Dear Editor,

On March 31, 2009 the mayor, four members of the town council, and the planning board secretly met with representatives of White Rock Quarries, LLC at Bella Luna in Childersburg.

On April 21, 2009 at 9 a.m., Frederick Kidd and I went to see Mayor Ray H. McAllister at the Vincent town hall. He refused to let me use my tape recorder. I asked him if a rock quarry was being planned for Vincent.

He replied that he “did not know what it was.” He said that he “did not know if it would be bad, or it would be good.” He did not know “what it was.”

At a subsequent meeting of the town council on May 5, 2009, Judy Naugle asked the mayor if a rock quarry was being proposed for Vincent. He again said that he “did not know what it was.” And again he said that he “did not know if it would be bad, or it would be good.” He did not know “what it was.” I spoke up and said, “I have it on good authority that a rock quarry was coming to Vincent, and that ain’t good.” He did not respond.

In a press release on May 9, 2009, Mayor McAllister announced that a rock quarry had been proposed for Vincent.

On May 12, 2009 the Vincent Planning Board met and there were signs advertising a meeting being sponsored by White Rock Quarries, LLC. When one of the board members asked about the signs, the meeting was quickly adjourned, so the comments would not be part of the public record. Mayor McAllister then began to describe in detail the White Rock Quarry in the Miami-Dade area. He even talked about how environmentally friendly it was, and about how it was located next to expensive houses and condos, and its close proximity to the Doral Country Club.

Is there any kind of justification in this kind of behavior for an elected official?

I just suppose that lying has become the politician’s privilege.