<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
	<title type="html"><![CDATA[Save Alabama PACT Discussion Forum]]></title>
	<link rel="self" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/feed-atom-forum15.xml"/>
	<updated>2010-06-08T21:09:58Z</updated>
	<generator>PunBB</generator>
	<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/</id>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Election]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic233-election-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Here's my letter to the editor of the Huntsville Times sent today:

I consider myself to be politically independent, but in all honesty, I usually lean to the democrat side of politics.  I normally do not get involved in campaigns. It was an unusual occurrence for me in that I crossed over and voted in the Republican primary for two main reasons – the governor’s race and the U. S. House of Representative’s race.  
 
I was very favorably impressed by Dr. Robert Bentley in several conversations we had with regard to PACT (Prepaid Affordable College Tuition) I feel he is a man of character, an honest and hardworking person who will do what he says.  Did you notice how clean his TV ads were?  No mudslinging, in sharp contrast to Byrne and James.  Are you aware that all of his political signs were pulled up and taken?   We took our sign from our yard and erected it at our voting place as his was the only one not there, out of a sea of signs.  
 
As for the U.S House race, I had no choice but to vote against Parker Griffith.  I don’t believe an explanation is necessary.  
 
The only other comment I would make is that Byrne served under Kay Ivey on the PACT Board of Directors, the board which terribly neglected the proper oversight of the financial investors, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars - about half the value of the PACT fund.   Are these the people we want to be in charge?]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2010-06-08T21:09:58Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic233-election-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[General Information]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic141-general-information-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[We mass emailed the following to the Madison County membership on 9/2/09:

Subject: PACT Newsletter, 9/09/09


In case you haven't been to our website, [url=http://www.savealabamapact.com]www.savealabamapact.com[/url] please see the latest PACT Newsletter attached.
 
This is also an opportunity to mention that if you know of any PACT contract holders, please have them get in touch with me at dhpeacher@gmail.com or call me at 852-7817. As of today, we have a total of 166 members of the Madison County chapter of Save Alabama Pact.   We haven't forgotten the people who do not use email.  If you should know of someone, please give them my phone number.  We will "snail mail" information to them.  We have several people who fit into this category and we don't want them to be forgotten.  
 
If you've been to the website, you know that our efforts to find members is beginning to pick up steam!  Various locations around the state now have leaders and are beginning to have members.  If you have any suggestions for them or us in Madison County, do not hesitate to let us know.  All ideas are appreciated.  
 
Chuck Gibb is working hard on our Madison County organization.  He will be calling a second meeting of all Madison County PACT owners in the near future.  If anyone has a suggestion for a large free meeting place (we believe we have outgrown the public library), please forward your information to Chuck at cngPACT1@comcast.net.
 
If we're going to win this fight we need you all.  Please spread the word.
 
It's for the children.
 
 
Donna Peacher]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2010-04-26T00:04:16Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic141-general-information-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Letter to Editor]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic210-letter-to-editor-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[PACT rally

A crucial legislative session is now happening. PACT owners, we are in trouble.

Sen. Lowell Barron is blocking SB162 from leaving his committee for a vote by the full Senate.

This bill would save PACT. He represents part of Madison County, where the state grassroots effort was born. Will it die here? The only other area of the state that has more PACTS than Madison County is Jefferson County.

Unfortunately, the bills pit higher ed against K-12, two powerful forces in Alabama politics and we are in the middle.

Another bill (HB775) passed a House committee recently. It would eliminate the competition between the "eds" and would fix the problem, however, it will require a constitutional amendment. Our movement supports both bills.

We believe this session is truly a moral and legal test. We understand that each senator has a lot at stake. We desperately hope that character and moral fiber will win out over personal ambition.

Will they do the honest and right thing or will they bow down to the "powers"? It's test time. We will be watching closely and will vote (sue?) accordingly. 

