The following is a paid political post by the Campaign to Elect Charles Bishop. The Community Journal’s regular advertising partners are not endorsing any candidates by being on this post.
In the 1980s, the Alabama Legislature created a $333 million Oil and Gas Lease Trust Fund. Alabama’s Gulf Coast waters generated this money from oil and gas exploration leases. The Montgomery politicians, including Gov. George Wallace, and special interests wanted to keep that money for themselves to spend on state government.
Jasper’s Charles Bishop, a state senator at the time, fought the governor, the Alabama Legislature, and the special interests to get funding from that Trust Fund for Alabama’s cities and counties.
“God gave us that oil wealth and not the politicians. I hate to see the politicians take it away,” Bishop told The Montgomery Advertiser in May 1985.
39 years later, that money continues to flow into Walker County today. Thanks to his hard-nose fighting, Charles Bishop won for the people across Alabama.
That fight has meant millions of dollars for Walker County and municipalities in the county since that time. In only the last 10 years, those funds have totaled more than $6 million.
Over the past 10 years, Walker County itself has received a significant portion of the funding, totaling $3,874,000. In addition to the county’s share, each municipality (Jasper. Sumiton, Dora, Cordova, Carbon Hill, Parrish, Oakman, Sipsey, Kansas, Nauvoo and Eldridge) within Walker County has collectively benefited totaling $2,486,478 in funding. This investment has been crucial in supporting infrastructure and community projects across the county and its cities.
Bishop, a current candidate for chairman of the Walker County Commission, said those 39 years of public funding is just one of the many things that proves his loyalty and dedication to Walker County and its residents.
“The fight over the oil and gas trust made me pretty unpopular with a lot of powerful people in our state, but I did it because it is what was the right thing to do,” Bishop said. “I have always done what I thought was the right thing for the people who I’ve represented. That is what I will do as chairman of the Walker County Commission. That makes me unpopular with the good old boy network. I’m here for the people. I’m here to do what’s right for Walker County and to move our county forward.”
Bishop said he is proud this funding will continue indefinitely, being a source of revenue for generations to come.
Bishop asked for voters to choose him in the Republican runoff on Tuesday, April 16
“On April 16, Vote Charles Bishop, Chairman Walker County Commission,” he said. “I tell the truth, and I can’t be bought. I want to reorganize how our county operates. That will be my first step, and I need everyone’s help to do that.”
For more information on the Bishop campaign, visit votecharlesbishop.com or the Charles Bishop Facebook page.
