"Lay-low Brown" and Carole Smitherman announces their run for Mayor

Neither "Lay-Low Brown" AKA William Bell or Carole Smitherman could resist the urge to fail at running for Birmingham's mayor again (Bell-4th and Smitherman-3rd).  Now I haven't forgot that this is also Emory Anthony's third attempt as well, but he has more of a chance compared to Smitherman and Bell.

Smitherman pulled her stunt during the regular Tuesday City Council meeting announcing her candidacy for the mayor of Birmingham.  Her speech was so vague and uninteresting (as she is) that honestly I couldn't tell anybody what her platform is aside from fulfilling her dream as a life-long Birmingham resident to be mayor...

Meanwhile Lay-Low aka Bell did it Wednesday afternoon after he had his triumph of helping restore the workers of Jefferson County back to 40-hour work weeks after spending the past 4 months on 32-work schedules due to budget cuts.  Of course he has no real platform either because he is more useless than Smitherman other than being a mouthpiece and liar.  BACKSTORY: in the 1990's when he was Birmingham City Council district 5 seat-filler he lied on his residency since he actually lived in District 8 or 9.  Letting the people of the district that holds Downtown, Southside, Glen Iris, and the City Center that their voices didn't matter.  Since I'm a registered voter of that residency lies in this district, I'm pissed.  That's another reason why I don't care for that Lay-Low Brown because he doesn't stand for anything other than being "get-along" like Smitherman but she is slightly more electable.

When will these 2 get the memo that the majority of Birmingham doesn't want to be our mayor.  I know I don't.  The only good thing that can come from this is Smitherman will have to relinquish her council seat while campaigning for mayor, so if she loses then BYE-BYE, BIRDY!

Emory Anthony announces his candidacy for mayor of Birmingham

This morning around 11 am, trial lawyer, former munipal judge, and former federal prosecutor has announced his candidacy to run for Birmingham's mayor.  He did it in his law offices in Birmingham surrounded by this wife and 2 daughters along with supporters and friends.  His campaign platform was on fiscal responsibility and improving the city budget. 

In other words, his campaign was pretty vague and focusing on the money issues, transportation improvement, etc.  Well, good luck with that...

THE RAW FACTS: About the HR Vote & Artur Davis & other stuff...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know everybody that is the blogosphere from Rod 2.0 to Left in Alabama , and the rest are jumping on the bandwagon to call out Artur Davis.  However, I'm a kin to the Rude Pundit except I see it from the real and from the South with political perspective.  It time for one of my rare real and "raw facts" posts where all hold bar are dropped.

OK, one Artur Davis is running for the governor of Alabama, and for you non-Alabamians or thus who chose to be belligerently ignorant of the political reality of this state, everything here is Topsy-turby when it comes to politics. You gotta look like the "enemy" to be a "friend" and to look like "friend" you are seen as an "enemy".  In layman's terms, the Democrats and Republicans in this state aren't trusted by the majority of the electorate.  So you have the dilemma that Davis is in where is "damned if voted for it", "damned if he didn't vote for it", and "damned if he chose to abstain" from the vote on the House bill Saturday. 

This where the liberals and progressives separate on issues because liberals are 9 out of 10 times more hard line whereas as a progressive there lies pragmatism. 

RAW FACTS: As much as liberals want to get their drawers tied in a tie over Davis being the only Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) member to vote against the House Bill.  He has made it known for awhile that he wasn't going to vote for the health care reform bill.  So I don't understand why anyone who has been paying attention is surprised.  The writing is on the wall and has been for months. 

Now how this applies to the gubernatorial race, well it just doesn't.  If one realizes what is going on then you would realize that Ron Sparks isn't any better if not worse than Davis when it comes to key issues that affects the average black or working-class white voters.  However, Sparks' stunt Friday calling for constituents in AL-7 congressional district to ask for Davis to support the bill and then claim he would support the bill if he was is in the House is pure bullshit and political grandstanding at its most pathetic worse.  If Sparks can't even support a full constitutional rewrite for fear of the "Great White Wrath" of some voters of that demographic group then he can shut the fuck up on that bullshit he was pulling Friday on Davis.

Let's face it, Alabama is a state where the majority of likely voters will vote against any candidate that is for health care reform in the current House for allowing possibility of funding for abortions.  I'm pro-choice and pro-LGBT rights, but it's the political expediency is what really counts come next June and November in the overall picture.  If you are an one-issue voter then CONGRATULATIONS!  But in the overall scheme of things you will be never satisfied with any candidate because no one candidate is perfect.   You will realize that there is a choice between the less of the two evils.  In this case with the Democratic ticket so far, Davis is the appear less trifling one. 

