A Fairhope developer known for frequently challenging Baldwin County land-use policy took his opposition to a proposed school tax to an unusual place this week, distributing copies of a 19th-century communist text during public comment at a county commission meeting.
Richard Thompson, a regular presence at Baldwin County Commission meetings and a vocal critic of the county’s planning process, handed commissioners and attendees a single printed page listing the “10 Planks of Communism” drawn from Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, published in 1848. Thompson pointed specifically to the document’s tenth plank, which calls for “free education for all children in government schools,” and suggested a connection between that historical text and Baldwin County’s public school system.
“No need to respond,” Thompson told commissioners after distributing the handout, according to those present at the meeting.
The comparison came amid public comment dominated by opponents of a March 31 referendum asking Baldwin County voters to approve an additional 8-mill property tax to fund school construction, part of a broader $350 million plan to address overcrowding across the fast-growing county. Thompson, who has previously argued that the county should eliminate public input requirements for small subdivisions, described what he called an “800-pound gorilla” of anti-tax sentiment running through Baldwin County politics, linking it to a national pattern of tea party groups tying federal education policy to broader concerns about government overreach.
Commissioners did not directly address Thompson’s comments or handout during the meeting. However, school system leaders used the same public forum to push back on criticism that had circulated in the days leading up to the vote. Superintendent Robbie Owen and Chief Financial Officer John Wilson both spoke to provide additional detail on the district’s finances.
In a Facebook post published the same day, Baldwin County School Board President Norm Moore said he believed a small but vocal group of tax opponents had launched a “calculated effort” to undermine confidence in the school system ahead of the vote. “In their desperation, they are spreading lies and untruths about our schools, especially our finances,” Moore wrote, urging residents to keep the focus on the needs of Baldwin County’s students rather than partisan politics.
The exchange illustrated how heated the debate over Baldwin County’s school construction referendum had become in the final weeks before the vote, with both sides accusing the other of distorting the facts as the March 31 election approached.