Re-elect

EDDIE
PUGH
Common Sense in Government
PRESS RELEASE FROM EDDIE PUGH
Tuscaloosa City Council Member, District 6
January 30, 2017
It has been my honor and privilege to have served the Citizens of City
Council District 6 since my election in 2013. If the voters of District 6 agree, it is
my strong and sincere desire to continue as their representative on the City Council
for another four years.
Unexpectedly, a problem has arisen with my qualifying for the municipal
election scheduled March 7, 2017, one I am working hard to remedy. The
qualification period for candidates was from January 10, 2017 through January 24.
On January 13, I filed my statement of candidacy and paid the $200 qualifying fee
with a check drawn on an account for the Campaign to Elect Eddie Pugh. In writing
the check, I made a human mistake. It slipped my mind that three years ago, after
the 2013 election, I had closed the Campaign to Elect Eddie Pugh checking account
to transfer the funds to a Campaign to Elect Eddie Pugh savings account. I did this
at the suggestion of my bank because the modest balance in the checking account
would have been depleted by monthly bank fees over the four years until the next
election.
The check drawn on the Campaign to Elect Eddie Pugh checking account was,
of course, not paid by the bank and was returned to the City Clerks Office on
January 25, one day after the qualifying period closed. The City Clerks Office called
to tell me the check had been returned. I happened to be at the bank when they
called, and immediately obtained a cashiers check for the $200 qualifying fee and
took it to the City Clerks Office. However, upon arrival I was informed that the
return of the check meant that I had failed to qualify as a candidate for the District
6 race.
This was very distressing news. Attempts to change the minds of City officials
were unsuccessful, and because the City intended to order ballots without my name
as a candidate the morning of January 27, the only option I had was to seek a court
order to require the City to include my name on the ballots.
Fortunately, the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court entered an order this past Friday
requiring the City to include my name on the ballots, and I am very grateful
because otherwise my candidacy would have ended there. But the Court still has to
decide the underlying question of whether I have qualified as a candidate. A court
hearing on that question is set for February 17, at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Jim
Roberts.
I want to sincerely apologize to the residents of District 6 for this situation
and thank all of those who have shown support for my cause. It is the voters who
should decide whether it is me or my opponent that represents them on the City
Council. My strongly held belief is that I am fully qualified as a candidate, and I look
forward another four years of public service.
Eddie Pugh