PELL CITY – Local residents agree that Alabama needs a new constitution.“Our constitution is an embarrassment,” said Steve Valdes. “We should let the people of the city decide what is good for their city.”
Mark Berte, Grassroots Education director for the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, said the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation is a non-partisan effort working to change the constitution.
“We have Democrats, Republicans and Independents all working on it,” Berte recently told members of the Pell City Rotary Club.
He said the current Alabama Constitution gives power to the Legislature and not to local governments.
“This is our sixth state constitution,” he said. “We hope the seventh one will be the charm.”
Berte said the Alabama Constitution, created in 1901, did not give fair representation to all.
“Women were not present, and African-Americans were barred from participating in 1901,” he said. “It was a backlash for reconstruction, and gave power to landowners and established white supremacy.”
Berte said the 1901 constitution was all about power and control.
“It was not just against African-Americans,” he said. “It was against poor people, too, with things like poll taxes.”
Berte said the federal courts remedied issues such as poll taxes and integration in the 1950s and 1960s, but other problems with the constitution still exist.
“The low and middle class shoulder the burden of taxes,” he said. “The large landowners reap the benefits of a sales tax system as opposed to a property tax system.”
Berte said Alabama taxes food items, non-prescription drugs, and much more.
“Our property taxes are the lowest in the United States,” he said. “If you doubled the taxes, they would still be the lowest in the United States. If you tripled them, the property taxes would still be lower than the surrounding states.”
The tax system taxes families further into poverty, Berte said.
“It is one of the root causes to poverty, and the 1901 constitution is central to that,” he said.
Berte said the 1901 constitution does not give cities or counties “home rule.”
“Amendments must be added to change local government,” he said. “For example, there is a constitutional amendment to spray for mosquitoes in Mobile County.”
Berte said there also is no right to public education in the 1901 constitution.
“It could be taken away,” he said.
The current constitution has 801 amendments, Berte said.
“If you have to take your car into the shop 801 times, it might be time for a new car,” he said.
Doris Jones said she is definitely in favor of reform.
“I believe in freedom for voters to make choices for their areas, especially in light of the Trussville experience,” she said.
Jones said the city of Trussville wanted to increase certain taxes to put more money into the school system. The amendment passed in Trussville, but was voted down statewide.
“Different areas have different situations,” she said. “One blanket solution doesn’t work. We need self-government.”
Valdes said one fear in constitutional change is that the politicians might make it worse than it already is.
“I am in favor of change,” he said. “I don’t think they can make it worse than it already is.”
Retired St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Bill Hereford said he also favors reform.
“Statewide voting on purely local ‘home rule’ matters is inappropriate, in my opinion,” he said. “You know it needs to be done. It is not reinventing the wheel. We just need a constitution that makes sense.”
For more information about the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation visit www.constitutionalreform.org.
