Greene County Democrat

Tag: Commission Chairperson

  • Commission approves CD investments with Merchants & Farmers Bank

    County Commission and School Board to determine status of ad valorem tax for schools

    The Greene County Commission met in regular session, Tuesday, October 14, 2025 with all Commissioners present. The October meeting was scheduled for the second Tuesday, since the second Monday was National Indigenous Peoples Day, a holiday observed by Greene County.
    At the Commission’s work session, held Wednesday, October 8, Ms. Marquita Lennon, CSFO of the Greene County Board of Education, presented a request for renewal of an ad valorem tax for the school system. Ms. Lennon indicated that the milage tax would expire in 2026 and the procedure for renewal required action from the county. This was an agenda item for the October 14 meeting, at which time Attorney Mark Parnell stated that according to his research, the milage tax was not scheduled to expire in 2026 because it was attached to a bond. Commission Chairperson, Garria Spencer, recommended that the Attorneys for the county and the school board communicate and bring clarity to the issue by the next commission meeting.
    The Commission approved a recommendation by Ms. Altheria Wilder, CFO for Greene County Commission, that CD investments, currently at Pinnacle Bank in Birmingham and scheduled to expire, be transferred to Merchants & Farmers Bank for better interest rates. She noted that Pinnacle offered 3.5 interest rate; Merchant &b Farmers offered seven month CD investment at 4.5 and 13 month CD investment at 4.25. The total CD investments approximately $625,000.
    In other business the Commission acted on the following items.
    * Approved hiring grant writer, Marilyn Culliver. Attorney Parnell will prepare contract.
    * Approved painting the Activity Center.
    * Advised staff to follow-up on replacing doors and glass at Activity Center.
    Approved the School Resource Officers contract.
    Approved the Supplement Agreement with Sheriff Benison, regarding the sheriff’s payment to the county for additional employees in his department.
    Approved the SSUT Resolution – Alabama Simplified Users Tax.
    The Commission approved various board appointments and re-appointments.
    Commissioner Corey Cockrell recommended the following persons from District 3:
    Ms. Shirley Edwards re-appointed to the Hospital Board; Ms. Kimberly Tyree appointed to the Greenthumb Board; Ms. DeCharo Rice appointed to the PARA Board; Ms. Vivian Carpenter appointed to the DHR Board.
    At Commissioner Tennyson Smith’s request, the Greenthumb board position for District 2 was tabled, as well as Commissioner Roshanda Summerville’s DHR board position for District 5.
    At the request of Commissioner Smith, Ms. Geraldine Walton was appointed to the Greene County Mental Health Board.
    The financial snapshot for the period ending September 30, 2025: General fund claims paid totaled $861,905.62; Payroll Transfer total $299,112.48; Fiduciary totaled $38,079.45. Electronic Claims paid August 2025 totaled $94,482.87. Citizen Trust Bank unrestricted funds totaled $1,098,587.31; restricted funds totaled $4,485,946.84. Merchant & Farmers Bank unrestricted funds totaled $2,015,221.86; restricted funds totaled $2,799,038.82. CD investments totaled $1,901.457.80.
    In the Public Comment session of the meeting, Mr. Michael Williams, former Greene County Commissioner, gave an emotional reaction to the current State Audit of the Greene County Sheriff’s operations. Williams emphasized that the nearly $5 million the State Examiners of Public Accounts reported has no documentation and must be refunded by Sheriff Benison could have been used to support local services such as the hospital, school system, fire departments, emergency services and others. He asked Greene County residents to sign a petition which will be sent to the Alabama Attorney General’s office for legal action.
    Commission Chair Spencer and Attorney Parnell emphasized that the recent State Audit Report involves only Sheriff Benison’s operations; the audit has nothing to do with the County Commission’s operations.

