Devalued Awards and appointed positions in the black community like that of the Alabama Conference of Black Mayors are killing the actual achievements of regular folks at the grassroots level who do actual work in the community and not some member of some click. The current ACBM leadership under North Courtland, AL is questionable at best and shameful at worst. The current President of the ACBM couldn’t hold a candle to the three female mayors listed below and I wonder how he got the position when any of them would have been a better choice:
Vice-President Honorable Mayor Jacqulyn Boone, Fort Deposit, AL
Secretary, Honorable Mayor Luvernia Lumpkin, Orrville, AL
Assistant Secretary, Honorable Mayor Gwendolyn Rogers, Linden, AL
Our black organizations are losing credibility due to devalued awards and positions given to people not based on accomplishments but based on who’s turn is it, who knows who, or who kissed the most butt during the nomination process. The Board of Directors, Honorable Helenor Bell, Honorable John McGowan, Honorable Raymond Steele, and Honorable Vickie Moore all failed and killed the accomplishments of the other candidates by not doing their research if they had done it here’s what they would’ve found about the current ACBM President, Honorable Mayor Riley Evans, Sr., North Courtland, AL:
- North Courtland, AL is a “food desert” where its citizens have to drive 9 or more miles to get groceries and the grocery store was lost on his watch.
- Mayor Evans was “missing in action” when North Courtland was about to lose their solid waste contract and was in Selma, AL picking up trash from the tornadoes at the exact same time his city and border city (Courtland, AL) were having a crisis and he never participated in negotiations and left it up to the neighboring mayor Peebles to fix the issue. Two local newspapers (Moulton, Advertiser & Decatur Daily mentioned/noticed his absence so check that out. To make matters worse Mayor Evans bought a dump truck that has yet to run a route. *No pictures of Mayor Evans ever surfaced of him cleaning up trash in his own community despite a month-long cash app challenge for anyone who could produce a picture but right before his selection he was posting pictures of himself in Selma picking up trash as trash was running over in North Courtland, Alabama
- North Courtland High School (R.A. Hubbard) closed under his watch and now the financially strapped city of North Courtland, Alabama leases the property from the county Board of Education and charges the community for its use. The town of North Courtland now has a “GoFundMe ($10,000 goal) for a property that it’s not clear whose title it is.
- Every other month the city of North Courtland buys & flips automobiles in private bids and the list of people who’ve won bids and their relation to the mayor is interesting and deserves a closer look. On August 14th-25th North Courtland was accepting bids for a 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV with the minimum bid amount of $25,000.
- The people in his own city think ACBM is a joke to put him up as if he’s accomplished something to deserve that position but I propose it’s just solid proof this organization has lost its credibility and is not fact-based when it comes to recognizing real leadership in the black community.
- Every neighboring city to North Courtland is filling out and getting grants, contracts (some in the millions), etc., and the North Courtland mayor is doing GoFundMe’s and selling off city equipment in private bids but he leads the ACBM. You can’t make this stuff up.
- Mayor Evans was credibly accused of “sexual harassment” by his former City Clerk and that issue could be a hot case right now as we speak.