MY TAKE: I'm not a spokesperson for either one because I will throw Davis under the bus as well if he does a series of stupid things between now and November, but he at least has a good, stable platform.  Sparks is looking more like a pandering opportunist that will camouflage himself depending who is his target audience of his speeches, circa 2008 and Hillary Clinton.  That type of campaign never gets the candidate anywhere because you will get cornered and exposed by your opponents. 

Davis is the best choice for the gubernatorial race on the Democratic side, so he will have to do things that aren't "right" or sacrificial sense "do the right thing at risk of losing an election" when he wants to be governor.  If you're not enthuse about his candidacy, welcome to the crowd, but I'm not going to sit out an election to prove a point that will hurt yourself more than him.  Davis will still be well-paid trial lawyer and viable politician for the future (prohibiting he doesn't have some skeletons in his closet), but those you are standing up for in this health care reform battle will still suffer if not more under an idiot because you thought you were going to show him.  In other words, you are cutting off your own nose to spite your face. 

I live in reality, not political reality, where everything is suppose to be idealistic and pure.  I'm quite pragmatic and not apologetic as some try to claim because I don't apologize for anyone but myself.  In reality, things aren't perfect, so when you harp and whine about things not being perfect shows that you aren't living in reality because as I've said before "no candidate is perfect" or totally aligned with your interests. 

So if you get upset about that crap or my opinion, that's your problem and not mine.  I'm not a Democrat or Republican and never claim to be one.  As my blog title is "Thoughts and rants from an Independent" which means I see it from an objective, non-partisan point-of-view, but I know what's really good with politics.  It is what it is...

RANT: Smoke and Mirrors

Now this is a little time has passed since the former mayor of Birmingham has been convicted and the acting/interim mayor Carole Smitherman received the helm to lead Birmingham (a week), but who's counting...  It's time to talk about the "smoke and mirrors" that has been occurring here for nearly 2 years with the city's government. 

The facts are the city of Birmingham is $20.8 million in the hole because of the shuffling and shifting of funds by formerly Langford-appointed Finance Director Steve Saylers, and this didn't include the expenses such as utilities bills, phone bills, and maintenance of street draining.  Also the City Council was of purvey of this with the new financial software similar to Quick Books that kept up with the city's reserves and expenditures.  However, after all the grappling and arguing all summer over the Fiscal Year 2010 budget was passed.  Although now acting/interim mayor Carole Smitherman knew the numbers were fuzzy after the software said the city was $28 million in the hole, but allowed it to occur. 

Now on to the smoke and mirrors:  Langford was fraudulently elected the mayor of Birmingham after he claimed that his official resident was a loft on 3rd Avenue South in the City Center.  This is although he is mail and bills and personal vehicle of choice his 2007 black Cadillac Escalade was regularly seen at his home with his wife, Melva, in Fairfield.  In other words, he got that loft to claim residency, but wasn't living there no more than I own a home in Bermuda. 

On the other hand, the use suspects who are the black "leaders" of Birmingham were standing behind his candidacy such as Alabama State Representative John Rogers, community activity/full-time race-baiter/radio personality on WATV Frank Matthews, and the president of the Birmingham chapter of the SCLC Calvin Woods.  All of them claiming his platform of toughness on black-on-black crime, demanding more parental physical discipline of their children, and slogan "Let's Do Something" was more than enough to get Birmingham were it needs to be. 

Oh yeah, the inauguration day for Larry Langford was full of familiar faces of the business community including UAB President Carol Garrison, Regions Financial CEO Dowd Ritter, Protective Life CEO John Johns, and Alabama Power CEO Charles McCrary.  However, they knew he was a fraud and all, but stood by him because they wanted to keep their place at the proverbial table so they will have a say in the decisions.  SMH.  Now, I understand you have to swallow your pride and bite the bullet, but why would you show up at the inauguration if you knew or had a hint of all this?  You keep the relationship cordial and professional, but don't act like all is right.  Then again, where were these people during the trial over the 2 weeks it was occurring?  Oh yeah, they were ducking and covering or distancing themselves from Langford for the sake of their professional reputation.  Actually, most of them were at the Birmingham Business Alliance conference compiling the new plan I mentioned, but they were doing that "ducking and cover". 