  • Greene County PARA scheduled to reorganize under appropriate State Statue

    The Greene County Commission held a called meeting on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, to discuss the status of Park and Recreation Authority (PARA). According to Commission Chairperson, Corey Cockrell, the Commission recently requested that the PARA Board take on the operation/supervision of the county’s golf course named for the late Dr. Robert Brown. In the course of the research of the official status of PARA, County Attorney Mark Parnell discovered that the Greene County PARA had two sets of Articles of Incorporation filed with the State of Alabama (2007 and 2018) and both were filed under the wrong State Statue. There were also different board members listed with each set of Articles filed.
    Seemingly, the Articles filed in 2018 were an attempt to alter the number of PARA board members. The current PARA Board Chairperson, W. Scott Smith, stated that it was difficult to conduct PARA affairs due to the board not having a quorum present at meetings.
    Attorney Parnell explained that the situation can be remedied. New Articles of Incorporation under the appropriate State Statue can be filed and the number of board members will be determined by the State Statue. “ There are particular steps to follow, including the resignation of current PARA board members and new appointments by the Commission in keeping with State Statue,” Parnell stated. He noted that the current board members may be considered for reappointment. Attorney Parnell indicated that he would prepare the process that must be followed and present the same to the County Commission and the PARA board and staff.
    The Commissioners and PARA personnel were in agreement with this.
    Commissioner Cockrell also stated that the PARA operations would be relocated to the Robert Brown Golf Course. “The county has sufficient property at the golf course site to put up the facilities PARA needs for its operations and activities. There is no need for PARA to be paying rent at other sites,” Cockrell said. He noted that the current facilities at the golf course will be upgraded and expanded. There was not a timeline set for when the move would occur.
    Commissioner Garria Spencer reminded everyone that there are great park facilities throughout the county. He recommended that PARA arrange to utilize these for its outdoor recreational activities.
    The Greene County PARA is supported by a .5 ad valorem millage. According to county records, PARA has received $91,000 since the start of the current fiscal year.

  • County Commission holds call meeting to approve additional monies to essential workers

    The Greene County Commission met in a called meeting Wednesday June 22, 2022 and approved a schedule for additional payments to essential county employees. Each full time county employees will receive a total of $2,400; part time employees will receive $1,200 and temporary workers will receive $250. The commission will disburse 50% of the respective payments to employees on June 29, 2022 and the second half on December 16, 2022.
    The resources for the essential workers payments are from the American Rescue Act Funds allocated to the county. The Greene County Commission received approximately $787,000 in May of 2021 and another allocation of approximately $787,000 one year later in 2022.
    The county commissioners, as elected officials, are not eligible to receive American Rescue Act Funds.
    In other business, Commission Chairperson, Allen Turner, Jr., explained the agenda item which was to consider the USDA Rural Development Wastewater Grant. According to Turner, Alabama State Senator Bobby Singleton will be announcing soon a $120 million grant for the Black Belt Region for wastewater treatment projects. Turner noted that for Greene County to be eligible, the commission needed to take action to participate. “ Our action today does not guarantee that Greene County will be selected to receive some of these resources, but if we do not vote to participate, we definitely will not be considered,” he stated.
    The commission also held an executive session at this call meeting. No reports were forthcoming when the open meeting was resumed.

  • Commission at odds with attorney selection process; adds four new projects to budget

