Deborah Bowie - Interim City Manager Linked to Past Scandals
Bowie has said she is not interested in taking the job permanently as reported in The Gainesville Sun
(Full Article) Smitherman Fires Chief of Staff Vance-Bowie
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Deborah Vance-Bowie Fired to Restore Trust in Government
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Ray Washington Warns Gainesville's Utility Debt Could End in Bankruptcy
VIDEO
Ray Washington and Harold Saive speak to how the City of Gainesville's has lost fiscal credibility due to massive GRU utility debt. The video is a 2009 press conference that reviews the utility debt disaster in Birmingham Alabama that could easily forecast Gainesville's future.
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Gainesville's interim manager, Deborah Bowie served as Chief of Staff under deposed Mayor, Larry Langford
Smitherman fires chief of staff Vance-Bowie
By Jimmy DeButts – Staff
Burmingham Business Journal
Nov 5, 2009, 11:35am CST Updated Nov 5, 2009, 12:35pm EST
Interim Birmingham Mayor Carole Smitherman fired her predecessor’s chief of staff Thursday.
Smitherman said she fired Deborah Vance-Bowie because she was receiving conflicting reports about the city’s budget from her and former finance director Steve Sayler. Sayler resigned Monday.
“Steve Sayler would say one thing and Deborah would say another,” Smitherman said during a press conference at City Hall Thursday. “I could never tell who was telling the truth.”
A $21 million shortfall in the city’s current budget was uncovered in a report Sayler provided Vance-Bowie less than a month ago. The city’s fiscal year 2010 budget was approved in June.
Smitherman has appointed 14-year Birmingham Parks and Recreation veteran Kevin Moore to replace Vance-Bowie as her chief of staff. Smitherman became mayor when former Mayor Larry Langford was convicted on federal bribery charges on Oct. 28.
A Dec. 8 special election has been called to choose who will finish Langford’s term.
Moore’s first challenge is meeting with city department chiefs to determine the extent and impact of the budget shortfall. In addition to the $21 million budget gap, Smitherman confirmed the city’s revenues were down $15 million from original projections.
11/5/2009: Deborah Vance-Bowie, former Mayor Larry Langford's chief of staff, speaks about managing a crisis
Vance-Bowie said she was fired because she shared the information with a reporter and asked the reporter not to divulge it before the acting mayor moved on it.
Deborah Vance-Bowie, former Mayor Larry Langford's chief of staff, speaks about managing a crisis
By Joseph D. Bryant July 15, 2010
"My crisis began before I even stepped in front door of the at City Hall," she said. "All of us felt like we were being charged with (a crime)."
Vance-Bowie said her most challenging moment came when Langford was indicted and arrested on federal corruption charges stemming from his tenure on the Jefferson County Commission. Langford ultimately was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
"We had heard the rumors for months that he was going to be indicted. Could you drop a bomb bigger on me at six in the morning than 'the mayor's been arrested'? We had no framework. This had never happened before in the city's history."
(Six months warning of probable Langford indictment but admits she was unprepared "We had no framework.")
Vance-Bowie told to the group how she led a team in communicating with the public, the press and the employees, trying to be as transparent as possible. The outlook was grim and no spinning of the story was going to work, she explained.
She also stressed the need to have honest, and sometimes off the record, conversations with the press. That strategy was even more important following Langford's indictment, she said.
(Bowie recommends need for transparency but endorses off record conversations with the press especially following Langford's indictment... To hide what?)
"And Vance-Bowie, a former reporter, Chamber of Commerce vice president and senior mayoral aide, said she has no regrets about taking her last role. "
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Coincidence?.... Deborah Bowie Eulogizes Convicted Felon, Larry Langford as Gainesville City Commission Appoints Her to Interim City Manager Position.
How Larry Langford became a once-in-a-lifetime politician
Birmingham Times - January 17, 2019
“I hope that after some time has passed and people can get out of their polarized camps … [they] can at least sit back and look over the totality of [his work] and realize how much he did for a city that he loved,” said Deborah Vance Bowie, who served as Langford’s chief of staff in the city of Birmingham from 2007 to 2009.
