Chambers County School District Superintendent Casey Chambley and Chambers County Probate Court Judge Paul Story each addressed members of the Chambers County chapter of BamaCarry at El Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Lanett during the early evening hours of Saturday, January 27th of 2024. Running as incumbents for their re-elections in the Alabama Republican Primary this coming March, both Chambley and Story took the time to speak to some of their constituents that belong to the statewide Second Amendment advocacy organization. Five Points resident and LaFayette native Jimmy Allen fulfilled his role as chapter president by introducing Chambley to the group and highlighting the urgent nature of this upcoming election year.
Chambley began his presentation by clarifying some of the background details on how the consolidation process for the newly planned Chambers County High School reached its conclusion by relating a critical meeting he had with U.S. District Court Judge W. Keith Watkins for the Middle District of Alabama who had presided over the desegregation case involving the district. Summarizing some of Watkins' sentiments, Chambley paraphrased him as saying;
"I don't care if you get to build a new high school or not. If you do, good. You have got to come within your federal obligation of desegregation. I said yes sir. That is what we had to start doing. We had a decision to make."
Chambley went on to continue;
"When we have had to make some of these decisions and we went to the federal judge, we made a decision. Was everything perfect? No, everything is not going to be perfect. We sat down, we weighed the options that we had. We looked at the money, we looked at the kids, we looked at the schools, we looked at the facilities. We weighed all these different things and we came up with a plan that we thought was best to consolidate with the money we had, the time we had and that is what we did."
Providing further context on how the events of the consolidation process played out, Chambley remarked;
"Probably three of the best years of education that I ever had was assistant principal at LaFayette High School. Some of the people that helped get me elected this last time feel like I turned on them and feel like I do not support them because of that situation, because we chose to build the school in Valley. That is not true. That is not the reason the decision was made. The decision was made because when we had to weigh everything, we had to make decisions that were best for the entire group."
Reflecting on his track record as CCSD Superintendent, Chambley commented;
"We have done a lot in three years. In the three years that I have been in office, we have gotten a lot done. We have put roofs on buildings at every campus, we have bought equipment and machines to clean these buildings. We have completely painted, renovated and fixed rotting fascia and paint on exterior buildings of three of our campuses. We have spent over half a million dollars on new desks and furniture for two of our schools that we have not bought desks and bought furniture in years and years and years. We have not built a building in Chambers County since the early 2000s. We are about to embark on building a brand new high school for our county and for our kids that all of our kids and our grandkids and great grandkids are going to be able to be proud of and go to."
Looking forward to the future of the district, Chambley stated;
"We are going to start building a daycare center for staff members in Chambers County. I am meeting with an architect next week that is going to go to Shawmut gym and we are going to remodel the inside of Shawmut gym. Not the gym part, but the other side where the pool area was. We have got about a 3,000 square foot area that we are going to remodel and we are going to turn that into a daycare center for our staff members. For staff members in Chambers County that would like to send their kids to daycare and have affordable, cheaper daycare. That is one of the things that we are going to do for our teachers to try to draw and bring teachers to our area."
Expanding on the fiscal discipline that he has pursued as superintendent, Chambley noted;
"We are in a great county, Chambers County is a great county to live in. Our tax base is one of the things that makes it attractive here. That is another thing we are proud of, we are building this school without asking the taxpayers for any more money. We are going to build this school without having to go to the taxpayers to ask for an increase in taxes. We have been able to do that because of the mergers and finding money that we have saved in closing and merging some of our other buildings."
Concluding his thoughts with an eye towards the decades to come, Chambley remarked;
"We love the traditions of all of our schools. We understand and know that where people went to school and where you grow up in your community is important. Your mascots and your colors and alumni, they are important. But we can't make decisions for people that walked in buildings thirty years ago. We have got to make decisions for the kids that are walking in the buildings now or that are going to walk in them thirty years from now. That has been the issue and the problem, we have been making decisions for adults. We can't make decisions for adults. We have got to make decisions for kids. That is tough on people to have to let go of those things some time."
Next up was Judge Story who began by providing some background on himself, stating;
"My name is Paul Story, I have served in the past five years as your probate judge for Chambers County and I am seeking re-election for another term. Just a little bit about myself, because it has been five years since I have had the opportunity to speak to you in this capacity. I am forty years old, proud father of three wonderful children."
He went on to continue;
"I am a proud graduate of Valley High School, class of 2001. Graduated from Southern Union with an applied math and sciences degree. I am currently serving on several boards serving our community. I am on The Charter Foundation board as well as the Circle of Care board and also now a member of the regional mental health board for our five county catchment area."
Describing his role as the county’s probate court Judge, Story remarked;
"The commonly known services that we provide are tags and titles, also dealing with driver's license renewals and duplications. Also dealing with wills and estates, after the passing of a loved one we help manage the estates and make sure that things are done properly by the Code of Alabama. Also, we deal with recordation of most of the county's documents through deeds, plats, power of attorney, whatever may be brought in."
He went on to continue;
"We deal with legitimations, we deal with legal name changes. One of my most favorite things, and I am sure most of you all can agree, is adoptions. Getting to make a family whole, taking a child out of a situation that may not be the best. Working towards finding them a forever home, love those days."
Describing mental health services as the aspect of his jurisdiction that he is most passionate about, Story commented;
"What I have dealt with a lot, and what you all have probably dealt with in the community and what you have seen others dealt with in families, is mental health. The probate court has primary jurisdiction for all mental health hearings, minus juvenile. Nineteen and up, that is where probate comes in. We deal with involuntary commitments of those individuals who have mental health issues that are not able to get the care. Whether it is limitation of services in the area, whether it is lack of care by the family or whether it is just the fact that they don't have a good understanding of what they are experiencing and how they can get the help. So that is where probate court comes in."
Expanding on his focus regarding mental health concerns in the community, Story noted;
"One thing that was limited when I first started in office and thankfully we have been able to work toward and rectify is geri-site care, individuals that are sixty and over. Nine times out of ten, what would happen is they would have to see their primary care physician and they would have to diagnose them and work to get them a facility that was proper for them. There were very limited facilities in the State of Alabama. East Alabama worked with Lanier Services and the individuals in the community and we were able to get what is called a senior behavioral unit at East Alabama. I will tell you right now, it is well thought of across the state. Now we have somewhere that our citizens that are of that age and of that necessity, they have the means to get the care that they need."
Moving on to the topic of electoral matters, Story stated;
"One other function of the probate office is dealing with elections. The probate judge is the elections manager for the county. The Circuit Clerk is absentee, that is the only part that the judge does not work with is absentee. The probate judge is the one that sets the ballots, orders, gets the machines tested, handles any and all oversight on the day of the election and also manages the reporting to the state."
He went on to continue;
"Right now myself and Representative Wood and some other judges are working on a post election audit bill looking at roughly five to ten percent. It has not been determined, we're still talking now but they are wanting to get it in legislation this year. I think it is crucial. I know there are some judges who don't agree with me on that because it is extra work for us, it is. Ultimately, we try to safeguard our integrity through these processes. We are looking at five to ten percent, which for our county would be one precinct, possibly two depending on which ones you look at. We would take one state race, one county race. We would take a machine, we would have a fresh tabulator. We would have a fresh stick that would read those ballots for that particular precinct."
Bringing that thought to a close, Story added;
"There is good checks and balances already, but this is just an added bonus for us to take away that concern. Like with what you mentioned of Dominion, where they have states that have had several issues with the tabulators. We're trying to take any and all concerns, that way we know that Alabama is in good standing with integrity for our elections."
Asked by one of the attendees about his experience working with Secretary of State Wes Allen, Story remarked;
"Certainly, I was one of the judges that had swapped over to ES&S (Election Systems and Software) for the poll books and we had to go and vet each one of these entities, these vendors they bring in and the equipment they offer. I was part of the expediting with getting this brought into the state with this particular part. I am on the elections committee for the APJA (Alabama Probate Judges Association) so I am the one that tries to help to work for this post-election audit bill which we're working with Wes Allen on that."
Continuing his reflections on working with Secretary Allen, Story noted;
"He was a retired probate judge, so he actually has fantastic insights. He has visited our county and several others to try to get some kind of input, whether it be the post-election audit bill, whether it be dealing with the LLCs that now are filed electronically. Wes is a great guy, great to work with and he has done a lot in that office already fighting for our rights through election processes. Wes is very much a Second Amendment man, he is that. It has been a joy working with him thus far."
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