    The Greene County Commission met in regular session, Monday, May 10, 2021, with its recently hired legal counsel Attorney Mark Parnell of Birmingham. Prior to the agenda being approved, Commissioner Lester Brown noted that the item, Approval of Previous Minutes, was not on the agenda. Following the lead of the Commission Chairperson, Roshanda Summerville, the agenda was accepted, with the added minutes, on a motion by Commissioner Allen Turner, second by Commissioner Lester Brown. Prior to the April 12 minutes being acted on, Commissioner Brown noted that those minutes did not address the fact that the voting procedures, led by Commissioner Summerville, for hiring legal counsel at the April meeting did not allow him or Commissioner Tennyson Smith to cast a vote for the candidate of their choice. According to Brown, when the Chairperson called for the vote on Candidate 1, three commissioners voted for Candidate 1 and Commissioner Summerville then declared that Candidate 1 was selected and ended the process. Votes were not called for the other candidates. Brown insisted that he and Smith should have been afforded the opportunity to vote on the other candidates, so their choices would be in the record. This is what Brown wanted to add to the minutes. “I am not attempting to change how the vote went; majority rules and I accept that. I just wanted the chance to put my vote for another candidate in the record,” he stated. Commissioner Corey Cockrell commented that when Candidate 1 received the majority vote, what’s the use of voting on anybody else. When Commission Attorney Parnell was asked for advice on the matter, he inquired whether the minuets had been voted on; the Chairperson affirmed they had not. Parnell then stated that the minutes could not be changed, but he informed Brown that his statements could be placed in the minutes of the current meeting. There was no clarification for the basis of this statement on the minutes by the attorney. In most rules of order, minutes can be changed – corrected and amended. As the business continued, CFO Macaroy Underwood presented the finance report including payment of claims and budget amendments. The budget amendments included items/projects not in the current approved budget. Six safe rooms were approved at a cost of $600,000 to come from bingo revenue; Security system for Highway Department at a cost of $15,750; Repairs and maintenance to jail control panel at a cost of $15,000. Underwood noted that insurance the county pays has increased by $22,577.38. This was also not in the current budget. He also presented the claims paid for April: Accounts Payable – $237,401.27; Payroll Transfer – $213,815.29; Fiduciary – $535,234,84; Electronic Claims Paid – $75,093.69. According to Underwood, 43% of the county’s budget should be remaining, however, four departments are under 43%. In other business, the commission acted on the following: * Approved all county employees returning to full time on May 17, 2021. * Approved the County Engineer’s contract as presented. * Approved the Engineer purchasing milling at a cost of $14,000 to be paid from bingo funds. (Milling is recycled asphalt which will be used on dirt roads.) * Approved Highway Department doing foundation work with the Water Authority. * Approved travel request for Assistant Engineer to attend class in Prattville, June 9-10, 2021. * Approved contracting with Secretary of State regarding new handicap accessible voting machines. * Approved Legal Shields speaking with employees regarding payroll deduction. Tabled all open appointments for DHR and PARA Boards. * Approved Back-to-School 2021 Sales Tax Holiday Resolution. * Denied request from the Democrat for graduation ad in special issue saluting graduating students. At the close of the commission meeting during public comments, Mr. Spiver Gordon, longtime community activist, expressed his opinion regarding the dismissal of Senator Hank Sanders as county attorney and the commission’s procedure in selecting new legal counsel. Gordon said he represented the views of many Greene Countians who were disappointed with the commission’s actions against Attorney Sanders who had served the county for more than 25 years. He related Sanders’ services to the community throughout the Civil Rights era without expectation of monetary payment. “I know the commission has the right to hire who they want as county attorney, but many of us are disappointed in how you went about it,” he said. Gordon noted that Sanders was not afforded the respect of an interview. Gordon also expressed concern with the commission’s monthly meeting schedule. “The county commissions is an elected body that is supposed to serve the people, yet you are distancing yourselves from the community by scheduling your meetings at 3:30 in the afternoon. Not many citizens can attend at that time,” he stated. Gordon also noted that executive sessions during the meeting were once placed toward the end of the agenda, when the public could leave after hearing the earlier business on the agenda. “Now with your executive session near the top of the agenda, we have to wait a very long time to hear the rest of the business of the meeting,” he stated. Gordon cautioned the commissioners that they should revisit their duties and commitment of service to the people. Ms. Iris Sermon, E911 Director, addressed the commission regarding wording or presentation of items listed on the agenda for action. “The items begin with the word ‘consider’ therefore when the commission votes, you are voting to consider the item, not really voting to approve or not approve the item,” she stated. Sermon asked the commission to look closely at how they design their agenda. 

