By Susan Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
Alabama Political Reporter has obtained an email in which members of a special interest group appear to openly discuss how they hope to influence the Huntsville City Council in return for their organization’s campaign donations.
In what looks to be an email from “The Committee of 100″ to the board of directors of BIZPAC, the Montgomery-based political action committee of Clark Richardson an unnamed author writes of its influence with members of the Huntsville City Council.
The email copy specifically cites Councilman Bill Kling, Jr., by name. It further discusses Kling’s fear that the Committee would support his opponent in the 2018 election, and concludes that the Committee “would have stronger influence with him going forward.”
The author of the email also writes about the Committee’s influence over city council candidate Devyn Keith.
Keith is challenging incumbent city councilman Richard Showers in Huntsville’s City Council District 1.
Keith led in the August 23 election with 41 percent of the vote to Showers’ 29 percent. The two men will face each other tomorrow in a runoff election.
Regarding Keith, the author of the email writes, “If Devyn wins, that balance of power will definitely shift, and our mayor/council leadership teams in both Huntsville and Madison could be the strongest in years. We need to all be very active in making that happen by reaching out to everyone we know in Huntsville District 1.”
The email does not specify whether Keith solicited the contribution or whether this special interest group approached him with the money.