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6/13/2009 Mayor’s chief of staff says councilman defamed her
BIRMINGHAM | The Birmingham mayor’s chief of staff has filed a claim with the city that a councilman defamed her.
In her complaint, Deborah Vance-Bowie claims Councilman Steven Hoyt made sexist slurs about her during a December dinner meeting he had with a vendor and a city employee. Her attorney, Valerie Hicks Powe, said Vance-Bowie filed a “notice of claim” with the city on April 20 to protect her rights to sue. Powe said Thursday it does not mean she will sue. Powe said Vance-Bowie wants the City Council to sanction Hoyt, as well as establish measures to stop it from happening again. In her notice, Vance-Bowie claims damages from the city totaling $1 million. Hoyt said he was unaware of the notice.
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Reuters 9/10/2011: Alabama county files biggest municipal bankruptcy
Commissioners for the county, which is home to Birmingham, the state’s biggest city and economic powerhouse, voted 4-1 to declare bankruptcy after meeting behind closed doors for two days in a last ditch-attempt to restructure its debt out of court.
A tentative deal reached with creditors in September to settle $3.14 billion in red ink had been widely expected to avert bankruptcy. But the deal fell apart over what the commission described as creditors’ refusal to meet the terms of previously agreed economic concessions.
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The Incredible Story Of The Jefferson County Bankruptcy -- One Of The Greatest Financial Ripoffs Of All Time
Note: With long history of legal scandals, Deborah Bowie had to know her job required loyalty to the point of providing coverup for what could be identified as crimes. Therefore, it could be logically alleged that Bowie's personal attacks and slander of the City auditor were founded on Bowie's commitment to coverup of criticisms that - in the case of Reichert House - could require deeper investigation by the State Attorney's office.
Article Excerpts
As you have likely surmised, Langford was not funneling money to Blount out of the goodness of his heart. Around the time Langford took office, he was stressing out about the $70,000 in credit card debt he had amassed buying rockstar duds. He confessed as much to his friends Blount and Albert LaPierre, a lobbyist. LaPierre told Langford to apply for a loan at Colonial Bank in Birmingham, which he did. Why Colonial Bank? Blount's girlfriend at the time was the chief credit officer for the bank. She approved Langford for an unsecured, six-month, $50,000 loan, despite his less-than-desirable credit.
In anticipation of being charged with securities fraud, JP Morgan agreed to settle with the SEC, making a $50 million payment to Jefferson County for the purpose of assisting displaced county employees, residents, and sewer ratepayers; paying a $25 million penalty to the SEC; and agreeing to forfeit the $648 million of swap termination payments. Considering how destructive the transactions proved for the county, the settlement seemed beyond absurd.
Langford, Blount, and LaPierre ended up being indicted for conspiracy, bribery, and fraud. Blount and LaPierre plead guilty to the charges and were sentenced to 52 and 48 months in prison, respectively. Langford was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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WIKIPEDIA
On December 1, 2008, Larry Langford, along with investment banker William B. Blount and former state Democratic Chairman Al LaPierre, were all arrested by the FBI on a 101-count indictment alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.[3] His public corruption trial ended on October 28, 2009, with convictions on 60 counts, and resulted in his automatic removal from office.[4]
On March 5, 2010, Larry Langford was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was also fined more than $119,000.
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Alabama mayor arrested on corruption charges
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Federal authorities arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday in a corruption probe surrounding a sewer bond debt that could lead to the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Deborah Bowie: “We are glad the Mayor will finally have his day in court. As members of his team, we stand behind him and look forward to the day when we can return the focus to the important issues before the city,” Langford’s chief of staff, Deborah Vance-Bowie, said in a statement.
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$20 million shortfall revealed after mayor’s conviction
With Langford awaiting trial earlier this year, questions about the city’s finances swirled throughout the budgeting process. Smitherman and Deborah Vance-Bowie, chief of staff for the mayor’s office, said not until the eve of Langford’s trial did the true extent of the problem become clear.
