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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

April 7-13, 2010

Page A-3

Second Front

Former mayor of Birmingham heads to prison for 15 years

BlackAmericaWeb.com

Former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford

reports to prison Wednesday in Ashland, Ken- tucky, after a federal judge last week denied his request to remain free while appealing his Oc- tober conviction on fraud charges.

Langford, who was sentenced to serve 15

years in federal prison, was allowed to delay the start of his prison service for two days be- cause his father-in-law was having surgery last week.

The former mayor was convicted on charges

he accepted cash, clothing and jewelry from an investment banker and rewarded him with lu- crative business deals while serving as presi- dent of the Jefferson County Commission. He held that post before being elected without a runoff as mayor of Birmingham 2007.

Langford lawyer Glennon Threatt has said

the sentence of 15 years means his client would be incarcerated for at least 85 percent of the time.

A former television news man, Langford is

62 and would be 77 when he completes his prison term.

“Larry Langford told me from the very first

day I met with him that he is innocent, and he has never told me that he has changed his mind,” Threatt said last month.

The two men who bribed Langford agreed

to a plea deal and testified for the prosecution during Langford’s trial. They received much shorter sentences.

In February, Judge Scott Coogler sentenced

Larry Langford

Bill Blount, the investment banker, to four years and four months in prison and ordered him to forfeit $1 million. He sentenced Al LaPi- erre, a friend of both men who was involved in the deals, to four years in prison and ordered him to forfeit $371,932 and pay $98,433 in back taxes to the IRS.

In addition to his prison sentence, Langford

must pay $119,985 in restitution to the Inter- nal Revenue Service and forfeit $241,843 to the government.

The restitution to the IRS results from his

convictions for filing false tax returns for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in which he failed to report his income from the bribes.

A second former Jefferson County commis-

sioner, Mary Buckelew, also has been convict- ed in connection with accepting bribes from Blount, who bought her expensive items from the Salvatore Ferragamo store, as well as spa treatments during New York City trips in 2003 and 2004 while she was a county commission- er.

Buckelew pled guilty last year to obstruc-

tion of justice and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. In November, U.S. District Judge Inge Johnson sentenced Buckelew to three years probation.

Between 2002 and 2007, while Langford was

president of the Jefferson County Commis- sion and chairman of its finance committee, he solicited and accepted $241,843 in cash, loan payoffs, expensive clothing and jewelry from Blount and LaPierre, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with the awarding of lucrative county financial transactions.

In return for the bribes, Langford used his

power and position on the county commission to include Blount’s company in financial trans- actions that generated about $7.2 million in fees for Blount and his companies. Blount, in turn, paid LaPierre hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees.

Trouble continues to mount for the 62-year-

old news-reporter-turned politician. A bank is suing Langford over unpaid loan for $85,000.

In a lawsuit filed last week in Jefferson

County Circuit Court, Compass (bank) says Langford took out a loan in 2001 and has only paid about $2,100. The suit asks Langford to pay $82,919, plus legal fees of $12,400 in legal fees and interest payments that are continuing to accrue.

In a matter unrelated to Langford’s convic-

tion and sentencing, a lawyer for an electron- ic bingo casino in west Alabama has accused state revenue officials of illegally releasing Langford’s tax returns in a suit over his bingo winnings.

Attorney Gaile Pugh Gratton has filed court

papers saying Langford’s returns for 2006 through 2008 were released by the Alabama Department of Revenue without a court order.

Those records showed that Langford won

about $1.5 million over three years, losing just as much as he won in 555 jackpots.

Gratton also produced a letter dated Feb.

22 from Richard H. Henninger, director of the agency’s individual and corporate tax division, saying it does not release tax returns without a court order signed by a judge.

“It appears from the limited investigation

already conducted that the production of the Langford tax returns was accomplished in vio- lation of the pertinent statute and regulations,” Gratton said in the latest court documents.

She said the department has not responded

to numerous requests for information on how it came to release the tax records.

Awakening the sleeping ‘thank you’ giant

By Paschal Eze

If there is a giant that is fast asleep in

the marketing and sales world of many individuals (who need good jobs, friends, funding, publicity, etc.), businesses (that need strategic partners, repeat clients and result rendering staff) and not-for- profit organizations (that need sustain- ing donors and dedicated staff and volun- teers), it is the good old “thank you.”

