For B'ham Area caravan information contact Kris Findlay at kriskfindlay@charter.net
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Save Alabama PACT Discussion Forum » Posts by Karen Gandy
For B'ham Area caravan information contact Kris Findlay at kriskfindlay@charter.net
We will meet off I-65 S at exit 247 to Valleydale Rd. in the parking lot of the Lowe's at 7:00 am on Jan 12th. Here is the link to the Lowe’s location. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou … 8&z=16 We expect strong TV media coverage. Be sure to wear your green Save Alabama PACT tee shirts.
Birmingham Area Caravan CORRECTION
The B'ham Area group will meet at 7am at the Lowe's off I-65 S. The contact for information is Kris Findlay kriskfindlay@charter.net
Sorry for the delay in posting a summary of the Birmingham Area meeting in Gardendale on Oct. 26th. It has been a very hectic 2 weeks with the organization of the B'ham Area caravan and PACT Board meeting coming on the heels of the B'ham Area meeting.
In the business part of the meeting we encouraged all PACT contract owners to be active in making Legislative and Education contacts:
- B'ham Area legislators who hold a seat on State Education Committees have been identified. We are taking volunteers to be assigned as one-on-one contact with these area legislators. The contact will establish regular contact with the legislator to develop an on-going dialog to discuss legislation for PACT. If you have an interest in volunteering to be a legislative contact, please contact Karen Gandy at karengandy@savealabamapact.com
- All contracts owners were encouraged make frequent contact with all legislators on the Education Committees. The committee members can be found on the front page of the Save Alabama PACT website, select "Education Committee Contact Information".
- Teachers with PACT contracts make contact with AEA and Paul Hubbert to let them know about your concerns for the PACT. Save Alabama PACT wants to work together with State education organizations.
- Write letters to legislators in the B'ham Area. www.legislature.state.al.us
The caravan organization was discussed.
Guests and speakers included:
Mark Harrison - Associate Pastor Gardendale First Baptist Church, gave opening prayer
Mayor Othell Phillips - Mayor of Gardendale, presented the speakers and legislators in attendance
George Wallace Jr. - candidate for Treasurer (speaker)
Jeremy Sherer - candidate for Treasurer (speaker)
Charles Grimsley - candidate for Treasurer (speaker)
Sen. Scott Beason - Dist. 17 (speaker)
Rep. Robert Bentley - Dist. 63 (speaker)
Rep. Owen Drake - Dist. 45
Rep. Patricia Todd - Dist. 54
Rep. Pat Moore - Dist. 15
Rep. Allen Treadaway - Dist. 51
Sen. Linda Coleman - Dist. 20
Rep. Bentley is drafting legislation to address the PACT problem. Rep. Bentley and Sen. Beason worked together on PACT legislation during the last legislative session. Both acknowledged that it is important that legislation be passed to stablize the PACT during this next session. Sen. Beason suggested that a source of funding for the cash infusion needed for the PACT program come from stopping the practice of out of state students who live within a 50 mi. radius of the AL state line paying in-state tuition. These students instead pay full out of state tuition.
Sen. Coleman spoke during the question and answer session. She said that no one legislator spoke for the black caucus and refuted the statement made by some legislators representing districts with predominately African-American constituents that this was not an issue for their districts because none of their constituents owned PACT contracts. She said she knew this was not true for her district. She has heard from her constituents and they do own contracts.
If you have further questions about the meeting, please contact Karen Gandy. Thank you.