  • Commission reports Sheriff has depleted funds in Overtime Line Item

    At its monthly meeting held, Monday, December 10, 2019, the Greene County Commission took action to zero out the Overtime Line Item in the Greene County Sheriff’s budget after transferring $9,388.95 to that line item from the Sheriff’s Fuel Line Item. According to the CFO Paula Bird’s report, the Sheriff had already spent above the budgeted funds for overtime pay for employees in his department. Bird reported that she was directed by the Commission Chairperson, Allen Turner, Jr. to make this budget adjustment for the commission’s review and action at this meeting.
    In the budget amendment, the commission also approved transferring $478.20 to the jail’s budget.
    During the meeting the commissioners were presented a document from Sheriff Jonathan Benison, however, the contents were not discussed in the open meeting. When Commissioners Smith and Brown raised questions about the document, Chairman Turner stated that it would be discussed in executive session.
    According to the CFO Bird, the county’s bank totals as of Nov. 18, 2019 were as follows: Citizen Trust Bank – $2,833,696.38; Merchants & Farmers Bank – $1,787,300.29; CD Bond Sinking fund (Investment) – $1.053,312.97; Bank of New York – $616,750.79.
    Following an executive session, the commission approved the community liaison appointments presented by Commission Chair Allen Turner, Jr.: Commissioner Brown – Industry and Local and State Agencies; Commissioner Cockrell – Public Works and Housing Authority; Commissioner Smith – Education and Hospital, Health Service and Library; Commissioner Summerville – Personnel, Park and Recreation and EMS; Commissioner Turner – Finance, Department Heads and Extension Services.
    In other business, the commission took action on the following:
    Approved revision of 2019 Holiday schedule – employees will have Dec. 25, 26, 27 off. Dec. 24 will be a work day.
    Approved re-advertising the Coroner’s Bill.
    Approved the easement agreement with Marvin Smith and Greene County Commission.
    Approved annual bids, including the following: Treated Timber; CMP; Polyethylene Pipe; Aggregates; Liquid Asphalt; Petroleum Products.
    Approved allowing Highway Department to assist Greene County Water Authority with earthwork for new building, providing Highway Department is reimbursed.
    Approved travel for Engineering Department and Highway Department personnel.
    In reference to Agenda Item 12 – Consider budgetary issues with salaries and overtime – the commission approved a motion to recess the meeting until Monday, December, 16, 2019 at 6:30 pm.

  • Commission commits $126,000 for new equipment; Chairman makes committee assignments

    County personnel view demonstration model of excavator equipment approved by Commission.

    The Greene County Commission met in a specially called meeting, Monday, November 26, 2018 to handle some business matters that were not dealt with at the re-organizational meeting the prior week. The commissioners approved a request by County Engineer, Willie Branch, to purchase a mini excavator with mulcher attachment at a cost of approximately $126,000. According to Mr. Branch, this will replace the county’s Boom Mower. Branch indicated that he expects the equipment to arrive by the first of the year. Commission Chairperson, Tennyson Smith, issued committee assignments for each commissioner: Commissioner Lester Brown will chair the Education Committee; Commissioner Corey Cockrell will chair the Highway/Solid Waste Committee; Commissioner Roshanda Summerville will chair the Personnel Committee; Commissioner Allen Turner, Jr. will chair the Industry and Public Health Committee; and Commissioner Smith will chair the Finance/Public Safety Committee. In other business the Commission acted on the following: * Approved letter of support for Greene County Industrial Authority. * Approved Proclamation for World Aids Day, Dec. 1, 2018 for the Greene County * Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. * Approved replacement of HVAC unit at Activity Center ( Extension offices). * Approved ABC License for Tobacco Permit for Dollar General store in Clinton, AL. * Approved Dec. 31, 2018 as an additional county holiday for this year. * Approved 2019 county holiday schedule. * Approved Ratification of Chairman’s actions regarding resolution for Alabama Workers’ Compensation Self Insurers Fund. * Approved following employee travel request: Licensing Clerk to attend Licensing Conference in Prattville, Jan.16-17, 2019; CFO to attend Annual Governmental & Accounting Forum, Dec. 6-7, 2018 in Hoover, AL; CFO to attend Continuing Education in Bessemer, Dec. 11-12, 2018; H.R. Personnel to attend Legislative Conference, Dec. 4-6, 2018 in Montgomery; Board of Registrars to attend Registrar’s Conference Nov. 16 in Montgomery. The meeting was officially adjourned.