It is so fast asleep these days that in

Deborah Mathis John Paul Stevens

Obama owes us a progressive justice

By Deborah Mathis

With good reason, political

animals and concerned citi- zens generally will be keenly focused on the mid-term elec- tions, which, if Republicans do well, could make Presi- dent Barack Obama’s next two years hellish. If you think the GOP has been obstinate now, heaven help us if they get some significant numbers in their ranks.

As important as the Novem-

ber elections will be, there is another political moment on the horizon that bears close attention.

Last week, U.S. Supreme

Court Justice John Paul Ste- vens let it be known that he is envisioning his retirement from the court.

That could not have come

as a surprise; there’s been off- again, on-again speculation about Justice Stevens step- ping down for years. When he hired only one law clerk for this term instead of the typical four, the handwriting on the wall turned boldface.

Justice Stevens will be 90

in a few days, and, even though Supreme Court appointments are for life, most justices don’t seem to want to spend their last days robed, pouring over thick briefs and entertaining oral argument.

Stevens is more than due a

fine pasture. But, his leaving — whenever that comes — will weaken the liberal-leaning side of the bench. There are al- ready too few to give progres- sives anything but the shakes when a big decision is coming down.

The good news is that the

president who selects Stevens’ successor is Barack Obama, so unless our president loses his mind, there’s no chance that the nominee will be one of those nose-in-the-air conser- vatives who thinks his main job is to prove how unmerciful they can be with individuals and how generous they can be to corporate and institutional

powers. The danger is that it could

be one of those nose-in-the-air moderates who feels so guilty about being in the middle that he or she turns out to be a kite — that is, one who follows the wind. These folks can often pass as liberals or progres- sives. They’re on justice’s side when it comes to things like reproductive rights and civil rights and liberties. But on other matters — like favoring corporate prerogatives over citizen’s rights — they are as conservative as it gets. Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton ap- pointee, comes to mind.

Granted, we’ve got plenty

on our plates, speaking politi- cally. Much to keep track of and to weigh in on, whether by petition, at a town hall meet- ing, or in the voting booth.

But we must leave room for

this too. We must agitate for a justice who will be progress- minded, not a sentry for the status quo. Certain Republi- can senators have said they will oppose strongly ideologi- cal jurists, but that should not stop Obama from doing the right thing. The GOP would build a wall of resistance if he nominated Mary’s little lamb.

There has not been a bold

and daring appointment to the court since President George Herbert Walker Bush appoint- ed Clarence Thomas. That was bold because there were thou- sands of men and women with law degrees at least as quali- fied as Thomas; in most cases, more so. It was a pathetic act of tokenism and a mistake for the ages to have given Thomas that honor, but Bush had his way, shamelessness notwith- standing.

Maybe the newly embold-

ened Barack Obama will have his way too. After a season of compromises and capitulation, he owes a serious, principled, justice-minded nominee to the liberals and progressives who carried him into office.

He owes it to posterity too.

many homes, children neglect to thank their parents regularly for their inesti- mable love and sacrificial provisions, and spouses deem it unnecessary to say “thank you” to each other because they believe their significant others are merely doing their duty. While the duty part is true, “thank you” encourages a doer to do more and better. Yes, the more you thank people for the good thing they did, even when they didn’t do it as well as you would have liked, or did it as part of their routine, the more you encourage them to do more and better.

Ever helped a friend, colleague or rela-

tive with job or sales leads, transit accom- modation, packing for relocation or fund- ing for a project and did not get a “thank you” because they felt your help was inadequate, belated or especially obliga- tory? You might not be inclined to help them again as readily as you did.

Attending a friend or favorite politi-

cian’s event usually involves foregoing something else that is also competing for your valuable time, energy, money and other resources. The same is true of buying from Business A or donating to Nonprofit B. You often have good options competing for your attention, interest and money. So, getting no “thank you” could be a real door closer, which is sad especially when it is notably easier and cheaper to get existing clients and donors to keep buying and donating respectively than to get new ones. In fact, organiza- tions with savvy marketing strategies deem it necessary to up-sell to them so they buy more or donate more.

As I had stated in an earlier chapter of

this book, one of the reasons people don’t get repeat print media coverage and well rated TV and radio show invitations is they did not say “thank you” during and after their first appearance, perhaps out of naiveté or quintessential hubris. And they keep wondering why their events, views, causes, products and services are not gaining much needed news media traction. Listen! Even the most objective news media professional is not a stone but a human being with a desire to be appreciated and recognized, a desire for your sincere “thank you.”

