Work is finally underway on the historic house in Montgomery's Cloverdale neighborhood that was home to former Governor Don Siegelman and was the childhood home of former Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar. The house played a role in the controversial Siegelman Administration when the Democratic Governor sold it for twice the appraised value, and then appointed the buyer to an unpaid position on a state regulatory board. Last November the city's architectural review board refused to let the home's current owner demolish the house. The owner said at the time it would cost $166,000 to fix the damage to the structure, which was built in 1935 though the historic plaque outside says "early 1900's." In recent weeks, workers have started renovation of the house on Norman Bridge Road, including repairing/replacing the privacy fence that had partly fallen down.
I always believed that of all the complaints about the former Governor, the house sale was the one that most people could relate to. Your house doesn't double in value suddenly. The sale never passed the so-called "smell test". Yet the house sale was never a part of the federal charges against the former Governor. Instead, he was convicted in connection with another appointment...Richard Scrushy to the Certificate of Need Review Board. Scrushy gave a big donation to Siegelman's lottery promotion fund, and jurors decided there was a quid pro quo arrangement. Wonder if they would have found the same thing if prosecutors had included the sale of the house among the charges? Regardless of the political considerations, I'm glad to see it being saved from destruction.
[ADDENDUM: Magnolia Springs , Alabama considers ordinance to protect its historic buildings.]
Well now... the jurors in the Scrushy v U.S. Government case weren't the sharpest knives in the block, to be certain!
ReplyDeleteAnd since the Siegelman/Scrushy v U.S. Government case is now presumably under review by the U.S. Attorney General and the DOJ, I would imagine that Alice Martin's career as a federal Bush Republican appointee is over, not only for the inconsistencies of the case and withholding evidence but for misuse of the office which she held.
Sure, the jurors believed the prosecution's claims of quid pro quo, but Scrushy was appointed a seat on the CON Board by two other governors, both of different parties, and had resigned from his second appointment! Hardly a solid foundation for a quid pro quo accusation.
In conjunction with inconsistencies in convicted extortionist Nick Bailey's prosecution-coached "testimony," there are a host of questions raised about whether the jury TRULY understood what they were hearing.
However, I contend that Alice Martin was p.o.'d because she FAILED to obtain the so-far solitary Sarbanes-Oxley prosecution in our nation's history against Richard Scrushy, when 15 of his top executives plead guilty. Thus, she hoped to get Scrushy on whatever terms she could.
And regarding the sale price of the house... the "free market" assertions are that whatever a willing seller and willing buyer agree upon. Obviously, there's no law against selling or buying a house at an inflated price.
So, if I purchase your car for $50,000, you get a deal (and a wad-o-cash). I get the car.
Is it worth it to me?
Probably... simply because I was willing to pay that much for it.
Siegelman sold his house for the amount he llisted it for with his real estate agent. The "appraised value" was from the the Montgomery Co. Tax Assessor They use an entirely different method for deciding value of real estate. Commerical real estate appasials which are used in real estate transactions like the one Don entered into always give a higher value the county appraisers. THEY whole story was "whomped up by a nefarious reporter named eddie Curran of the Mobile Register.
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