Though the firm employs researchers, a lawyer and several people who lobby the Legislature, the Matrix Group is primarily associated with one man: its founder, 51-year-old Joseph W. "Joe" Perkins Jr.
In political circles, Perkins is regarded as one of Alabama's premier practitioners of "opposition research" - the art of finding something potentially controversial about someone, usually a politician, then molding it into a message that can be put before the public.
Perkins and other members of his firm, for example, played key roles in the effort by Jasper lawyer Garve Ivey, a former officer in the state trial lawyers association, to promote a prostitute's tale that Steve Windom of Theodore - a state senator running for lieutenant governor - had raped and beaten her.
Perkins, who lives in Tuscaloosa but travels frequently to Montgomery, is said by political insiders to be one of Gov. Don Siegelman's valued advisers on policy and politics, and is expected to play a role in his 2002 re-election campaign.
Ironic, but in his early career, the founder of Matrix once campaigned against the waste industry:
The Perkins-run campaign hammered Marietta Lyons for a $1,000 donation she had received in 1986 from the waste industry. Leaflets showed a man in a gas mask standing next to a large can labeled, "Hazardous Waste," and overflowing with cash. "Another campaign contribution for Beth Marietta," it stated.
All of the above quotes come from a Mobile Register article that is several years old. Click here to view the entire article.
I don't know if Phillip Kinney of Matrix representing the Conecuh Woods group is representing the same Matrix I have referenced above, but if he is, then all I can say to the anti-landfill forces in Conecuh County is that you are now pitted against some heavy hitters. This comes from a blog called Doc's Political Parlor
District 13 (Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Lee, Randolph):
Sen. Gerald Dial’s race for his ninth term in the legislature was supposed to be an easy win for the incumbent. But, Randolph Circuit Clerk Kim Benefield’s full coffers have allowed her to buy a lot of expensive Birmingham TV time to show her ads in Lineville. Former state Democratic Party Chair Phillip Kinney now does opposition research for Matrix. Kinney told one of the senators in the Preuitt group that they could not find anything negative on Benefield and that they were going to have to make something up. That is why you get the ad that tries to connect Benefield with Barron who “used $5,000 of your money to pay a shoeshine man to shine shoes for senators.” I must admit that if that is the worst thing you can say about Benefield, you are really stretching. Especially since news reports said that it was Sen. Bobby Denton (D - Muscle Shoals) who paid $5,000 to the shoeshine man (though Barron approved the payment from money allotted to Denton).
Surely, surely, surely..., the Phillip Kinney referenced above and the Phillip Kinney representing Conecuh Woods aren't one and the same.
Well friends, he is representing the TRASH business, isn't he ...
Until next time...
2 comments:
I am grieved about the political corruption that is happening in Alabama. It has gotten to be like the old bad lands before annexation into statehood. The state is controlled by crooks; however, the working class seems to be good people.
Political corruption in Alabama has gotten totally out of control. Out of the Millions of dollars of Mississippi Choctaw money that Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon laundered and sent to AL. to defeat Siegelman’s Education Lottery in 1999, to elect Bob Riley in 2002 and for Riley to oppress the AL. Poarch Indians, “not a single person has gotten investigated by the ABI or FBI under direction of the offices of the Alabama Attorney General or the U.S. Attorneys.”
Every article written on the 2002 Governors election verifies that the numbers published indicates that Electronic ballot stuffing was involved in Baldwin County to transfer votes from Siegelman to Riley. Siegelman was the winner that evening; however, Dan Gans (Riley’s voting machine software guru) said that Siegelman had too may votes in Bay Minette so during the night a voting adjustment was made that put Riley in the lead. I believe that Siegelman was blackmailed because he didn't put up a fight when votes were swapped and the election was taken from him. No one knew why he conceded to Riley until the Judicial Committee released Attorney Jill Simpson‘s testimony this week. The Democratic Party issued petitions in all 67 counties asking for recounts (not all counties used optical scanning machines), but in Baldwin County in particular, they actually asked for a manual recount (of the paper ballots); however, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor ordered that throughout the state that all votes be sealed. He told the county canvassing boards that under penalty of law they did not have the authority to break the seals on the ballots and machines under section 17-9-31 of the constitution to do a recount. This 2002 election fraud didn't get investigated by the ABI or FBI or the offices of the U.S. Attorneys or the Alabama Attorney General.
This blog is intended for people in opposition to to the Conecuh Woods Landfill. It is not a board for whiny comments about a convicted felon who just happens to be a former governor. The fact that one of that governor's former advisors is in league with the group that wants to bring in the United State's largest landfill however is very relevant. I noticed that was not mentioned in the post. Sounds like it was written by a lawyer - and not a good one at that.
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