We ask that all PACT owners meet us on the steps of the statehouse Thursday at 9 a.m. Bring your children. If you ever plan to help it should be now. We are down to the wire. Please join us. We need your support. You may call me at 256-852-7817 or e-mail at 
dhpeacher@gmail.com. 
Donna H. Peacher
Huntsville, 35811]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2010-04-02T17:48:00Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic210-letter-to-editor-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Legislature]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic157-legislature-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[People, I hope you'll write or call the legislature using the names, addresses, etc., supplied to you by our email here in Madison County.  It is vital! Again, we have 4,068 contract owners here in Madison County alone.  I'm pretty tired of talking to myself on this location.  I'm asking you to join in.  Please be a member.  What does it take to get through to you?  Volunteer to help.  Are you expecting one or two people to do it for you?  Sorry if I sound harsh, but that's the way I feel.  Find a new member!  I repeat, find a new member and give them my email:  dhpeacher@gmail.com.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to do my part and sent the following today, some by email and some by snail mail.

To:       The Honorable Bob Riley, Governor

House of Representatives, Education Policy
To:       The Honorable Yvonne Kennedy, Chair
            The Honorable Richard J. Lindsey, Chair,  House Education Appropriations Committe
            The Honorable Terry Spicer, Vice Chair
            The Honorable Mac McCutcheon

 Senate Education Committee
 To:       The Honorable Vivian Davis Figures,       Chair, 
             The Honorable Zeb Little, Majority Leader
             The Honorable J. T. Waggoner, Minority Leader
             The Honorable Bobby Denton

I am not going to give you a sob story about the five PACTS we are purchasing for our five grandchildren, very much a financial hardship, -  so far, around $55,000 and counting, 

A contract is a contract.  Honor it.  The State of Alabama and its legislature are being tested and there are 48,000+ contract holders out here watching your performance.  The anger is beneath the surface, but make no mistake, it is there...  Do not sell us short.  We legally deserve to get what we paid for.  

Stop dribbling out these tuition payments, semester to semester.  The wondering and worrying we  PACT owners are feeling will only cause the anger to grow.   Fund the program.  Give it your undivided attention.  Give us a guarantee that these contracts will be honored, so we can quit worrying about it, and, by the way, so can you, at election time.  

Very truly yours,

Donna H. Peacher
231 Bell Rd.
Huntsville, AL 35811
(256) 852-7817


(The above may sound a little abrupt, but I'm feeling a little abrupt. I didn't get to all of the names but I will eventually.)]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2010-03-22T23:21:56Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic157-legislature-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Recruitment of Madison Co. PACT Owners]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic105-recruitment-of-madison-co-pact-owners-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Topic: General Discussion of Madison County MembersWanted to advise that we only have had 12 responses to our Madison County solicitations for contract owners.  I'm on the trail of 5 others who posted on Facebook, but with no email addresses. We desperately need to get their attention some way.  If you know any PACT owners in Madison County, please give them my email address, dhpeacher@gmail.com.  They also need to get on the master email list through [url=http://www.savealabamapact.com]www.savealabamapact.com[/url].  

I am frustrated in that I'm sure there are a lot of Madison County people on that master list, but I've tried and failed to obtain their names.  I think one problem is that they haven't requested locations with their email sign-up section.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.  

Today, we found a restaurant (El Coyote out in Gurley) that said we could put our flyer up in their entryway.  So we need to go back out there and do it.  (By the way, they have good food!).  Star Supermarket in Five Points also let us put one up, however, Kroger said no.  

I still have made no decision about being the leader of the Madison County Group.  As I said before, I don't have a lot of stamina and I really think there are many more qualified people out there with great organizational skills.  I am great at being a "helper"!  I look forward to us all (and more) getting together and brainstorming, etc.  We are going to have our hands full in trying to save the PACT contracts.  Please be trying to think up some innovative ideas to present to our reps/senators for funding.

Please join in the conversation... we need to hear from you.

