Move Afoot to Remove Disgraced JeffCo Commissioner's Name from Road

Jefferson County, Ala., Commissioner Joe Knight wants to remove disgraced former county commissioner Mary Buckelew’s name from a road, according to the Birmingham News.

In 2009, Buckelew, then 63, was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine, do 200 hours of community service and spend three years on probation for lying to a grand jury about gifts and spa treatments she received to influence her vote in connection with $3.2 billion of debt and swaps sold for the county’s sewer system.

“I have talked it over with some people in the community, and they would like to see the name changed,” Knight reportedly said in a committee meeting last week.

In 2003 and 2004, both years during which Jefferson County refinanced its now-defaulted sewer debt, Buckelew accepted $2,619 worth of shoes, a purse and other items purchased at New York’s upscale Salvatore Ferragamo by Montgomery bond dealer Bill Blount.

Blount also bought Buckelew $1,400 in services at the Federic Fekkai Spa.

In August 2008, Buckelew lied to a grand jury about receiving the gifts. She changed her story and pleaded guilty after she was shown store receipts.

Buckelew was the first Jefferson County elected official convicted in a pay-to-play scheme involving the debt-ridden sewer system that helped force the county into bankruptcy in November of last year.

The 2.7-mile Mary Buckelew Parkway was named after the commissioner for her assistance in getting the road built in 1995, the paper said.

Knight did not indicate when he would bring the issue before the full commission.

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Transportation industry Alabama
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