with AEA. Objective onlookers see clear oversite issues with the elections process.
The latest rumbling is that some in the legislature are taking a hard look at whether or not AEA and ASEA (Alabama State Employees Association) controlling ballot chain of custody for board elections is acceptable for the sanctity of RSA board elections.
Stay tuned.
2. Alabama Set to Play Major Role in U.S. Agriculture Policy
Congressman Mike Rogers (AL-03) returns to the House Committee on Agriculture for the 113th Congress where he will serve as a senior member. He will join on the committee fellow members of the Alabama delegation Martha Roby (AL-02) and Terri Sewell (AL-07). Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) was also named Chairman of Agriculture Subcommittee for the House Committee on Appropriations.
D.C. insiders also noted that Rogers’ return to the Ag Committee as a senior member positions him close to the top when the Chair opens in 2014. That’ll be something worth keeping an eye on.
3. ALGOP Winter Dinner Difficulties:
The ALGOP winter dinner is only three weeks away and they still have not announced a headliner. A State Party insider told Yellowhammer earlier this week that they are having difficulty finding a speaker because no notable leaders want to cross the Governor or other prominent Alabama elected officials by headlining Chairman Armistead’s event. They may find an elected official SOMEWHERE who doesn’t have a relationship with elected leaders in Alabama, but until they do, they’ll be speakerless.
4. Senate District 35 Special Election update:
About three weeks out from election day, Rep. Jim Barton has brought on two campaign veterans, Michael Joffrion & Ryan Adams, to oversee the campaign’s GOTV efforts. “Joff,” as he is known in political circles, was the Political Director for the ALGOP during the 2010 election cycle and went on to be North Carolina State Director for Romney for President — one of the few bright spots on election day for the Romney camp. Adams was the ALGOP Deputy Political Director during 2010 and was Grassroots Coordinator at the D.C.-based Leadership Institute prior to recently moving back to Alabama.
Howard Jones, campaign manager for Nick Matranga, was kind enough to shoot us an email about the status of their campaign. “Rest assured, the Matranga campaign has the necessary resources to keep our candidate viable and to mount a competitive race,” Jones emailed. “As a first time political candidate Nick came in only 400 votes shy of facing the incumbent commissioner in the run-off election last March for Mobile County Commission place 3. That was a 5 man race (19,394 total votes).”
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