Protect Lowndes County

Who is recruiting this project

The body recruiting it
can't agree with itself.

The Lowndes County Economic Development Commission is recruiting Project Red Clay on the county's behalf. Hear how its president described its own membership out loud, then read what its own website publishes today — the two do not match. Read its federal filing and four governance questions are answered no. None of this is our research. It is the LCEDC's own publications, read on a stated date.

Spoken versus published

What was said out loud, and what is published now.

On April 28, 2026, the LCEDC’s president described its membership out loud, with no written list. Read what the organization’s own website publishes today and the two accounts do not match.

April 28, 2026 — spoken, no written list

LCEDC President Thomas Ellis, verbally, at the County Commission meeting

  • Four electric utilities: Alabama Power, Pioneer Electric, Dixie Electric, Central Alabama Electric
  • Pintlala Water Works and South East Alabama Gas
  • Both local banks
  • All five county commissioners
  • The school superintendent, sitting in
  • Several named individuals

A membership this wide matches the 13-member volunteer board on the LCEDC’s federal filing. No written roster accompanied the enumeration.12

July 28, 2026 — published, current

growlowndescounty.org, the LCEDC’s own website

  • Chairman: Thomas Ellis, Priester’s Pecans
  • Vice-Chairman: Commissioner Charlie King Jr.
  • Secretary: Aubrey Carter, Alabama Power
  • Treasurer: John Lyon, Cadence Bank
  • Economic Developer: Jim Byard Jr.

We archived this page on July 28, 2026, so the state above is independently timestamped. Internet Archive snapshot, July 28, 2026.3

Where the two accounts diverge.

  • Charlie King Jr. is not named anywhere in the verbal account — he is covered only inside "all five county commissioners." The published site names him specifically and gives him a title: Vice-Chairman.
  • The verbal account describes a membership on the scale of the LCEDC’s 13-member federal-filing board: utilities, a water utility, a gas company, both banks, all five commissioners, the superintendent, and named individuals. The published site lists five titled officers, not a full board.
  • No written roster has ever accompanied the verbal account, and the published site does not claim to list anyone beyond its five officers.

Put side by side, these are not two views of the same list — they are two different kinds of account: an informal, wide-ranging verbal description with no titles beyond “President,” and a tidy five-officer webpage that names a role, Vice-Chairman, for someone the verbal account never named at all. We still do not have a clear, current, complete picture of who sits on the LCEDC’s board. A single published roster would settle it.

The structural conflict

Two names, both sides of the table.

Both of the LCEDC’s official pages list Commissioner Charlie King Jr. as its Vice Chairman. King chairs the County Commission, the body that would vote on any tax abatement for the project the LCEDC is recruiting. The dual role is not a rumor and not our research; it is published, in writing, by both official sources.4

Thomas Ellis, who chairs the LCEDC, also sits on the board of the Pintlala Water Authority, the utility named as a water source for the project, per reporting by The Lowndes Signal. At the May 27, 2026 Commission meeting, residents asked both men to recuse from votes on the project.56

None of this is an allegation of wrongdoing, and no adjudication of any kind exists. It is a description of structure, published by the structure itself. The reason structure matters is on the next line of the record: the LCEDC’s own federal filing reports no written conflict-of-interest policy.2

The federal filing

Four governance questions. Four no's.

$95,733Revenue
$97,102Expenses
$214,386Assets at year end
13Volunteer board members
0Paid employees

Part VI of the LCEDC’s IRS Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024 answers four governance questions in the negative. The filing reports that the organization does not have:

  • A written conflict-of-interest policy
  • A written whistleblower policy
  • A written document retention and destruction policy
  • A compensation process involving independent review

2

The LCEDC’s 2013 Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws establish a contribution-tier board: a $2,500 annual contribution corresponds to a voting board seat, and $5,000 or more corresponds to a seat on the Executive Committee, which the Bylaws authorize to act between full board meetings.7

What we are asking for

Three procedural asks. Not accusations.

  1. A recusal commitment from the Chairman.

    Chairman King to publicly commit to recusing from any Project Red Clay vote before the Commission, on the basis of the LCEDC vice-chairmanship both official pages now publish.

  2. One reconciled, current roster.

    The LCEDC to publish a single accurate officer and full-board roster on one official page, together with its bylaws and any meeting minutes that concern Project Red Clay.

  3. Recusal of materially interested members.

    Any LCEDC board member with a material utility, banking, or supplier interest in the project to recuse from any LCEDC vote concerning it.

What we are still verifying.

  • The full current board membership. Both official pages list officers only; the federal filing reports a 13-member board.
  • The bylaws as currently in force. Our review found them published nowhere reachable online.
  • Whether the County Commission chairman holding the LCEDC vice-chairmanship is required by bylaw or is convention.
  • Meeting minutes for any LCEDC discussion of Project Red Clay.
Send the recusal letter →See who decidesSee the wider pattern →

Sources on this page

  1. ↑

    Video of the April 28, 2026 Lowndes County Commission meeting, The Lowndes Signal, Facebook video (2026-04-28). LCEDC membership enumeration

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-28
  2. ↑

    LCEDC IRS Form 990, fiscal year ending 2024-09-30 (EIN 46-3011080), Internal Revenue Service, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (2024-09-30). Part VI Section B, governance policies — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  3. ↑

    About the LCEDC, growlowndescounty.org, the LCEDC’s own website (2026-07-28). Officer listing — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-28
  4. ↑

    LCEDC officer listings, growlowndescounty.org and lowndes-al.gov, LCEDC and Lowndes County government websites (2026-07-28). Officer listings — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-28
  5. ↑

    Commission resists transparency amid growing data center opposition, The Lowndes Signal (2026-05-27). Commission meeting coverage — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-28
  6. ↑

    Commission resists transparency amid growing data center opposition, The Lowndes Signal (2026-05-27). Commission meeting coverage — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-28
  7. ↑

    LCEDC Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, Alabama Secretary of State filing, reproduced in the LCEDC Public Inspection Notebook (2013-05-29). Articles Art. 4; Bylaws Art. II Sec. 8

    Accessed 2026-07-27

Last updated