And many Montgomery insiders predict the same fate for any effort to reform the 1901 constitution, no matter how badly Alabama needs it. Perhaps the new leadership has better things in mind for Alfa. One positive sign is that Mr. Newby, the new president, has organized a committee to re-examine Alfa's opposition to letting counties govern themselves rather than beg the Legislature for local laws. As a cotton farmer in booming Limestone County in the Tennessee River Valley, Mr. Newby surely sees that counties need authority to zone and plan for growth to avoid divisive and expensive conflicts over land use. Farmers often find themselves the victims of unmanaged growth, as residents of new subdivisions complain about pesticides, dust and noise.
History indeed can take some strange twists.
Today, business leaders routinely bemoan the state's failure to elect more progressive governors, while many of these captains of commerce promote school and tax reforms. Meanwhile, a chastened Alfa nurses its wounds while a new management team moves into place at the federation's well-appointed headquarters in Montgomery. Reprinted with Permission from the Mobile Register.