I will post a summary in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I have asked that the agenda for the meeting and the bios of the speakers and legislators who attended be posted to the website. We are busily preparing for the caravan from each of the Area Groups to Montgomery for the PACT Board meeting on Nov. 4th. It is very important that the PACT Board and our legislators know that the PACT contract owners are not "satisfied" (as we have been told) and we are diligently working to keep in contact with our legislators and with those in Montgomery who are beginning to propose PACT legislation, as Wren has done. We are not "satisfied" and we can make that loud and clear with our caravan and with our presence at the PACT Board meeting. Please come to the PACT Board meeting in Montgomery on Wed. Nov. 4th. We will caravan, or if you cannot caravan, we will meet at Dexter Ave. UMC 12 - 1 pm and walk to the capitol together for the PACT meeting at 1:30 pm. We really need to show a strong presence out of B'ham with the caravan. If you did not sign up at the meeting last night but will join us in the caravan, we will meet off I-65 S at exit 247 to Valleydale Rd. in the parking lot of the Lowe's at 9:00 am on Nov. 4th. Please respond to Gail Kidd at egkidd1980@aol.com or Karen Gandy at karengandy@savealabamapact.com.
The next meeting for the Birmingham Area of Save Alabama PACT will be Monday, October 26th at the Gardendale Civic Center 6:00 – 7:30 pm. This is a map of the location.
www.cityofgardendale.com/maps/municipallocations.pdf
We have invited as speakers and guests the developers of the PACT program, Mr. George Wallace, Jr. and Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr. Mr. Wallace has accepted our invitation. We are awaiting confirmation from the Lt. Gov.
We need many volunteers as we prepare for the meeting. Please consider giving of your time to help us bring a resolution to the PACT issue so that ALL PACT contracts are honored. To volunteer, please contact Tommy Grimmer at gtgrimmer@yahoo.com . Thank you!
Karen Gandy
Birmingham Area Lead
Save Alabama PACT
www.savealabamapact.com
Mark, we are having a B'ham Area meeting on Oct. 26th in Gardendale. You and some of your committee members might like to attend so that you can get a feel for the structure of a meeting and how the meeting proceeds. After the Oct. meeting is over, I will be gald to help you any way I can with info on structuring your meeting.
The Birmingham Area we will have a volunteer meeting on Tuesday, Sep. 22nd at the Homewood Library on Oxmoor Rd. at 6:00. Please come join us with our organizing efforts. Enter the library from the back parking lot. The meeting room is on the bottom floor. Signs will be posted. The meeting will last for 1 hr. This is what we would like to discuss at the meeting:
- What is it that we as Save Alabama PACT want to accomplish and what the B’ham Area group is doing to help with that effort.
- Info on the next B'ham Area meeting.
- The current committees for the B’ham Area and the functions. We will have sign-up sheets by committees so that each Dir. may get in contact with you. If time allows, the committee heads will meet with the volunteers for their function.
If you have questions please contact Karen Gandy at karengandy@savealabamapact.com
KBinHoover please contact me at karengandy@savealabamapact.com. I would like to discuss your thougths about other B'ham meetings. Thanks!
Thanks so much for your comments on the B'ham meeting. The Bham Area Committee did a great job. It was a joint effort by all. I very much would like feedback about the meeting. Was it valuable to have the speakers and would you like speakers included in the next meeting? Do you want to spend more time discussing the organizing efforts of Save Alabama PACT and how each individual can contribute? Was there enough time for questions? Any and all feedback is welcome. We will be having another B'ham area meeting in the coming months. Watch for the date to be annouced soon.
Just a reminder the Save Alabama PACT Birmingham Area meeting will be this Thursday, Aug. 27th at 6:30 pm at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Homewood. Please look for signs around the perimeter of the church to direct you to the location of the meeting. We have an impressive agenda for the meeting. Patti Lambert, Save Alabama PACT President, and Rebecca Thrasher, Save Alabama PACT Secretary / Treasurer, will be in attendance. Further information on the Save Alabama PACT organization can be found on the website http://www.savealabamapact.com/
Ms. Lambert will speak on the events surrounding the PACT program since February 2009. Also scheduled to speak are the following state legislators and political candidates: Paul DeMarco,46th District (Jefferson), Artur Davis, Democratic candidate for Governor, Greg Canfield member of the House (District 48-Jefferson and Shelby Counties). We also are awaiting confirmation from others. This is your opportunity to speak with our elected representatives directly about your concerns. Also, several print media and TV stations are expected to attend.