Carole Smitherman and most of the City Council wasn't any better.  Council President Smitherman was too busy trying to play both sides of the proverbial "battle" between the City Council and the Mayor, so she wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.  However, it didn't really help because then Mayor Langford would still snap at her like the rest of the Council over the details of any plans he would have.  The usual whiny Roderick Royal, Valerie Abbot, and along with outgoing Councilman Joel Montgomery would question him over the details and specifics, but none of them would ever step up to the plate and forge a political coalition with the majority of the Council to really stop the Mayor.  This brings me back to Carole Smitherman, who has stood by the actions of the Mayor without a doubt and now as acting/interim mayor herself didn't even try to condemn Langford for his actions or his appointed staffers like Sayler.

The overview: Now that all this has come to fruition that all this crap was going down, now Smitherman wants to say the city could have been in financial ruins.  Too little, too late, lady.  You saw what was going on and when you had your chances you never condemned the former mayor and now you are trying to save face.  Likely story...

Sayler resigned on Monday, former Langford-appointed chief-of-staff Deborah Vance-Bowie was fired today, and more likely on the way.  Now the real question, why didn't you fire all of them on day one, Friday?  Also when are you going announce you're going to recluse yourself from the special election?  I say this because after the tactics of race-baiting during her campaign against Shelia Tyson during the District 6 council seat race and the fact that you used the same firm as Langford did during his campaign, Maxim, you shouldn't even dare try to go there Council President Smitherman.  You better keep doing what you should do while you are acting/interim mayor, but you burnt your bridge with a lot of progressives like me with that bull...

Poor Virginia...

According to fellow blogger at African American Political Pundit Blog, they compare the current governor-elect, lieutenant governor-elect, and attorney general-elect, who are all Republicans, as the "most conservative ticket" in many years.  I've heard about how lopsided Governor-Elect Robert F. McConnell along with Lt. Governor-Elect Bill Bolling, and Attorney General-Elect Ken Cuccinelli are and it's obvious that things in Richmond are about to make a serious turn for the worse.  Especially, Cuccinelli, who has constantly stood by the "states' right" mantra which in layman's terms are "keeping things status quo" and the "undesirables", i.e., the non-whites and gays in their place.  I'm not really surprised since that's the usual conservative way of things when it comes to politics and social policy.  Virginia will be suffering under these 3 because I've seen first hand it's rare for partisan wantons like McConnell and Cuccinelli to think in a rational, pragmatic point-of-view on anything.

It didn't help that none of the Democrats on their side of the ticket inspire voters of color to come out to vote.  The weak gubernatorial candidate as I've heard from a number of sources played "Mr. Nice".  So this is the result of a pathetic Democratic ticket and overzealous Republican ticket, but played to the simpletons, Independents, and the working-class white voters to vote for them.  

So I reiterate, poor Virginia because this ish is going to hit the fan there for sure!

Patrick Cooper will announce his candidacy as Birmingham's mayor

According to a number of sources including the people at The Birmingham News, lawyer and former 2007 mayoral candidate will announce his candidacy for Birmingham's mayor tomorrow morning.  He suppose to do it on the steps of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in the western portion of the City Center around 9 a.m.

Well, it's about time.  However, I'm not going to be a guarantee supporter this time around like I was last time because he was up against Larry Langford and he was the better candidate.  This time some other faces including former mayoral candidate from past races throughout the 1990's and trial lawyer Emory Anthony is suppose to be running.  It could be between the two of them in my opinion because they are the freshest and most viable faces on the political scene in Birmingham.  Hopefully, him or Anthony will get because I'm tired of the same ol', same ol', and there needs to be major things to occur in this city to get it on the right foot.

UPDATE: Cooper begins his campaign this morning to discussing his platform of  crime, education and employment and key issues affecting the city.  However, he missed one key aspect that would have fully won me over and that is fiscal responsibility.  Until I hear that I will lean in his corner, but I'm not going to be a diehard supporter of his candidacy.

RANT: Voter apathy, the beginning of the downfall of democracy

I dedicate this entire rant to voter apathy because that's why so many ignoramuses have been elected to public office from coast to coast.  However, I'm going to talk a little bit about what happened Tuesday.  Contrary to popular opinion of our idiotic, clinging-for-a-headline media, Tuesday's gubernatorial elections were not  "referendums" on President Obama.  They were results of local issues and voter apathy, but more voter apathy than anything else.  Also I listened to V-103 in Atlanta and heard a number of times by the on-air personalities from Frank Ski to Ryan Cameron to Greg Street reminding their listeners to get out and vote for the mayor in the City of Atlanta. 

It turns out my demographic of voters, young and black voters, didn't hardly try to vote Tuesday at all in either state gubernatorial race.  Instead, most did the usual sat on the sidelines, but are the main ones complaining about tax increases, crime, roads, etc.  Most young and non-white voters are living in the 51st state which is the state of denial about the issues that affect our everyday life.  Too many doesn't even take time to contribute to the democracy, the voices of a bias, conservative, and satisfied with a status quo minority gets their way. 

