Homewood Mayor Barry McCulley apologized yesterday for giving the McCain campaign a huge discount on the rent for a fundraiser last week. He was, however, unrepentant about providing free inmate labor to set up the event.
The campaign was charged $250 to rent two rooms, which have a posted rate of $1,200.
“I did exceed my authority by changing the rental rate of Rosewood Hall prior to the John McCain event,” McCulley said in a three-page statement. “At that time, I believed that I had been given that authority.”
…McCulley did not apologize for using jail labor to help in the set up before the event, which attracted national attention, including a New York Times column Sunday.
“I haven’t had second thoughts about it,” McCulley said. “I would make the same decision regardless of the event if our regular set-up people weren’t available. I don’t think that was a mistake at all.”
Apparently the Homewood City Council has discussed giving discounts to “worthy causes, such as nonprofit benefit events”. Perhaps Mayor McCulley, on hearing that McCain applied for public financing last year, believed his campaign to be a nonprofit.
The Mayor has asked the McCain campaign to pay additional rent to make up the difference, although I assume they’ll still be spared the usual $100 setup fee.
Before the Mayor’s sudden revelation, he sent out what looks like a canned response to those who objected to his decision (text after the jump), wherein he offered to give Senators Obama and Clinton the same discount if they want to hold an event in Homewood. I’ve also seen some comments from the right side of the aisle on local blogs making fun of Democrats because they are supposedly too stupid to ask for a reduced rate on facilities rental. Perhaps they don’t understand the implications of making an in-kind contribution to a political campaign. In the comments below, Lisa in Hoover notes:
My experience with political campaigns was that we had to pay full freight on EVERYTHING. You pay the top column-inch rate on newspaper ads – no discounts for volume. You pay the top rate for radio and TV. Plus you have to pay in advance. I certainly have never heard of a public facility giving a discount to a campaign event.
Perhaps the Mayor should have asked an expert first.
Text of the Mayor’s initial response:
I am sure you were shocked at what you saw in the paper this morning, so was I. The article talked about a “discount” for the candidate. There was no discount! It was a new rate established by me to attempt to make the facility more attractive for potential renters. The facility had NEVER been rented on a Monday night, which is naturally the least desirable night of the week. I have discussed with council members and it have been discussed in The Facilities Committee meetings, the need to reduce the rates for the first of the week. I merely set that new rate for the first event that came along, the only Monday night event EVER.
What you did not read in the News was my statement to the News that if the democrats wanted to bring in Clinton or Obama when they were in Alabama, they would get the exact same rate as McCain, and that I thought it a wonderful opportunity to have Homewood residents exposed to national candidates, one of whom would be our next President.
What you did not read in the News and what was strongly implied by the article, was that I am not a member of the Republican Party. You didn’t read that because the reporter didn’t ask that seemingly appropriate question.
What you did not read in the News was the explanation about why the jail trusties were used to set up for the event. The News was told (but did not print) the fact that we have two set up men that do that work for Rosewood Hall. Because of their religious beliefs and the fact that they had already set up for two events that weekend, they did not want to work on Sunday (to set up for Monday). Our Event Coordinator suggested that we use (and pay) her parents. I responded to this suggestion by saying that doing so might be criticized for using her family members, but we could use trusties that aren’t related to anyone involved with the facility and we would not have any cost in doing that.
I have tried to keep the Rosewood Hall facility out of politics, but I suppose when a reporter or editor has an agenda, that is impossible to do.
Lastly, you are correct. This facility is not mine. It belongs to the taxpayers of this city. But, it is my responsibility to manage this asset to the benefit of those taxpayers. Letting a facility sit un-rented at the first of the week because of rates being too high, is not good management. The rate REDUCTION (NOT A ONE TIME DISCOUNT) I put in place was designed to generate revenue for the city where there had previously been none.
I would be glad to discuss this issue in even greater depth if you wish. An old saying that I really like states “the only thing that will keep man in everlasting ignorance is contempt prior to investigation”.Barry McCulley
Mayor
Homewood, Alabama
Ironic that he’d choose that particular “old saying”, given this:
McCulley said in his statement that he spent “part of my weekend researching and reviewing City Council meeting minutes and Facilities Committee meeting minutes.”
McCulley said he discovered that he was authorized by the council only to manage the facility personnel and not as a general manager.
“I realized that, yeah, I exceeded the authority that I thought I had,” McCulley said.