New License Comm.

You make a lot of sense.

        I will agree, Mr Smith has not earned this Job.

     I do not know Sheryl Marks,  but would  think after working  all these years, she would have been best person for the job.   Just another reason this Great USA is in the mess it is In.

       Politicians on both Sides when given a chance, to only do the right thing, but drop the ball !

I disagree completely. Mr. Smith lost two elections in part because Lauderdale County is still predominately Democrat.

 

If I wanted to criticize someone, I would start with Billy Jackson, who received an appointment by telling Gov. Riley he was a Republican, then ran on the Democratic ticket at a later date without so much as an explanation.

 

As for Mr. Smith, few in our community can claim either his education or civic endeavors. Of course, education means little in this area, that's why a non-college graduate (Rhea Fulmer) beat a candiate with a doctorate. Of course, the people of Lauderdale County soon saw what they got.

 

BTW, the election for probate judge was fairly close; Mr. Hall (also a very fine person) will now show the county what they've been missing with Hewey Dewey Lewey in office.

I think it’s funny myself. Smith must think all the checks made out to him are his to spend. If the 80 thousand was an attractive salary he must not have been much of a lawyer.

 

You must not know the average salaries of attorneys in this area. It's regrettable you feel the need to cast doubt on Mr. Smith's integrity.

 

We could add Missy Homan Hibbett, Daniel Rosser, James Hall, etc. to those who have taken a position at a fixed salary. You also need to consider the state retirement that goes with such positions.

 

So far, Mr. Smith is doing better than Abe Liconln who lost the first eight elections in which he ran.

It’s funny because Bentley appointed a Republican and folks are surprised.

Now I will address the salary. How in a world could one justify the expense of becoming an attorney and not push a seven figure yearly paycheck.

I doubt if Smith is too funny.

The Governor picks his friend over a loyal employee of 28 years in the same department might I add is wrong and Sheryl Marks was done dirty by the buddy system. I know my letter and email is going out tomorrow to the Governor and if you feel the same please do the same. Nothing will ever change until we speak up and let people know how we feel. I am not saying Mr. Smith is a bad person but how can you sleep at night knowing you are not qualified to do this job. Seeing how Mrs. Marks will have to train you, I applaud you for being a strong lady to do that. And people can't understand why our government is screwed up. It is not what you know it's who you know. Which is so wrong.

According to salary.com the median salary for an attorney with 10 yrs experience in Florence is approx. $155,873. I imagine he will maintain his practice on the side. Hardly a seven figure income. Although it is more than a Pediatrician in Florence with a median salary of $149,408.

JJ I advise a few attorneys and my first advice is to stay out of city court.

An interesting take on local attorneys who work with the state:

 

http://acdla.org/news/2005-05-...ommentsJoeDaniel.pdf

Quaildog:  I hate to tell you, but there are few lawyers around making a "seven figure paycheck."

Seven figures would be $1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0.  Let's get it right!

 

It takes a lot of ambulance chasing to make really big money.  They have rent to pay, salaries to  secretaries, social security and payroll taxes, income taxes and they have to fund a pension.  And, they've got to pay for their Mercedes company car.  It's almost enough to make an attorney go to work for a client directly.

"pushing" would only be six figures. An attorney should expect to gross 3 thousand per day or it needs to relocate or change practice. 

$80,000/year no salaries, overhead, insurance to pay is not too bad a gig. Plus doesn't he get a car? I really doubt there are a lot of lawyers in the area grossing $3,000 a day. 

Attorneys, doctors and other self employed people often reach their 50's, and they take a hard look at themselves.  While some may make a good living, they finally realize that THEY'RE MIDDLE CLASS. 

 

There's no such thing as a Rich Doctor--they're far and few between.  Sometimes a salary less than they're used to making looks attractive if it comes with fringe benefits, pensions, etc. and a general lack of headaches.  They just get sick of having to cover the payroll on Friday.  We're seeing physicians selling their practices to hospitals in droves.

 

Say a professional is used to making $200K per year, and they wish to live the same lifestyle in retirement.  If you go by the 4% yearly withdrawal rule, they'd have to have $5,000,000 in their retirement accounts to maintain their lifestyle.  When you consider many professionals are really, really bad at making sound investment decisions,  they're far, far short of their $5 million investment goal.  Heck, they may have not even paid off their student loans until they were 50.

 

They should have lived in a smaller house, driven a minivan instead of that Jag, and sent their kids to University of Alabama instead of Duke. 

 

Many professionals and self employed cannot afford to retire and maintain their lifestyle because they never could afford the lifestyle AND save for their future to begin with. 

 

It sure makes that lesser salary with fringes attractive. and I tell our new License Commissioner to go for it.  Enjoy your new job and be glad that the Lauderdale County License office has great employees and is very well managed.

No one should get a county car to take home or run personal errors, they should have cars in a motor pool avaiable that can be signed out as needed. The probate judge and whatever that new position is should not have a take home car. The only person to take home a car can be the sheriff and it should be a marked police car. As the saying goes a marked car is noticed and reduces crime. Of course this does not apply to deputies. Everyone agrees that the people have got to get perks and spending under control and the county government is the perfect place to start. But we have to be strict and not play favorites. For such a small county as Lauderdale the salaries are all very much above normal and a pay freeze on everyone except the deputies should be started. The just approved raise plus the raise 3 or 4 years both totaling 18% raise for county workers is way over board for people that work in a perfect climate controlled area working at a desk. Add the sick,  vacation leave time and a good retirement system. Most workers have not received a raise like this, they are lucky to even have a job. Even social security only received around a 5.7 for 4 years. It is up to the citizens to force the employees to cut back. If it left up to the people running the court house it will never happen. Look for your county taxes to go up as the probate judge said the county did not have the money in the correct account to give these raises several months ago, but they approved the raises anyway. So citizens of Lauderdale county be prepared to pay more in taxes or tell the people running the courthouse to get their act in order and stop giving away money and perks.

Count your blessings when it comes to property taxes. 20 miles north of Florence, (in Tennessee), you would be paying four times the property taxes.  Our daughter's house in Memphis has $3800 sales taxes, where they'd be about $700 in Lauderdale County.

 

But when it comes to property taxes, the quality of our schools reflects it.