Editor's Corner, 0721 ALBJ, Vol. 82 No. 4 Pg. 242 (July, 2021)
| Author | W. Gregory Ward |
| Position | Vol. 82 4 Pg. 242 |
W. Gregory Ward
wgward@ mindspring .com Municipal and Local Government Edition
Since I've spent some serious time representing governmental entities, I've long thought that an edition dedicated to their special problems might be fun. When I contacted my friend Jake Key-he is a member of the editorial board of The Alabama Lawyer-and asked if he'd be interested in working on this with me, he jumped in with both feet. I think you will agree that he came up with some good articles.
One word of warning. Unless you do this for a living-and sometimes even if you do-this can be a little dry. I mean, just how exciting can an article be when its focus is to explain the different forms of government that can be organized for small cities or towns, the Open Meetings Act, procurement law, or the cap on damages when you sue a city. But I have to give it to our authors-they did a great job. And, on second thought, their articles are not that dry after all.
I think this edition's authors did an outstanding job of laying out information logically, carefully, and in a way that it can be gathered up and used. Governmental entities are an area of the law unto themselves. There are lots of code sections that have to be consulted, and t hey are not neatly kept in one place. In other words, before you begin, you should consult with an expert.
We've done that for you.
We begin with "Alabama Municipal Law 101 "(page 244). I love the title.Three lawyers for the Alabama League of Municipalities-Lorelei A. Lein,Tenee' R.J. Frazier, and H. Robert Johnston-accepted the task of showing us the ropes. If you are new to the field of city or town governments (spoiler alert: there is a difference-read the article to find out what it is), then this is the place to start. Or. if you just want a refresher course on what it's all about, Alfie, take a look.
Mark and Wilson Boardman gave us "A Primer on the Alabama Open Meetings Act" (page 251). If you know anyone with more experience or who is better informed on this topic than Mark Boardman, let me know. He's been doing this for a while now, and his expertise in the field has been broadly recognized. His son, Wilson, gave his dad a hand. Wilson is in his third year at the University of Chicago...
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