All I have to do is look at Birmingham and see why and how it's in the current state of affairs.  Only 43% of the eligible electorate came out and voted in the mayoral races in October 2007 and even fewer of them came out and voted for the September 24th City Council elections and October 6th run-offs.  In this city, the younger and educated are to blame here where they allowed Larry Langford become mayor when they knew of his past track history and allowed the ignorant, ill-informed, and racially bias black voters of the western portion of the city win the election over the clearly better candidate Patrick Cooper.  The same can be applied elsewhere with the City Council races where Roderick Royal whiny ass get reelected and Carole Smitherman who barely won by 98 votes and only 15% of turnout.  Think about it, if more had turned out then the race might have tilted either way and it wouldn't have been as close.

Voter apathy is the reason why states like Alabama has a majority white, conservative advantage at the polls.  The state has a substantial base of black voters and young educated voters in places like Birmingham and Huntsville, but none of them put much effort in exercising their rights to vote.  However, when you get so comfortable and feel like going out to vote is unimportant then we all have to pay for the results of the apathy.

J.P. Morgan Chase has to forfeit $647 million of Jefferson County's debt

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged J.P. Morgan Chase yesterday for its involvement in the infamous bond swaps that led to former Jefferson County Commissioner and former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford being charged for all 60 counts of federal bribery and corruption along with investment banker Bill Blount and Al LaPierre. J.P Morgan has to pay Jefferson County $50 million up front and forfeit $647 million in termination fees of the $4.2 billion debt owed to them from Jeffco.  The $50 million will be paid towards displaced county employees, residents, and sewer rate payers. 

Of course, the bold and oftentimes out of control black Democrat, Shelia Smoot, said that she plans on exploring the options of suing J.P. Morgan.  Other commissioners including William Bell and Jeffco Commission President Bettye Fine Collins agrees. 

However something tells me that those lovely lawyers that sued the county to repeal the occupational tax will beckon towards getting some of that money so they can get the money back for the taxpayer, i.e. they are trying to get their share which 60% of the settlement.  Also Smoot and others are following what others have done in other municipal governments involving bonds and loans where they feel that they were getting a raw deal with this and sued to get off the hook.  Maybe Jefferson County can settle all this of this $3.6 billion left over in debt with J.P. Morgan.

We'll see...

Results of the Atlanta, Houston, and Charlotte mayoral races

Well, the polls were wrong in the case of Charlotte because they elected their first Democratic mayor in 14 years and first black mayor in 21 years with Anthony Foxx.  It's also their first Democratic in over a decade, so Charlotte-Mecklenburg is forging ahead by leaning Democratic although it is still a moderate-right leaning region.   It doesn't change my opinion of Charlotte, but is nice to see Charlotte isn't one of those Southern cities that believes in electing candidates regardless of race.  Let's be honestly most of the "progressive" medium-tier Southern cities are all ran by a white mayor, so it will be good to see another city (and no Atlanta is not an adequate example) with black mayor and is truly progressing.

Now, the Houston race was a surprise to me because Pat Brown was leading everybody in the polls by at least 9 points.  However, polls sometimes aren't worth a damn, and Brown lost out in the run-off between Gene Locke and Annise Parker, so Houston has a dilemma to be solved come December 1st either a black guy or a white lesbian.  Let's hope this doesn't become politically contentious on the basis of race or sexuality...

In Atlanta, as expected Mary Norwood wasn't able to win by 50% +1 in the mayoral race, so she is forced to face Kasim Reed in a run-off on December 1st as well.  This one is going to get real ugly real fast because it was getting there just this past week before the election, so it's going be nasty 3.75 weeks in Atlanta.

Birmingham will have its special mayoral election on December 8th

Tuesday, December 8th, will be the day of reckoning for the city of Birmingham.  It's going to be a long month and 5 days...

Here's the list of candidates from what I know and heard are seriously considering:

Carole Smitherman
Patrick Cooper
Emory Anthony
Robert Kelly
Steven Hoyt
Cedric Sparks

Birmingham Business Alliance is pushing forward with plans to recruit more businesses to the region

The Birmingham Business Alliance, the recently formed organization which is the combination of Region 2020, Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Board, has hired Market Street Service to come up with an economic development strategy and plan for the Greater Birmingham area.  The Atlanta-based planning firm will help them come up with a plan with the region's demographic data, education attainment levels, and infrastructure to think of ways to recruit more businesses.

