Skip to content

Rex McDowell

News

More bailing on failed software

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter For over a year, Governor Robert Bentley repeatedly received warnings concerning the many technological and systematic failures under the leadership of Acting Finance Director, Bill Newton, and his assistant, Rex McDowell. The time and attendance management system eSTART is just one of several software solutions to fail so badly; … Continued
/
November 15, 2016

State Employees to Work Overtime, Holidays Due to STAARS Failure

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter The State Department of Finance will miss its 13th Accounting Period Deadline because the $47 million dollar software program known as STAARS has maxed-out its user capacity according to State Comptroller Tom White. “Due to STAARS system capacity and ISD user identification issues, agencies have not been able to … Continued
/
November 8, 2016

Lawsuit Filed Over STAARS

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—A lawsuit was filed late Thursday night in Montgomery Circuit Court, over the $47 million dollar black hole known as STAARS. At the heart of the complaint is the no-bid contract entered into by Governor Robert Bentley and the State Department of Finance. The suit brought by State Auditor … Continued
/
July 22, 2016

Finance Embroiled In Investigation

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Varying stories about a law-enforcement raid on the State Department of Finance have been circulating in Montgomery and on the Internet. According to several sources with knowledge of the events that occurred at the Information Services Division, law-enforcement’s seizure is related to a recently hired contractor, who was not … Continued
/
June 24, 2016

Pallets of Phones Gather Dust Under Newton’s Orders

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Pallets stacked with expensive Cisco phones, perhaps representing millions in State tax dollars, sit silently gathering dust in a warehouse, because someone at the State Department of Finance thinks they have a better idea. After reporting on the botched rollout of the STAARS accounting system, more than two-dozen confidential … Continued
/
January 19, 2016

Finance Spending Millions Per Year on New Time and Attendance System

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Not only has the State Department of Finance spent $47 million on this “failure-to-pay” software at the insistence of Director Bill Newton and his assistant Rex McDowell, but over the last two fiscal years, the State has spend nearly $8 million for an employee time log-in system, which just … Continued
/
December 15, 2015

Assistant Finance Director Calls Texas Home

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY— Assistant Finance Director Rex McDowell, who has been closely associated with recent questionable State software upgrades, calls Texas home, where he owns SoftSwitch Communications, Inc., a company that offers fully integrated, hosted communications solutions, as reported by Bob Lowry in 2011. According to Lowry’s report, McDowell, a Montgomery … Continued
/
December 15, 2015

Financial Software System Still Failing Despite Spin

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter The State Finance Department’s failed implementation of a $47 million dollar software solution has led to tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills, thousands of angry vendors, and frayed nerves, throughout almost every State agency, yet, it is still being dismissed by those responsible for the debacle as … Continued
/
December 14, 2015

Investigation Reveals State in Arrears with Thousands of Vendors

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Open Alabama Checkbook has not been updated since the beginning of fiscal year 2016. In an attempt to find out why,  alreporter.com investigated, and uncovered the ugly truth that the State’s new payment software has left hundreds of thousand of dollars in arrears with thousands of vendors waiting months for … Continued
/
December 9, 2015