I don’t mean to sound “religious” here

but even Jesus had wondered why only one of the ten lepers he healed returned to say “thank you” and it was only that “thank you” bearing one that he made whole. And rightly so. As for the imper-

your brand evangelists, helping you extend your network, revenue potentials and impact in society.

Now, I cannot tell you the best way to

C. Paschal Eze

fect me, if someone does not thank me for a favor I did for them, they have simply told me they need no more favor from me, and I justifiably take it that way — with no exceptions. On the other hand, a “thank you” tells me the person values my help and contributions and is open for more. Consequently, I tend not to wait for them to ask for my help. I offer to help as soon as I see they need it.

And I must tell you “thank you” has

brought me immense favors and helped in no little way to deepen some of my most valuable social and business relation- ships and partnerships around the world. I have always believed that “thank you” makes every relationship more exciting and rewarding.

Or why do you think savvy politi-

cians hardly start their stomp speeches or keynotes without thanking a litany of people? They thank event organizers, top campaign aides, fellow political heavy- weights, and, of course, the general au- dience, receiving applause for so doing. It really works! People so thanked feel appreciated and motivated to work tire- lessly for them, knocking on more doors, spiritedly spreading their message online and through phone calls, and even host- ing their own house parties that go a long way in making the savvy politicians look more compelling, more prominent and closer to victory.

Let’s look at it another way. What pur-

pose do Mother’s Day, National Teachers Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, Grandparents’ Day and Inter- national Nurses Day serve but to give us a great opportunity to say heartfelt “thank you” to those who have done and contin- ue to do so much for us? But we shouldn’t have to wait for those earmarked days to do so. How about thanking our mothers, fathers, grandparents, nurses, teachers, uniformed personnel often? Certainly, they deserve it.

And so do your customers, affiliates

and referrers as an online or brick and mortar business, or your donors and volunteers as a nonprofit. They deserve your regular “thank you” to keep giving you their patronage, support, collabora- tion and loyalty and to ultimately become

say “thank you” to people in your target audience because I say it in different ways to different people based on my judgment of what will work best at any given time. Face-to-face, phone call, handwritten or printed card, automated mass e-mail or single personalized e-mail, bucket of flowers, party, referral, complimentary autographed copy of my books, just name it. All I am concerned about is that you say it in a timely manner and as regularly as practicable. Some have advised that instead of saying “thank you” by e-mail or phone, individuals, small businesses and nonprofits should send handwritten notes because recipients supposedly ap- preciate them better. I would rather say it is better to say “thank you” quickly via e-mail, phone or handshake than to wait for weeks to send a handwritten note that may arrive when the recipient has moved on to something or someone else.

Like Walmart or not, there is some-

thing powerful and instructive about the greeters it places at the entrance of its stores. They greet you as you come in to spend your money and as you leave the door with loads of things you’ve bought, thus making you feel special and appre- ciated. Besides, the receipt you get from most big stores has a “thank you” on it, and if you buy from big online stores like Amazon.com, you will get an instant re- ceipt cum “thank you” note by e-mail and a clear explanation of what to expect. You are not kept in suspense. You are made aware of when your goods will ship, has shipped and will arrive, and I strongly be- lieve every professional, small businesses or nonprofit can emulate them cost-effec- tively.

Are you making a business presen-

tation to some corporate executives? Thank them for the opportunity to make the presentation. Contracted to keynote a conference or present a seminar? Re- member to thank both the organizers and the attendees. Just received a fellow- ship? Thank your benefactor. Organizing an event? Send a “thank you” note to at- tendees and sponsors a day after.

Simply put, whatever you do that is

positive and wherever you do it, it is nec- essary to thank and appreciate the people helping you do it. They won’t forget. And they will reward you handsomely for it. Got it?

Widely traveled C. Paschal Eze is the

go-to guy for professionals, politicians and presidents/CEO in different parts of the world who need game-change ideas and strategies. His ten well regarded books include “Prominence Power Kit,” “Prosperity Power Kit” and “For Blacks (and Others) Who Really Care,” all avail- able on Amazon.com. Follow him now on Twitter @CPaschalEze.

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