Last edited by dhpeacher (06-01-2009 12:57:38 pm)]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2010-03-17T22:08:42Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic105-recruitment-of-madison-co-pact-owners-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Meetings/Reviews]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic124-meetingsreviews-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The following report from Chuck Gibb, our Madison County Chairman is lengthy but well worth reading:

To:           All members and supporters of Save Alabama Pact - Madison County
Subject:  Recent PACT meetings and Reports
From:      Chuck Gibb  - Coordinator - Madison County Chapter, Save Alabama Pact


Aug. 19th. we attended the PACT Board meeting in Montgomery.  The PACT board is of course the "independent" board that oversees the PACT program and is responsible for the current situation.  Afterwards there was a meeting of Save Alabama Pact with presentations by four of the Gubernatorial candidates and other politicians. I want to catch you all up on where we stand.   This is lengthy... but there is a lot to tell.

This was a scheduled meeting of the PACT Board headed by Kay Ivey.  During the meeting the "Professional" Fund managers presented the performance of the fund through last quarter and their recommendations going forward.  These reports and minutes from the meeting should be posted on the state PACT website and the Save Ala. Pact site at some point.  However, the short version is that the investments showed no significant change that would affect the current situation.  It is now (in this quarter) showing improvement as the stock market recovers but again nothing that could impact the current crisis short term.  The fund managers were optimistic about the stock market going forward. The Board voted to keep it's current aggressive strategy of investments weighted to securities with a target return of ~8.5%(?). Their reasoning was that  with the stock market recovering and the extreme need for additional revenue they had to take an aggressive approach.  They then had a report from the actuary who's job it is to statistically project requirements.  This report (which should also be posted) basically projected that the most likely (50th percentile) increase in tuition would be ~7.19% annually (I think). It also considered other requirements such as mix between 2 yr. and 4yr colleges, etc. Based on his projections the fund was shown to be out of Funds in 2015 if nothing changed. The board however chose to accept his more conservative estimate of ~7.45% tuition increase.   Although it is not clear why since they had already voted on their investment strategy.  It was disconcerting, to me at least, that they voted on an investment strategy BEFORE hearing the actuaries requirements report.    They was a presentation on the four lawsuits.  Basically the Board/State? has moved to have all of them thrown out but there have been no rulings to date.  No discussion or mention was made of the RSA report.

The RSA report is the result of a study ordered by the Governor.  He directed the Retirement System of Alabama to undertake a study to determine the viability of the PACT program. They came to essentially the same conclusions as the PACT Board contractors.  You can find this report on the SaveAlabamaPact.com website. They indicated that the program could be saved if the State provided enough funding (!).  It is important that there be this separate report for political reasons. It is also important that it was positive in tone.  The report projected three scenarios based largely on different growth projections for tuition. They show that the cost to save the program is highly dependent on increased rates of tuition in the large 4 year colleges.  These institutions have refused to date to consider freezing their tuitions for PACT participants as the 2 yr. colleges have. They proposed several scenarios for the State to fund the program.  The most likely would be an incremental level funding requiring (if nothing changes) of about 52 million a year.  It remains to be seen if the Administration and the Legislators will use the power they have to impose some restraint on tuition increases in four year colleges for PACT participants. It is a difficult political problem. The report did say that they felt the State had a legal if not moral obligation to fulfill the contracts and that failure to do so would likely result in lawsuits which regardless of the outcome would cost the State more than fulfilling it.  They also said their was no legal reason to differentiate between early contracts and later contracts with the States disclaimer. It seems unlikely at this juncture that the Governor will call a special session to resolve this unless he can be sure of a positive outcome.  So, it is more likely it will have to wait until the next regular session. Contracts are being paid for the fall sessions.

One optimistic scenario is the State imposing some kind of restraint  on the four year college tuition for PACT participants possibly through funding trade offs and an incremental supplemental funding for the program approved by the legislators.  (The issue of course is where will they find the incremental funds...)  This is only possible if we all lobby our legislators aggressively to support this!!

After the PACT board meeting members of SAVE ALABAMA PACT and other contract holders met.  At that meeting four Gubernatorial candidates presented to us;  Artur Davis,  Ron Sparks, Bradley Byrne, and Kay Ivey.  Each committed total support to seeing the PACT program saved.  Each candidate expressed optimism and confidence that the legislature would fix the program. Also presenting was an aide to Jim Folsom assuring us of his complete support and the Governor's support. Jeremy Sherer, who is a candidate for State  Treasurer was there as he has been at every organization meeting of SAP. He has unconditionally offered his support.    Richard Huckabee, V.P. of the Save Alabama Pact organization pressured Kay Ivey to let us (SAP)  put a note in the next mail out from the treasurers office to all PACT owners asking them to contact us.  She would not commit claiming privacy law concerns.  SAP has been trying to get this list of names for six months.

The content of what these candidates said is not as important as the fact that they were there.  In some cases, they were there at considerable personal inconvenience.  We are making a difference!  Each urged us to have as many of our members as possible contact their legislators and ask for their support.  They disagreed on some details but all agreed that was critical.

Some additional business and strategy was discussed.  The State organization of SAVE ALABAMA PACT is trying to get organizations formed in every county of the state.  This is a formidable task.  Reports were made by coordinators of the  local Chapters.

Many have asked us if they should withdraw their money.  We cannot advise you on this.  Having said that, I will tell you my feelings. we have four contracts but we am going to stay in to see if this gets fixed.  I believe there is a good chance the State legislature will fix this.  If I withdraw my money and they do fix it, I cannot go back and participate again.  If everyone withdraws their money we are all doomed, they will have to shut it down. The only chance for a fix is for everyone to stay in, at least for now.  I believe there will remain enough money to pay us all back for some time.  I do not currently know for how long.  We are trying to calculate that.   Similarly I would not file a lawsuit now. There is little chance of winning at this time and it only depletes the funds as they are using our money to fight the lawsuits!  But...that is me.

 As you hopefully know, after our first meeting where your humble scribe was elected to head up the Madison County Chapter of SAP (Yes I know ...an unfortunate acronym...but accurately reflects how I felt when this broke!).  We have formed a board to direct our operations.  Our primary goal is  "ALL PACT CONTRACTS FULLY HONORED."   To that end we have a Membership committee focused on identifying and registering all Contract holders and supporters in the county. A Publicity and Public Relations group will help us to find the contract holders by making everyone aware of our existence and our importance to a positive outcome and in helping the public to understand the reason the State should meet it's commitments. We will have a Political Action Group focused on helping all of us insure that our legislators have our support in passing legislation to fully fund all outstanding contracts.  Finally we will have groups doing research to insure we understand the political, economic and financial issues involved.  We need more people for the board.  If you have skills in any of the above areas or are just willing to help, please let us know.  This is one time when YOU can make a difference!

We will only prevail if we have all of your ACTIVE support.  We need you to contact your legislators by phone, fax, email, mail, carrier pigeon...whatever.  Tell them you want them to "Support legislation that will insure that ALL PACT Contracts are fully honored".   We will be getting out information on how to contact them but don't wait if you know who your legislators are and how to reach them. Help us find other PACT contract holders and get them signed up. Identify supporters who may not be contract holders but support our efforts.  This might, for example be family and friends.  There are approximately 48,000 contracts probably less families but still a large number.  If each contract holder gets ten to twenty supporters that represents a LOT of votes.  We may put together a petition for you to help us get signatures.  It is only by this grass roots action that the legislature will have the incentive and courage to resolve this.

Finally I should mention that SAVE ALABAMA PACT has no funds.  Funds are needed for signs, advertising (to find PACT members), etc. The leaders are funding signs, etc. out of their own pockets.  Please go to the SAP website and make a contribution as I have done.  Even a small one will help.