Hopefully, they will use UAB as their crown jewel of their recruitment strategy since it is one the leading research universities in the nation and medical centers.  Like Huntsville with high-tech jobs, Birmingham needs to focus on biotechnology jobs and firms along with financial and insurance companies in the region.  If they can get those particular sectors attention that Birmingham is open for business along with the new state incentives law allowing the recruitment of white-collar businesses with tax incentives then we might be on to something.

I'm crossing my fingers that they can get something major and the leadership of Birmingham will be wise and aggressive enough to push forward with these places to get most of these businesses placed into the city.

Judge Asshat in Louisiana resigned

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/03/louisiana.interracial.marriage/index.html

I guess Justice of Peace Ken Bardwell, who refused to grant a marriage license to an interracial couple in Tangipahoa Parish in October because he feared for the future children's well-being, couldn't take the heat of being forced out of office.  Anyways, the asshat resigned Tuesday morning by turning in his letter of resignation to the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. 

Oh well, that's that.

Birmingham is in the hole thanks to Steve Sayler and Larry Langford...

Well, not a surprise to me, it turns out that Birmingham is $20M in the red although Steve Sayler's, former mayor Langford's handpicked finance director, after the budget report was released yesterday. 

It's gets even better, Sayler stepped down as finance director yesterday morning after acting mayor Carole Smitherman noticed that there were conflicts between the data the City Council received and Sayler's data.  Then Smitherman has spent the better part of the last 24 hours trying to save face by saying she will do everything in her power not to eliminate any jobs to get the city out of the red.   Oh what a web we weave...

Now, I don't directly blame Smitherman for Langford's fools because she can't control what the mayor did when she was Council President.  However, it has been known amongst us in the know that Sayler was involved with the bond swaps at Jefferson County, so when he crept to the City of Birmingham with Langford most smelt trouble.

Smitherman and the City Council will have to figure out what needs to be done because the Fiscal Year 2010 budget was stuffed with numbers from the Fiscal Year 2009, so everybody is in the dark on this.  Now according to media reports, Smitherman, the City Council, and a number of business leaders will be apart of a task force to figure out how Birmingham can fill this $20M hole without laying anyone off.

I say heads should roll including Deborah Vance-Bowie since she was over Sayler and requested the reports over the summer when the budget was up for debate.  Also Sayler should be prosecuted for placing fuzzy numbers in the place of real numbers to make this look good to Langford who was swearing Birmingham had a $28M surplus.  As much as I want to see things funded, repaired, and constructed, but you can't put the city in the hole to get what you want.  You gotta pay the bills and fund the already existing things first then explore what else you can do afterwards with the final balance.

This is the evening of reckoning for mayoral candidates in Atlanta and Houston

Well, from the looks of things Atlanta might have its first white mayor in nearly 4 decades and there is a possibility that Houston will elect its first gay mayor.

However, in my humble opinion I doubt Houston will elect the gay candidate, Annise Parker, not because she's a lesbian rather because the polls says that the current Houston City Council member, Peter Brown, is way ahead in the polls.  Parker is the current Houston City Comptroller.  The issue of contention isn't anybody's personal life rather the city's budget issues.  Anyways, they're 3 Democrats (Brown, Parker, and Gene Locke, a Houston's former city attorney), 1 Republican (Roy Morales), 2 Independents (Luis Ullrich and Dan Cupp), and Socialist Workers party candidate, Amanda Ulman (???? because that's exactly how I felt).  Well, I can guess Brown will be Houston's next mayor...

Now on to Hot-ass-mess-tlanta AKA Atlanta with the contentious race between Mary Norwood, Lisa Borders, and Karim Reed is going to be epic.  Sunday night at the last televised debate for the mayoral candidates everybody decided to play pop goes the Norwood.  Borders and Reed were both accusing Norwood of being a Republican in disguise.  All of them including non-so-front-runner were all attacking one another.  Borders went after Reed accusing him coming up with a unrealistic plan to hire 750 new police officers for Atlanta PD.  It was a mess to say the least.  Oh yeah, after all the muck-throwing Norwood is still leading as of this morning in recent polls.  However, a run-off is a coming...

Oh yeah, Charlotte-Mecklenburg AKA Charlotte is suppose to be electing a new mayor as well today.  Current sitting mayor and former Republican gubernatorial candidate for North Carolina, Pat McCrory, isn't running for reelection, so it's a wide open race.  It's between Republican John Lassiter and Democrat Anthony Foxx.  Charlotte is a moderate-right leaning place, and Lassiter is polling as this morning ahead of Foxx.  Honestly, I don't care much for whore-itself-out-for-a-dollar Charlotte, but since it's in the South I will discuss it.  Good luck on that Charlotte...

