Legislator threatens to sue Auburn over Iron Bowl tickets
Posted by Bob Lowry November 27, 2007 8:11 PM
MONTGOMERY -- The longest serving member of the Alabama Legislature said today he will take the president of Auburn University to court because he didn't receive his customary pair of tickets to the Auburn-Alabama football game.
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, also suggested politics may have played a role.
Holmes said he would file court papers to compel Auburn President Jay Gogue to testify in Montgomery Circuit Court.
Holmes said Gogue and his staff have been unresponsive to his questions about why he did not receive his tickets before Saturday's game at Auburn.
"I think it's very unprofessional that a president of a state-supported university would not respond to an inquiry made by the senior member of the House of Representatives or any member of the House of Representatives," said Holmes. "In light of that fact, I plan to put him under oath and let him testify."
In a long-standing custom, each legislator receives two tickets to the Auburn-Alabama game each year, along with parking passes. When the game is played in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama provides the tickets and parking passes.
"I did a survey with other members of Legislature to determine whether they got their tickets, and they did," said Holmes.
One of the most outspoken legislators, Holmes said he called Gogue on Monday and was told that his staff was checking into it and that Gogue would call him.
He said Gogue never called and his secretary was not helpful when he tried to contact the president again today.
Holmes suggested politics may have played a role in his missing tickets.
"They (Auburn) will never admit it but, in my opinion, it's because of this issue with Sherri Fulford," he said. "I would not be able to prove it, but that's my opinion and my belief."
As a member of the Legislature's Joint Contractor Review Committee, Holmes opposed a controversial contract that Fulford got in December with the Alabama Medicaid Agency after she was fired by former Auburn President Ed Richardson in 2006 and took state retirement.
Fulford later suspended her retirement and was hired by Gogue in August as Auburn's director of governmental relations. Gogue was named Auburn's 18th president in July.
Holmes said he also ran afoul of Auburn in 2005 when he protested the firing of two black employees in the athletic department and called on black athletes to boycott their sports.
"Richardson called me and asked for a meeting. He said they had made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of problems at Auburn," said Holmes. "He said give him a year and he would get things straightened out and make a progress report to us (Legislative Black Caucus). I never heard from Richardson after that meeting."
Fulford did not respond to a request from The Times for a comment, but Auburn spokesman Brian Keeter said Holmes' tickets were mailed to his address.
Holmes said, however, he verified his address with the president's office, and the tickets never arrived.