Please help us get the word out about this important meeting by going to the Save Alabama PACT website and printing out a sign to be placed at your churches, schools and businesses. http://www.savealabamapact.com/data/fil … rdSign.pdf Please write with black marker across the top “Birmingham Area meeting Aug. 27th 6:30 pm”
We are still in need of volunteers to help with several functions at the meeting on Thursday the 27th. If you are willing to give of your time to help, please contact Karen Gandy at karengandy@savealabamapact.com.
When attending the meeting, please keep in mind that many, including our elected representatives, media and PACT holders, speak about and focus on the investments securing the PACT contracts. We as PACT contract owners did not purchase investments, we purchased contracts – for a purchase price we bought a commodity, 4 years of college. We had no say in what investments the PACT Board made with the payments for PACT contracts. We had no contractual right or obligation to participate in any gains or losses from these investments. Please pay particular attention to how you refer to the PACT, always refer to the PACT contract and do not use the term “investments”. We need to be consistent in our discussions with legislators and the media.
Please make every effort to attend this meeting on the 27th. We need to show our elected representatives that we are serious about reaching a resolution so that all PACT contracts are honored. Their commitment to this effort will be driven by our commitment to make an effort by attending meetings and contacting our representatives by phone, letter, e-mail and in person. There are 48,000+ PACT contracts in the state of Alabama. That can make a pretty impressive statement if we all make the effort.
If you have any questions or would be willing to give of your time to volunteer on the 27th, please contact Karen Gandy. We look forward to seeing you on the 27th!
Karen Gandy
Save Alabama PACT Central Alabama Leader
karengandy@savealabamapact.com
We would like some volunteers for the Birmingham Area meeting on Aug. 27th to work security. If you have a background in or are currently employed as a security guard or policeman, we would appreciate your help. Please contact Rebecca Thrasher at rebecca@savealabamapact.com. Thank you!
We are in need of volunteers to help with the Save Alabama PACT Birmingham Division meeting on Aug. 27th at 6:30 pm at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in the Homewood area of Birmingham. If you would be willing to give of your time to help, please contact Rebecca Thrasher, Save Alabama PACT secretary / treasurer, at rebecca@savealabamapact.com . Thanks so much in advance for your help.
Karen Gandy
Save Alabama PACT Birmingham Area Leader
Signs and tee shirts will be available for purchase at the Birmingham Area meeting. Also, orders may be placed at that time for specific items.
The Birmingham Area Division of Save Alabama PACT will hold a meeting on Thursday, August 27 at 6:30 pm at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church located at 1114 Oxmoor Rd., Birmingham, AL in the Homewoood area of Birmingham. This will include the surrounding counties of Jefferson, Blount, Shelby, St. Clair and northern Tuscaloosa. PACT holders from other areas are also welcome.We are preparing for as many as 200 attendees. If you are a member of Save Alabama PACT and are located in these areas, please contact Karen Gandy at gandykt@charter.net or 205-913-0140. We have many opportunities for you to be involved in the organization of this meeting. We especially need people to be responsible for contacting the print and broadcast media to advertise the meeting. Also, if you have friends, co-workers and family who are PACT contract owners and not members of Save Alabama, please ask if you may provide their e-mail address to the meeting committee so that we can contact them with information on the meeting. Send this information to Karen Gandy. Thanks in advance for your help in making this meeting a success!
I am not an attorney but I was a contract analyst for over for over 3 years with a major oil and gas company. I will be glad to help out in any way I can.
What about a legislative committee for those who are familiar with how the state government works, what it takes to get a bill on the floor for a vote, has contacts in state government and knows who we collectively should be contacting in government as the legislative process progresses when the RSA report is released so that we can act in one accord.