More as it comes.

BJCTA gives the service in Hoover a 30-day extension

Since the city of Hoover didn't officially send their invoice terminating the bus service of MAX on October 30th the BJCTA will give this additional 30 days until the service ceases.  The BJCTA can legally allow the bus service to continue in Hoover through November 30th. 

The Hoover City Council transferred the decision making power of the mayor, Tony Petelos, which he did and terminated the service.  Hoover refused to allocate an additional $60,000 to fulfill its financial obligation to the BJCTA on October 20th.  Since then they've received requests from 15 residents for assistance in finding alternative modes of transportation, and of these 15 some were of special needs and disabilities. 

It's a damn shame and the only people who are going to pay for this is going to be those without any other modes of transportation and the disabled.  What so sad is that these people depended on MAX to get from point A to point B which included doctors' appointments, grocery shopping, etc.  Hoover and their elitist mentality is the reason why I don't care for the whining and pleads of individuals in the suburbs complaining about how their communities are going down because of the demographic changes from homogeneity white to a more diverse populous.  Hoover is going down fast and they just don't see it, but they think killing the bus service to its area will stop this when in reality it's going to accelerate. 

Since this decision, I've decided to boycott anything in Hoover including Riverchase Galleria.  I'm not going to support this foolishness.

Birmingham population problem and some possible solutions

In midst of all this controversy with the removal of the mayor Larry Langford and the speculation of who will be the next mayor, the U.S. Census' American Community Survey (ACS) division released their numbers for Birmingham this week.  According to the ACS, the 2008 numbers for the city of Birmingham has 209,639.  However, that greatly conflicts with the numbers that were released by the U.S. Census' 2008 population estimates of 228,196.  One says the city lost 14% of its population whereas the other says only 6% population loss compared to the 2000 numbers of 242,820 inhabitants. The only bright side to this is that population loss has slowed compared to other decades and Birmingham remains Alabama's largest municipality, but the gap between the 2nd largest, Montgomery, is now only about 10,000 to 20,000 depending on which numbers you use.

Regardless, the city is still hemorrhaging population and it's not just white flight as it used to be.  There are a number of black inhabitants that are leaving or bypassing the city although because of the leadership void, crime, and other urban issues that plagues Birmingham.  As usual, the ignorant posters of the Birmingham News website posted their comments talking about blacks being the blame to former mayor Langford and crime.  However one poster's comment stood out the most to me:

Posted by eleoh

October 31, 2009, 12:37PM

What I find so funny is that people want to blame political parties (which really have nothing to do with mayor/city council elections) on the downfall of this city. Quit trying to express your personal disdain! You have corrupt republicans (choose anyone of Bush's closest "friends) and you have corrupt democrats (like Blagojevich) It's politics! The real reason why Birmingham is in a decline is that whites moved away from the city in a mass exodus after Arrington was elected. A lot of these whites also relocated their businesses outside of town (some within a month afterward) and blacks kept in him in office for far too long. I actually had a guy complaining to me about not having a white mayor in the past 30 years! I can appreciate his honesty in him stating the fact that there are some people out there that are frustrated about that alone if nothing else. Yes this leadership could use a good overhaul (and it's coming), but the funny thing is for all of the crap that people talk about over the mountain and Huntsville, they sure love to come here on the weekends and act like imbeciles at these bars and nightclubs. If Birmingham is so dangerous and so bad and run down, why don't they stay where they are? Oh that's right beacuse it's boring as hell in those places that they live in so they have to talk their appeal up so that no visitors would want to hang themselves upon arriving at their bland little town! If these folks have such a haven, then don't further taint our city with your existence. Just stay out if it is that repulsive around here! We don't need the further negativity! Furthermore I am sick and tired of these "keyboard ronin" that talk trash that has either been fuelled by falsehoods or hearsay. If you have not experienced something then you should remain silent about it before you are called out on it. As for those thinking that Birmingham should be like Trashville (there's enough racism here. Why would we want to be like them?), Hot-lanta, or the "scenic" city (which I've been to all three in the past year and after a few hours I got pretty bored with them all) has it ever occured to you that this would be the problem with Birmingham. It's having a bloody identity crisis! Perhaps if this city could profit from it's own place in history (and yeah I'm including civil wars and civil right movements....we can all learn from those mistakes) then it could probably do a lot better than it has been doing. But people are too busy trying to perpetuate their b.s. superiority complexes, their unfounded angst, and their self serving agendas to do anything positive. Once again I'll say it:
"The Birmingham Pledge, as beautifully written as it is, is still b-llsh-t!"