We hope to have a general meeting in the third week of September.   We can see our contracts honored if each of us will act to talk to our legislators and have our supporters do the same.

My number is 256 880 6896.  You can email me at chuck@Savealabamapact.com.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-11-16T19:29:51Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic124-meetingsreviews-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Call Out]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic144-call-out-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Here's my letter in response to the Call Out by S.A.P:

To:  Governor Bob Riley
       Senator Paul Sanford
       Senator Lowell Barron 
       Representative Laura Hall
       Representative Howard Sanderford
       Representative Randy Hinshaw
       Representative Butch Taylor       
 
I have been heavily involved in recruiting PACT contract owners to join the Madison County PACT chapter of the statewide Save Alabama Pact organization.  As I am the email conduit for all our Madison County members, I am in the position of being privy to many, many heart rending stories of what would happen should the State not honor it's commitment.   
 
It is inconceivable to me that this could ever happen.  Afterall, this is our State that we are talking about.  I have never doubted that Alabama would honor it's word.  It's a matter of honor and integrity. 
 
I think of the sweet young lady, a stranger from the north, who became a widow.  Out of her sorrow, she heard of this wonderful opportunity to see her children get their college degrees.  She lives paycheck-to-paycheck in her struggle to deal with what life has handed her, secure in her confidence that her children would be educated, no matter what.  And, then she was shocked by the infamous "February" letter.
 
I think of the wonderful lady from a nearby city who called me and told me her husband had just died the month before.  He had been so worried about the PACTS he had purchased for his grandchildren.  In an effort to ease his mental pain during the final stages of his illness, she told him an untruth - that the PACT problem had been resolved and that he didn't have to worry anymore.  He died peacefully.  She has since joined our cause in an effort to make the lie a truth.
 
I think of the young couple who had struggled so long to have a baby.  The grandmother, in poor health, wanted a grandchild desperately.  She was unable to hold out long enough, but left a small inheritance for the future of the grandchild.  Finally, and wonderfully, a child was born.  After much research and soul-searching, the young couple invested the money in a PACT, strongly believing in what the great Seal of Alabama meant to them.  They felt the grandmother was looking down and smiling at what they had done.  Then came the shock.
 
There are hundreds more stories.  I ask you to please help us.  Please do whatever is in your power to make this right.  
 
In deepest appreciation,
 
 
Donna H. Peacher
231 Bell Road
Huntsville, AL   35811
(256) 852-7817
dhpeacher@gmail.com]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-21T18:33:47Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic144-call-out-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Kaye Ivey PACT Forum]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic104-kaye-ivey-pact-forum-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Folks, this afternoon a small group (11 or 12) met with Kaye Ivey at Representative Mac McCutcheon's invitation.  We had a very informal sit-down talk, lead off by Kaye Ivey.  
 
Ivey gave us a history of the PACT program from its inception by Wallace & Folsom.  She went through the whole economic situation and told us what we mostly already knew.  She said she did not have to mail out the famous February letter about the fund being in trouble, but she felt a moral obligation to the people to let them know what was happening. She insisted that the caliber of the Board of Directors was excellent and that when the market is good the fund gains and when the market is bad, the fund loses.  Well, you can't disagree with that!  
 
She said the fund needs a cash infusion and it is up to the legislature to see that it happens.  She urged us to get serious about writing our representatives and senators, etc.  She says we have enough money in the fund to last until 2014 and at that time, if we are still in dire trouble, the PACT owners will have to "consider alternatives." 
 
Riley owns Pacts and told her he thought they were guaranteed.  She says the law says otherwise and she has to go by the law.  She is disappointed in the lack of action for us in the last session and feels the RSA audit (Resolution 150) was a delaying tactic. (This is one thing we agree on). The RSA audit should be finished by the end of August.  She said Bronner wanted uncapped funding availability for PACT to consider running it. (He has that condition for the Retirement Systems of Alabama.  Another blocker is Paul Hubbert of the AEA . He won't give up a dime. (enough said about him)  Another huge stumbling block was the university systems who are raising tuition by unreasonable amounts and refusing outright to compromise on tuition.  .But she feels the biggest stumbling block is the legislature.  
 
