Sorry I Missed It
The public hearing over whether or not to rename Richard Scrushy Parkway turned into a shouting match that spilled out into the street. Local talk radio host Frank Matthews, a long-time Scrushy supporter, argued against the name change, saying Scrushy had not been found guilty. Huh? In what alternate universe? I guess Frank missed this:
In June 2005, a Birmingham jury acquitted Scrushy on criminal charges related to the massive accounting scandal at HealthSouth. This past June, Scrushy was convicted by a federal jury on six charges against him - bribery, conspiracy and four counts of honest services mail fraud.
There was no decision at last night’s meeting — the proposed name change has been referred to a committee.
September 29th, 2006 at 9:29 am
while watching the tube last night, i heard a quick blurb from the newspeople that they would be covering the “debate” over changing the name of the highway.
my wife and i just looked at each other and laughed. how could there possibly be a debate about it, we wondered?
so it turns out there was a debate. why? i still don’t know, though i’ll suggest that money often clouds common sense.
September 29th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
I think Matthews has proven that he has no common sense. What he does have is an insatiable appetite for publicity.
September 29th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Money and publicity — a frequent and toxic combination.
September 30th, 2006 at 2:05 am
Amen, Kathy. Matthews has a lot of common/entrepeneurial sense–remember those Cahaba River ads a few years ago?
Recently he was out attacking the SWMMA increase (first in 10 years from $7 to $12/year for an agency that does its job well). And who opposes this? The same folks that want unbridled development around our drinking water and tax breaks to boot. His involvement is chronicled in a Birmingham Weekly story, http://www.birminghamweekly.com/archived/pages/20060316_cover%20story.php
September 30th, 2006 at 10:06 am
Hmmm. A $5/year increase to help keep my kids’ drinking water clean? Tell you what — I’ll pay mine and Frank’s too, if he’ll just shut up.
November 16th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Frank Matthews was just appointed to a high office in Birmingham by the new mayor. And it’s no secret that Langford and Scrushy shared a close and questionable business relationship that’s still being investigated by the SEC and the IRS.
November 17th, 2007 at 10:25 am
[...] Matthews… Frank Matthews… Where have I heard that name before? Oh yeah! Frank Matthews was one of the idiots calling for Richard Scrushy Parkway to keep the name! Why? Well because he believes in Scrushy’s total innocence, regardless of Scrushy’s [...]
January 24th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
CONTRATULATIONS FRANK!