The poster hit the nail on the head because none of these other Southern cities like Nashville or Atlanta can be used as models to fix Birmingham.  Nashville does have a huge racial issues, but that's whole 'nother entry and doesn't have as large black populous as Birmingham.  Then Atlanta sold its soul to the become the mammoth it is today, although it has demographic percentages similar to Birmingham, it would be damn near impossible for Birmingham to achieve the amount of investment as Atlanta in this day and age.  In other words, Birmingham has to find its own solutions to its population and image problem.

Honestly, I don't blame some because Langford was a beacon of controversy with his perverse use of religion to block some things that are vital to the city's revitalization such as allow LGBT groups hold their pride celebrations.  Let's be honest, along with young professional singles, LGBTs are the main individuals willing to locate into a urban core that has been abandoned by middle class families.  Also Birmingham has suffered greatly from a leadership void due to the continuous electing of individuals like Richard Arrington after he outstayed his usefulness/affectiveness as a leader then the de facto city manager Bernard Kincaid and finally the beacon of controversy now former mayor Larry Langford.  After the series of poor choices of mayors, the city as further suffered from business leaving, which were mostly white-owned or retailers too busy trying to chase the majority white households.  That can be overlooked and forgiven because those who left in that aforementioned groups, but none of the last 2 mayors really made it their mission to recruit out-of-state businesses that would have helped Birmingham grow.

In the numbers game, Birmingham for the sake of recognition should try to remain the state's largest city since it is by far the largest metropolitan area with 1.25 million inhabitants in 8 counties.  Only the Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope area is half the region's size with only 540,000 inhabitants, so there is no competition there.  However, in my opinion the city should remain the largest because Birmingham doesn't want to be like Cleveland in Ohio, where it has been dwarfed by Columbus, but still the largest metropolitan region in the state with 2.9 million inhabitants.  The backwards relationship between the 2 cities is interesting since Columbus has the third largest metropolitan area in the state with 1.9 million inhabitants, but is the largest municipality.  Honestly, Birmingham doesn't want wind up as 3rd or 4th in size in the state since 2 of the 'Big 4' in the state around 200,000 and Huntsville is 165,000 or 175,000 (depending on which set of numbers), so if Birmingham doesn't get control on this problem it could come to fruition.

As I see it right now, Birmingham is likely going to bottom out in population around 200,000 like Richmond, Virginia, but unlike Richmond, Birmingham doesn't have 9 Fortune 500 and 15 Fortune 1000 in their region.  Birmingham is only home to 1 Fortune 500, Regions Financial Corp. and 4 Fortune 1000 companies, so we are seriously lacking in the business incubator category.  However, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is located in Birmingham, which is the state's largest employer and is a major hub for medical care, HIV/AIDS and biotechnology research.  There has been some cooperation between Birmingham and UAB with the Innovation Depot located on the western portion of the City Center, but it will take years for it to take-off and create major business spin-offs.  If the city's leadership would work more cohesively with UAB then it could create a major point for research and knowledge-based businesses in Birmingham.  Luckily, there was a state law passed earlier this year that allows the Alabama Development Office (ADO) to recruit more white-collar and knowledge-based business to the state via tax incentives.  Also the recent merger of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, Region 2020, and Metropolitan Development

The leadership should work more diligently towards getting a hold on its crimes, and once again I will used Richmond as a model.  I don't buy into the lists that rank violent crimes per city since, every city has a variety of factors that contribute to its ranking.  In Birmingham's case it's the balkanization of its governmental entities, so empirically speaking Birmingham is actually less dangerous statistically than Chicago, which there have been more cases of random violent crimes although it doesn't rank as high on list like Morgan Quitno. 

Birmingham can fix its problems, but it will take time, patience, diligence, effective business recruitment, fixing of infrastructure, and good leadership.  If we can achieve those things then Birmingham could greatly slow 

Bernice King is now SCLC leader

The youngest of the children from Dr. Martin Luther and Corretta Scott King, Bernice, now is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).  The 46-year-old Bernice King is the first female president of the 52-year-old organization which her father was the founding president of during the Civil Rights Movement.

Last week she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"It is a destiny call.  It is part of my father and mother's legacy and a continuation of the legacy he started in the '50s and '60s through this organization. I believe that the hand of God is leading me."

However, until last month she was involved in a bitter legal battle with her sibling Dexter over the estate of her parents.  A judge ordered them to begin negotiations, and the three were able to reach a settlement.

