By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Thursday, February 20th, Joe Freeman and nine other Republican candidates addressed the Rainy Day Patriots at their candidate’s forum. Freeman is running for Alabama House District 44, representing the Trussville and Clay area of Jefferson County. Rep. Arthur Payne (R) from Trussville has served for 44 years but is now stepping down and Freeman would like to be elected to that House District 44 seat.
“What this district needs is someone who is willing to fight.” Freeman denounced the reckless spending and outright corruption which has resulted in Alabama’s most populous county, Jefferson, finding itself in $4.19 billion in debt. “What I do for a living is investment banking. I am in the bond business.” Freeman said that those debts were run up because, “No one was willing to fight.”
In 2008, Larry Langford was talking about 100 years of bond payment. “You guys are paying the mortgage on those big promises.” Freeman said that their children will also be paying for the corruption that occurred and led to the massive run-up in debt and the subsequent corruption convictions of numerous Jefferson County Commissioners.
Freeman said that Arthur Payne took him down to Montgomery to paige when he was just 13 years old and he has been fascinated by the political process ever since. He went to Auburn University, which at the time, “…had been high-jacked by one trustee (Bobby Lowder). As Chairman of the Alabama College Republicans, he led the group to take a stand against Republican Governor Bob Riley’s massive $1.2 billion tax increase proposal, Amendment One, which was ultimately rejected by the people of Alabama. “I have a long history of fighting for things,” Freeman said.
“Somebody has got to carry the flag down there,” (Montgomery) and pledged, if elected, to fight hard to overturn the controversial Common Core standards adopted by the Alabama State school board. Freeman said, that will be a fight. “When I am in a fight, I want the biggest man fighting for me…I believe I am the biggest guy in this race.”
Freeman told the group of tea party activists, “I am 100% for transparency,” in government.
Attorney, John Amari and Trussville School Board Vice President Danny Garrett have also both qualified as Republican candidates for the House District 44 seat.