I know Dave said he has requested names and contact information of all PACT contract holders under the Freedom of Information Act and has received no response as yet. Any ideas others are pursuing to get this information? Somehow we have to get the word out. I had a very unsettling conversation tonight with a parent at a focus group organized by a college marketing firm for parents with students entering college this fall. As we went around the room to talk about, among other things, the "value" of college she said that she had a PACT contract that will help with college cost and although there has been much uncertainty with the program lately, her contract was "grandfathered" in and she would not have any problems! I caught up with her after the meeting and asked her what she meant by her statement. She said that the college her student is attending told her not to be concerned about the PACT because she had bought her contract when the program was first established and her contract would be honored. I told her the college was wrong and about the work the Save Alabama PACT organization is doing and gave her the website address.
Surely Alabama colleges are not telling new students and their parents this! Maybe one way to get the word out is to do a mail-out to the Admissions offices of Alabama colleges explaining what is occuring with the PACT program and the website address for Save Alabama PACT.
Richard, please contact me by e-mail in regards to your post on 5/9 about organizing. kgandy@southernco.com
Thanks!
Karen
I spoke with Sen. Beason at length last Friday. I told him that I oppose HB747 which places limits on contracts that will be honored to those purchased before Dec. 31, 1995. I said that all PACT contracts should be honored. I asked him to vote against the bill if it should make it to the Senate for a vote. We talked for some time about the bill Sen. Beason has sponsored, SB601. This bill has provisions to establish some funding for the PACT by (1) repealing the 50 mi. radius non-resident in-state rate and (2) increasing tuition for out of state students. Sen. Beason proposes a "stablization fund" into which increased funds from each of these actions would be deposited to fund the PACT. He also includes other provisions for funding. I asked him point blank if he supports SB581 which has had the most activity in the Senate. He has resvervations about the lack of specifics for where the funding will come from for this bill. He suggested that he would support an ammendment to this bill which would include the provisions he has proposed for funding. I asked him if there were time left in this session to get any bill passed. He did not think so. He gave me a similar answer as the one I received from Rep. McClendon last week when I asked him that question. He said there is funding in the PACT to cover tuition until this can be addressed in the next regular session. There seems to be a pattern of no sense of urgency with our Rep. and Sen. to get some legislation in place for the PACT for this session. This is troubling.
I spoke with my Rep. for St. Clair Co. last week. He is very supportive of legislation for the PACT. He said that he believes that all contracts should be honored. I told him that I oppose HB747 because of the limitation to only PACT contracts purchased prior to Dec. 31, 1995. I expressed my concern that there was not enough time left in the current session to pass a bill through the House and Senate. He asked when my student would begin college (fall 2009) and said that I shouldn't be concerned because there is funding in the PACT to cover tuition expenses for the next year if this is not addressed in this session. I told him that we all want this resolved sooner rather than later.
I am Karen Gandy and I live in Trussville, AL, just north of B'ham about 13 mi. on I-59. I will definately participate in any group action that is organized.
I totally agree, HB747 is not acceptable! ALL PACT CONTRACT MUST BE HONORED. We have got to stick together on this and not feel some comfort if we happened to have purchased contracts before 1995. We cannot be fractured. We must stay united.
I just spoke with my state Rep. Jim McClendon on the House floor. He said that the budget is being discussed in the Senate today. I told him of my concern that we are running out of time to get a bill passed for the PACT during this legislative session. His response was that there is still plenty of money in the PACT fund. If a bill for the PACT does not get passed during this session, it will be addressed in the next session. I told him that we need this resolved sooner rather than later. I told him that the lawsuits being filed may deplete the administrative fund for the PACT. He said he supports SB581 but I sense there is not much urgency amoung the lawmakers to get this resolved for this session. I hope I am wrong.
I just called the offices of Senators Bedford and Holley (sponsors of SB581) and the office of my Senator, Scott Beason. I spoke with Sen. Holley's assistant, Linda. Linda said that today's morning session had just recessed until 1:00. SB581 was not on the calendar this morning but could be introduced as a special item on the calendar for this afternoon. She was not sure at this time.
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Save Alabama PACT Discussion Forum » Posts by Karen Gandy