Her final advice to us is to wait until after the coming session to decide our courses of action and stay connected with each other.  She emphasized again for us to pressure the legislature to act - to prefile (before the session begins) NOW.  
 
We concluded by having a rather spirited discussion.
 
Sorry this is so long, but one more thing... the following is a new posting on the State's PACT site at [url]http://www.treasury.alabama.gov/pact/:[/url]
 
PACT Program Account Info as of June 2009 
Total Accounts since inception – 76,251
Active Accounts –48,549
Eligible to use Benefits – 19,598
Benefits paid since inception – 428,227,424
Benefits paid in FY08 – $58,582,000
Accounts Cancelled March -June– 1,627
Value of Cancelled Accounts - $20,449,976
May 22, 2009 - Many PACT purchasers have inquired about options for their PACT investment...for more information click here  PACT Program Account Info as of June 2009]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-08-06T20:13:12Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic104-kaye-ivey-pact-forum-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Our first Meeting]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic106-our-first-meeting-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[We will post here after the first meeting...wish us luck.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-07-20T21:58:27Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic106-our-first-meeting-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Leadership]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic115-leadership-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[After our first meeting we had our first mass mailing by email.  A communication from our new Chairman, Chuck Gibbs, is included in my letter which follows:

Hello Everyone,  
This is our first email message to everyone.  Thank you all so much for your input to our database.  In case any of you have forgotten, we need, your home address, telephone number, occupation and the number of PACT contracts you own.  
 
Iit is my pleasure to present the following letter from our Chairman, Chuck Gibb:  
 
 As the new Chairperson of the Madison County Chapter of SaveAlabamaPact I wanted to thank all those able to attend the meeting.  Some of you may have expected to find a formal organization in place.  This in fact was just a very preliminary meeting to start the process. The important outcome of that meeting is that we will now have a formal organization in place with clear goals, objectives and time lines by next week.  Also we identified many more contract holders which is a major objective of this effort.  In the next few weeks we will update you on the goals and attempt to answer many of your questions and keep you current on our efforts in Madison County and at the State Level.

For those of you with concerns, I spoke with Paul Sanford after he left and he understood the situation and was not upset.  He wants everyone to know he is sympathetic to our goals. We will be establishing a good working relationship with all of our legislators and work to help them find a constructive way to insure these contracts are fulfilled.

Donna has almost singlehandedly jump started our efforts here in Madison County.  I am very grateful  to her.   We can use all of your help that we can get.  So please let us know if you are willing to work with the board.  I can be reached at cngdsg@comcast.net  or 880 6896.
Chuck Gibb]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user23.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-07-20T21:55:58Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic115-leadership-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[New Member]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic110-new-member-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Sorry I didn't know about this group before today. I have just joined up. I have one PACT contract for a rising HS Junior, so I am only two years away from needing the college tuition promised when we bought the contract 12 years ago. 

Regards;
Stan T.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[dhpeacher]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user239.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-07-15T03:35:36Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic110-new-member-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Thank you ---Donna Peacher]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic107-thank-you-donna-peacher-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Donna has been one of our inspirations!!! She has been a worker since day one!!! Always dependable--- always there-- ready to do anything to help Pact.. She held today the first meeting for Pact Contract  Holders in Madison County!!!!. We had over 100 attend- willing to give-up a Saturday to meet and find out what they can do to help support their children- and make sure the contract they have with the State of Alabama will never be broken or compromised!!!! Job well done!!!!!!]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[thrashermom]]></name>
				<email><![CDATA[pattilambert@charter.net]]></email>
				<uri>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/user9.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-07-12T00:49:44Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.savealabamapact.com/forum/topic107-thank-you-donna-peacher-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
</feed>
