Taylor takes oath of office

Autauga County Probate Judge Al Booth said he and other Republicans there were "giddy" after their first meeting with Bryan Taylor.
"We knew we had a candidate we could get behind and who could win," Booth said.
Taylor, the former policy director for Gov. Bob Riley, did win, convincingly defeating a seven-term Democratic senator.
On Thursday, Booth and other officials from the six counties that Taylor now represents watched in the historic chambers of the House of Representatives at the Capitol as Riley issued the oath of office to Taylor.
Jessica, Taylor's wife, held the Bible during the oath. They are expecting their first child by the end of the year.
Booth called Taylor, 34, and his wife "the future of politics."
Taylor was one of several Republicans who unseated Democrats to take control of the Alabama Senate and the Alabama House. He said he was proud to be part of a "new class of leadership in Montgomery."
Taylor, and many of his Republican colleagues, have vowed sweeping ethics reform to end corruption in Montgomery.
"That's why I got into this race," he said. Taylor believes the election was a "wake-up call," that the people are watching, and asked the dozens present for his oath to "hold my feet to the fire."
He is hoping to achieve many of his campaign goals during a special session that most lawmakers are expecting Riley to call by the end of the year to address ethics reform.
Riley said Taylor first joined him as an aid, traveling with him throughout the state. Later in his time in the administration, Taylor also helped lead the fight against what they believe is illegal gaming in the state.
Riley said he considered Taylor one of the foundations of his administration.
The governor advised Taylor to "come home' if he ever considered acting for political reasons, ever worried about a decision costing him the next election, or just worried about trying to build a consensus.
"Now is when the testing comes," Riley told him. He said too many people worry about their reelection.
Others who attended the event included several members of the Riley administration who served with Taylor including Tom Surtees, director of the Department of Industrial Relations; Art Faulkner, the newly appointed director of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security; and Judge Jim Main of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, who served as state finance director. Other legislators there included Reps. Paul Beckman, R-Prattville and Alan Boothe, D-Troy, and Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale.
District 30 includes all or part of Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, Elmore, Lowndes, and Pike counties.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen

Riley continues to fill Cabinet positions

Even though Robert Bentley will be governor in two months, current Gov. Bob Riley continues to fill the positions left by his departing appointees.
Bentley, a Republican, can replace those Cabinet-level positions when he takes office in January.
On Tuesday, Riley's office announced the appointment of Robert D. Church Jr. as Medicaid director and Art Faulkner as director of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security. Both men were already top officials in those departments and were likely candidates.
Church, the chief financial officer at the agency, replaces Carol Steckel, who resigned earlier this month to become the executive director of health care reform for the state of Louisiana. He served as assistant deputy administrator for audit and recovery with the Mississippi Medicaid program before joining Alabama's agency in 2009. Prior to that, he worked as a Certified Public Accountant for 30 years.
Faulkner, the state's 9-1-1 coordinator, replaces Jim Walker, who left to pursue a job in the private sector.
Riley previously appointed Linda Swann as director of the Alabama Development Office, replacing Neal Wade, who left to pursue a job in Florida with his previous employer.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen