Fans of the “All Muck is Local” feature on TPM Muckraker will definitely want to check out the latest installment, which spotlights Simon Speights, mayor of Lipscomb, Alabama.
[Speights] got the job back in 2005 when his predecessor resigned and the City Council voted him in. But Speights isnât exactly eligible to be mayor.
Speights pleaded guilty to burglary in 1994, and while his voting rights have since been restored, his right to run for political office has not. Records show Speights occasionally uses the surname Speight, which might account for no one realizing the mayorâs criminal record. Oh, and heâs driving a stolen car (no one knows how he got it). And heâs collecting more than twice his authorized salary (no one knows how that happened). Last week, the local district attorney demanded that a judge remove the mayor from office.
As it turns out, Speights’ would-be replacement is the mayor pro tempore — who has faced a variety of criminal charges, including stalking, extortion, bribing and impersonating an officer.
