11/29/95
By Janet McCoy (mccoyjl@mail.auburn.edu)
AU SETS PROGRAM ON STATE CONSTITUTION DEC. 13-15 IN MONTGOMERY
AUBURN -- A symposium to generate public debate on Alabama's 1901 Constitution will be held in Montgomery Dec. 13-15, concluding with a mock convention at the Alabama Statehouse.
The symposium is sponsored by AU's Center for Governmental Services and is financed by Alabama businesses.
More than 100 legislators and key state officials, city and county government leaders and business and civic executives have been invited to the three-day symposium at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Montgomery.
Keith Ward, director of AU's Center for Governmental Services, says the center has "a long term interest in public policy initiatives for the state.
"In the past we've had public policy initiatives in tax policy, in budgeting and in other areas and now we think it's time for Alabama to review Constitutional reform as one method of resolving some of the problem facing the state," he said. "Our current Constitution restricts our ability to effectively reform education and education finance. The Constitution limits the ability of local government in the area of a structure, function and finance and it severely limits the ability of local government to affect property tax policy. This symposium will offer an opportunity to review approaches to constitutional reform."
"These 100 represent a broad cross-section of our state and have been identified as opinion leaders who can help focus attention on our Constitution," says Joe Sumners, training coordinator at CGS and symposium coordinator.
The program will begin Wednesday, Dec. 13, with a 7:30 p.m. welcome by AU Provost Paul Parks.
Alabama historian Wayne Flynt, an AU Distinguished University Professor, will deliver a keynote address on "Origins and Environment of the 1901 Alabama Constitution."
Immediately following Flynt's address, Lt. Gov. Don Siegelman will respond.
Sessions on Dec. 14 include:
* 8:30 a.m., "The Alabama Constitution: The People's Fundamental Document?," with Gerald Johnson, a retired AU political scientist who has researched Alabama politics and law for more than 20 years.
* 9:15 a.m., "A Historical View of Alabama Constitution Revision Efforts: A Panel of Statesmen." William Stewart of the University of Alabama, considered to be the foremost expert on Alabama's Constitution, will lead a panel including retired Alabama Supreme Court Justice C.C. "Bo" Tolbert; retired Alabama Supreme Court Judge Oscar Adams; former Lt. Gov. William Baxley; former Shelby County Probate Judge Conrad Fowler; former Jefferson County Commissioner Chriss Doss; and former state Sen. Ryan DeGraffenried of Tuscaloosa.
* 10:45 a.m., "Reform, Revision or Relax: Options for Change," featuring Perry Roquemore, executive director of the Alabama League of Municipalities, speaking on "Relax: The Case for Status Quo"; Ben Spratling, an attorney at Haskell, Slaughter, Young & Johnson Professional Association on "Revision: The Case for Recompilation"; and Sumners on" Reform: The Case for a New Alabama Constitution."
Janice May of the University of Texas, the leading expert on state Constitutions, will give a 1:30 p.m. keynote address following a luncheon on "Constitutional Reform: Experience from the States."
A 2 p.m. roundtable discussion will feature five concurrent sessions, each lasting about one hour, allowing each participant to attend two sessions. They include:
* "The Executive Branch: Responsibility in Search of Power," by Brad Moody, a political scientist at AU at Montgomery.
* "The Legislative Branch: Legislative Provisions in the Constitution of Alabama," by Jess Brown, a political scientist at Athens College.
* "The Judicial Branch:, Rethinking the Alabama Judiciary," by Robert Schaefer, a political scientist at the University of Mobile.
* "The Local Government Role: Home Rule and Short Ballots," by Jim Zumwalt, Baldwin County administrator.
* "The Tax Structure: Taxes and Finance in the Alabama Constitution," by Ward.
A mock Constitutional convention will be Dec. 15 at 8 a.m. at the Alabama Statehouse, with Seth Hammett, speaker pro tempore of the Alabama House of Representatives, presiding.
"Participants will be organized into a mock convention and will debate pre- framed questions and issues, make amendments and vote on disposition," says Sumners. "Electronic voting will be used to decide these issues, and results will be immediately available to participants."
Following the symposium, the proceedings will be distributed and citizen forums are being planned via satellite with local conference participants conducting each meeting. Nine locations have been selected for the forums, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 14, including the Shoals area, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Gadsden, Montgomery, Auburn, Dothan and Mobile.
In addition, the proceedings will be available via the internet, and a world wide web page is currently being developed on the issue. The web page can be read by pointing your browser to: http://www.auburn.edu/~1cgsan/alacon.html.
nov95:AU-constitution
CONTACT: Ward or Sumners, 334/844-4781.