ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The Baldwin County Association of Realtors met at the Baldwin County Coliseum Thursday morning, June 18.

The first order of business was the presentation of a large indoor American flag to Sonny Hankins, the manager of the Coliseum. state Rep. Steve McMillan made the presentation, and said an Alabama state flag was on its way.

The Realtors also saw a slide of an architect’s rendering of the association’s new headquarters, slated to be built in Robertsdale.

“We hope to break ground in August,” Martha Taylor, the executive vice-president of the BCAR, told the audience. With luck, she added, the building will be ready for use 10 to 12 months after that.

The Realtors then heard from gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne. The candidate, who has ties to the area, was formerly the chancellor of the Alabama Two-Year College system, and was elected a member of the Alabama State Board of Education. He was elected in 1994 and reelected in 1998. In 2002, he was elected to the State Senate representing District 32, and he was reelected in 2006. He recently resigned his position as chancellor to run for governor. He and his wife, Rebecca reside in Montrose, and Rebecca Byrne is the executive director of United Way of Baldwin County.

After greeting the audience, Byrne reminded them that, “There has never been a governor from Baldwin County.”

He stressed that his experience as chancellor of the two-year college system had given him a firsthand look at the problems of corruption in the state, and vowed to find a way to end “double-dipping.”

One way a public official can get caught in a bind is for the legislature, Byrne said, to approve a budget increase for their department and then call the official in and tell him or her to hire someone or face a budget cut next year.

Another target, Byrne says is Political Action Committees or PACs. Transferring moneys through PACs has made it difficult for the public to determine who is supporting or opposing an issue, Byrne says.

“In practice, they make PAC to PAC transfers, so you can’t trace the money,” he said.

Byrne also charged that lobbyists can spend “unlimited” amounts of money on politicians. While state law says that they have to report spending of $250 per day or more on any one person, Byrne charged that several lobbyists can, “Break up expenses between lobbyists and the public will never know.”

Byrne added that he believes the state’s Ethics Commission is “underpowered and underfunded.” He noted that for example, the commission lacks subpoena power.

The speech was well-received.

Later, BCAR president Rance Reehl announced that the group was making a donation to the United Way.