Gov. Robert Bentley relished the opportunity to speak in Huntsville on Thursday to pitch his plan to raise taxes and mention the word "billboard" as often as possible.

It was Bentley's first public appearance in Huntsville since state Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, rented a billboard in west Huntsville declaring he would work to make sure Bentley's tax plan would not pass.

Days later, state Department of Transportation Director John Cooper announced he was suspending funding for road projects in Holtzclaw's district. And that suspension remains in effect, Bentley said Thursday.

Bentley addressed community and elected leaders at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce as part of a statewide tour to drum up support for raising taxes.

The governor received a standing ovation as he took the podium. It then took him only three minutes for the first mention of a billboard.

Upon seeing state Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, in the audience, Bentley said, "Mike, thank you for coming. I'll have to give you a special star or something. Or maybe we won't put a billboard up in your district."

The billboard was located on University Drive in February. It reads "Governor Bentley wants to raise your taxes. I will not let that happen. Semper Fi - Senator Bill Holtzclaw" and is paid for by the friends of Senator Holtzclaw. (Sarah Cole/scole@al.com)

The audience laughed and again minutes later when state Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, got the same treatment.

In a brief meeting with reporters following his speech, Bentley was asked about the status of the road funding: "It's not back yet."

When will it be restored?

"We need to encourage our legislators to help us solve the real problems in the state," Bentley answered. "You know, I don't want to embarrass any of our legislators by bringing tax dollars into their district when they really don't like taxes."

In a Q&A at the conclusion of Bentley's speech, though, Huntsville City Councilman Will Culver - who represents west Huntsville - asked the governor about the road funding.

In particular, Culver said he has a town hall meeting scheduled next week and "I know that question is going to come up."

"If you get that question," Bentley told Culver, "you tell them to encourage their legislators to do what I want to get done and we'll do it."

During his speech, Bentley walked his audience through the benefits of his plan and then urged them to "encourage" lawmakers to support the tax plan even if they may have campaigned on a pledge of not raising taxes, which Holtzclaw has said he did in winning a second term in November.

Among those in attendance were Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison Mayor Troy Trulock, Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks, Madison County Commission Chair Dale Strong and county commission members from Madison and Limestone counties as well as council members from Huntsville and Decatur.

"It's OK to change your mind when you see the real issue out there," Bentley said. "It's OK. In fact it takes more courage to do that than it does to say no."