shady intent denied - almedia.al.com/birminghamentries/other/deadline july bbb.pdf · lawyer,...

20A j The BirminghamNews Sunday, July 25, 2010LOCAL NEWS**

questions were raised aboutthe quick action at City Hallto allocate money at thesame time city leaderswarned of tough financialconditions and a tight up-coming budget.

Gibson also refuted whis-pers that he partnered orworked with council mem-bers to get the city’s money.

“I never dealt with anycouncil member on any un-der-the-table money or sidedeals or anything else,” hesaid. “That didn’t ever ex-ist.”

On June 29, the councilvoted 4-1 to give G Enter-tainment the money to helpwith the event. G Entertain-ment was given the checkjust two days later on July 1,an unusually quick turn-around on city contractsand funds.

On that night, all activityceased in Birmingham andpatrons were told to go to arelated drag race event inSteele. Attendance was dis-mal at both locations.

Word of the canceledevent sparked a furor at CityHall followed by demandsGibson return the money.He did so last Thursday andthe city released him of anyfurther legal action.

“We’re just glad that wewere able to make amendswith the city,” said Gibson’slawyer, Nakita R. Blockton.“It’s over. They raised themoney, sold personal items,everything they needed todo to make sure the taxpay-ers received their moneyback.”

Gibson blamed part of theevent’s failure on low ticketsales and poor communica-tion with O’Reilly Auto

Parts, which sold tickets tothe rally at its stores in Ala-bama and western Georgia.The event was planned andfinanced based on unknownticket sales, Blockton said.

“So when they opened thegates they really had noidea,” she said. “You openthe gates and the people arenot there. If G Entertain-ment had known then theycould have postponed theevent until they had betternumbers.”

O’Reilly, which was listedprominently on promo-tional material for the event,later distanced itself fromVulcan Bike Week, sayingthe company was not asponsor but only a ticketvendor.

Activity shifted from theRace Course to Steele be-cause of the low attendanceand financial trouble, in-cluding a company takingdown the stage after not re-ceiving all of their money,Blockton said.

Gibson and his son, JohnGibson Jr., were also de-pending on the city’s par-ticipation, but by the timethe check was written andcashed, the downfall causedby a lack of money had al-ready begun, she said.

Showing a stack of rec-eipts, Blockton said Gibsonwanted to make sure boththe city and public under-stood that he lost money inthe event and did not profitfrom the public funds.

The incident began a dis-cussion among city leaderson how the city vets appli-cants seeking public money.It also resulted in both themayor and council officesassigning blame to eachother. Mayor William Bellhas said allocation for theBike Week was a council-driven initiative and fundingwas rushed at the request ofcouncil members. He laterdeclined to name exactlywho contacted his officeasking for the rush.

Some council memberspointed to Bell, saying hisoffice is ultimately responsi-ble for city funds and didn’tdo enough to properly vetthe applicant.

Gibson, however, did fol-low the city’s proceduresand filled out all forms re-quired. Those forms do notask about financial historyor criminal backgrounds.Both Bell and council mem-bers vowed to strengthentheir checks on applicants.

Gibson pleaded guilty in2002 to falsely accusingsomeone of involvement inan apparent terrorist plot toattack an Alabama Power fa-cility. He was ordered to payrestitution and serve five

years’ probation. He filedfor bankruptcy protectionfive months later, accordingto federal bankruptcy courtrecords.

But Blockton said Gib-son’s past was immaterial tothe failure of Vulcan Bike

Week.Past mistakes

“People make mistakes intheir past and people learnfrom their mistakes,” Block-ton said. “What occurred in2002 had nothing to do with

what occurred with VulcanBike Week. He really tried tomake this work.”

With his vision collapsed,payments to vendors dueand his image held up as theface of the debacle, Gibsonsaid in the future any more

events from him or his GEntertainment are uncer-tain.

“There’s not much that Ican do that’s going to bepositive,” he said.

NEWS STAFF/BERNARD TRONCALE

Johnny Gibson Sr., left,with his son, JohnnyGibson Jr., says he isworking to repay thoseowedmoney after thefailed Vulcan BikeWeek.

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