Smitherman said the city’s finance director at the time, Steve Sayler, and perhaps others knew the budget would fall $20 million short when the City Council voted on it earlier this year yet failed to disclose the problem.
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United Way NCF New President & CEO, Deborah Bowie (start date, 1/5/2015)
Work history provides no mention of Bowie's involvement with the Langford Scandal
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4/5/2017: Daughter of radio legend Casey Kasem talks elder abuse, prevention at Alabama crime vigil
The vigil was held at the Jasper Civic Center, and attended by law enforcement and residents from throughout the county and beyond. Another victim's advocate, former Birmingham television reporter Deborah Vance Bowie who is now the CEO of the United Way of North Central Florida, spoke about her ordeal after her sister - Sharon Anderson - was murdered in Florida in 1994.
Bowie has traveled across the U.S. speaking about her journey for justice and her sister's murder which was recorded on a hidden camera. There have been numerous trials and the appeals process has repeatedly victimized her family. She said she doesn't consider herself, however, a victim and that's the message that she hopes to send to other victims and survivors.
"You can choose what role you want to play,'' Bowie said. "They took my sister, but they're not going to take the rest of my future."
But horrific crime - which also left two others dead - did shape her future. "My promise to her was I'll see it through to the end,'' she said. "You never forget somebody you love. You never forget family."
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Birmingham, Alabama Leads the Way for Green Lobbying: Introduces the Alabama Green Initiative, a First-Ever Regional Green Project
Local Alabama Organizations Will Assist Area Lobbying for Green-Only Monies
January 23, 2009 02:43 PM Eastern Standard Time
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Birmingham, Alabama-area elected officials announced this week the formation of the Alabama Green Initiative (AGI), a non-profit organization created to assist the municipalities of the metro Birmingham area in applying for and receiving green-only and stimulus grant monies from President Barack Obama’s upcoming stimulus package. This marks the first of such partnership in the State of Alabama and in the entire United States.
For more information on the Alabama Green Initiative, please contact Lydia Wilbanks at 205.251.2225. To speak with the offices of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, please contact Deborah Vance-Bowie at (205) 254-2735.
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City appoints Bowie interim manager
1/17/2019: Gainsville Sun
Gainesville Executive Chief of Staff Deborah Bowie was appointed interim city manager Thursday to run the day-to-day operations until a new permanent manager is hired to replace Anthony Lyons, whose last day was Thursday.
In making the appointment, several city commissioners praised Bowie for her experience, temperament and skills.
“It is so clear to me that Ms. Bowie has risen above the rest,” Commissioner David Arreola said.
Commissioner Gail Johnson said Bowie “can heal and unify this city.”
In December, Lyons submitted his resignation after being criticized by commissioners and city residents for his management style and high employee turnover — including forced resignations. Lyons will serve in an advisory role until Feb. 14.
Also applying for the job were city Risk Management Director Steve Varvel and Michelle Park, former assistant director of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department who currently works with the Wild Spaces Public Places program.
Several residents spoke on the issue. One favored Park, while five said they didn’t think Bowie was a good choice for various reasons, instead favoring Varvel or Park.
Former city arborist Meg Niederhofer said the problems the city is facing with neighborhood redevelopment, police dissatisfaction and other issues could be better addressed by Varvel or Park.
Commissioner Gigi Simmons favored Park.
“What I’m seeing is a community that is divided, and we have the answer right in front of us,” Simmons said. “She (Park) is the person...to stabilize this community.”
County NAACP President Evelyn Foxx said Bowie would not be the best choice to try to heal divisions in the city.
Varvel said Bowie is qualified and called for a unanimous vote for her. Gainesville Fire Chief Jeff Lane also spoke in favor of Bowie.
However, the commissioners’ vote for Bowie was unanimous. Bowie has said she is not interested in taking the job permanently.
Bowie was hired in May after serving as president and chief executive officer for the United Way of North Central Florida. Before that, she worked for the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and for the city government of Birmingham, Alabama.
Key terms: Jefferson County Alabama Bankruptcy Larry Langford - Deborah Bowie, Deborah Vance-Bowie