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Oxford CDA: The Silent Partner

This series is an in-depth look at how the CDA helped grow the O, and how its board has multiple connections to Oxford Mayor Leon Smith.

The Oxford Exchange, opened in 2006, was a CDA project. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
The Silent Partner: Commercial Development Authority board responsible for Oxford's growth
Five years ago, there was little but an overgrown wooded area south of Interstate 20's exit 188. Today the once-empty space is dominated by the city's new economic engine, the Oxford Exchange, with its rows of name-brand, big-box retailers and parking lots full of cars driven by shoppers whose money fills the city's swelling coffers.
Mar 29, 2009 |  0 comments | 39 39 recommendations | email to a friend
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Members of Oxford's Commercial Development Authority meet with Oxford Mayor Leon Smith. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star file
The Silent Partner: Oxford mayor has financial ties to Commercial Development Authority activities
Several financial ties connect Mayor Leon Smith and the board promoting the city's commercial development. Smith sees nothing wrong with these links between his political fundraising, one of his business interests and the city's Commercial Development Authority. But an Alabama Ethics Commission official said, depending on the facts, these relationships could violate state ethics laws.
Mar 30, 2009 |  0 comments | 41 41 recommendations | email to a friend
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Oxford's Commercial Development Authority has enabled the town to attract such businesses as the stores at the Oxford Exchange. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
The Silent Partner: Changes in law give more power to cities
Landing a big retail store in Alabama sometimes takes serious bait. Since 1994, Oxford's Commercial Development Authority has been the city's fishing pole. The city baited the CDA's hook by providing grading and infrastructure work for retail property.
Mar 31, 2009 |  0 comments | 41 41 recommendations | email to a friend
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Oxford promised to pay CDA bonds
OXFORD — The development of two large commercial projects in Oxford happened because the City Council made a promise to pay back debts of its Commercial Development Authority.
Apr 13, 2009 |  0 comments | 63 63 recommendations | email to a friend
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Phillips
CDA contracts not at Oxford City Hall
People looking for contracts signed by Oxford's Commercial Development Authority won't find them at City Hall where the board meets. They're up the road on East 13th Street in Anniston in the office of city attorney John Phillips. Their location may put the city on the wrong side of state law which says records must be kept in the principal office of the CDA. And the principal office, the law says, must be in Oxford's city limits.
May 27, 2009 |  1 comments | 62 62 recommendations | email to a friend
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A stone mound created by American Indians sits behind the Oxford Exchange. Workers are using the dirt from the hill as fill for a new Sam's Club. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Oxford taxpayers paid for demolition
OXFORD — A stone mound on a hill behind the Oxford Exchange created by American Indians 1,500 years ago will soon disappear. And whether Oxford's taxpayers wanted it or not, they paid for its destruction.
Jun 30, 2009 |  20 comments | 92 92 recommendations | email to a friend
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Illustration: Deirdre Long/ The Anniston Star
Planting the $eeds: Anniston hopes new board will bear retail fruit
Anniston's City Council has seen what it looks like across the bridge in Oxford. Retail continues to grow, though it has been slowed by a bad economy. The Oxford Exchange, an outdoor mall loaded with big-name retailers, is a giant cash register filling the city's bank account with tax money.
Dec 13, 2009 |  23 comments | 48 48 recommendations | email to a friend
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