Also she is the only King child that has protested against anything LGBT in particular same-sex unions.  In 2004, she was involved in a march along with her cousin, Alveda King, and other black evangelicals including Eddie Long against same-sex unions near the King Center in Atlanta.  So, you know what's going to happen with the stance on same-sex unions and the SCLC although the Southern California chapter leadership has diverged from the others by supporting it like follow civil rights org the NAACP SoCal chapter.

Oh Bernice, you will be a ball of fun watching and listening to...

RANT: Birmingham, there is nothing to cheer about yesterday's verdict

I have to give it up to John Archibald, Birmingham News columnist, because he said it best, there is sadness.  I'm saddened that Birmingham has come to this point because there is so much anger, confusion, and sadness.
In 2007, the city had a chance to elect somebody different and that person was Patrick Cooper, but chose to elect somebody with name recognition and a group of attack dogs like Frank Matthews among others.  I know Langford, via my late paternal grandmother who was a major socialite in Birmingham, and he has always been a man that was troubled and a beacon of controversy even back then.  When he was elected Birmingham's mayor in 2007 I said these exact words, "Lord, this is going to be a circus", and low and behold it has been a circus for the past 2 years (to the day).  Langford was a leader of much promise and great ideas, but he let his own ego and greed get the best of him thus the verdict.  I'm the last person to cheer about that verdict because it says Langford and the citizens of Birmingham failed Birmingham by letting this happen again. 

Nobody in their right mind could speculate that Birmingham would be as lost as it is right now, where people like Carole Smitherman is interim mayor (only a month at the most because she can't be reappointed City Council President since she is now mayor and Council President becomes interim mayor).  Smitherman's platform is just as faulty as Langford's since she campaigned against her District 6 opponent with the same tactics that Langford via Matthews did by calling them "not black enough" or "friends with those over-the-mountain".  Those type of politics is what keeps Birmingham from moving forward on a social perspective where politics of divide and conquer rather than politics of ideas to fix the city is pushed forward aren't given a valid chance.  I don't like the most of the "over-the-mountain" elected officials anymore than most socially progressive citizen of these region, but you can't continuously push this divide because you think it's politically expedient to your election.

Black folks need to get it together in Birmingham, particularly those in the western portion where politicos like Arrington (who faced similar charges to Langford back in the 1990s but was acquitted), Langford, Smitherman, etc. have major traction because the color and demographic composition of the area (90% black, lower-income, low education attainment, and very alienated from the political process due to the history of Birmingham).  There you have so many people who are so angry at the system per say that they will vote for anybody that sounds like them rather than seeing that somebody doesn't have to talk or think like them to understand their issues and problems associate them.  The issues that have brought down Birmingham is more racial than anything else on all sides, so there is your problem.  However, unlike our peers in other Southern cities, Birmingham majority black electorate has made its decisions based on name recognition and "blackness" rather than platform and ideas.  This has to cease and desist immediately, and those who were Langford fans shouldn't use this anger to further divide the city by trying to work to elect another socially regressive black politician.

My description to those white folks that seem to hate everything black and Birmingham, screw you.  If you can't be open-minded and see that Birmingham is for everybody and that it matters to you just like those blacks then you are a part of the problem like them.  Too many white citizens want to either have a racially bias perspective on things then they would rather trash talk anybody that doesn't stand with them on their ideology.  Also the majority of them are the ones electing officials in suburban areas that have this "fiefdom" mentality where they have no foresight on how their decisions could affect all of the region if they don't try to work in united front.  You guys are just as guilty as the black folks when it comes to his screwed up political equation where you feel as those somebody disenfranchised you when you chose to run to the suburbs and let the city falter.  You have your chance to get involved by voting out of office idiots like Tony Petelos and replace them with more regionally minded officials that wants to see a united Birmingham.

Now I'm not giving Cooper a pass because he decided to purchase the $12,000 Rolex watch that Langford had received as a "gift", but quickly sold it.  Also Cooper is very buddy, buddy with a number of individuals in the business community that makes me give him the side-eye.  However, at least he would have been somebody that attempted to bridge the racial and ideological divide that has persisted in the city for decades.  The man tries to reach across the table to those other elected officials of the suburban and exurban municipal governments since we all need one another for Greater Birmingham or simply Birmingham to get somewhere.

Now if those officials don't want to work cohesively with the Birmingham mayor then call them out (like Obama said with health care reform) and show them how idiotic and shortsighted their stance to not work together.

OH YEAH, the swap by local NBC affiliate, WVTM "NBC 13", reporter John Paepcke is a textbook example of what I call the media bias of the area's media outlets.  That EXTRA garbage he thought was poignant just shows why I don't care for any of the area's media because too many want to be funny and push their agenda instead of being non-bias, objective journalists.

Larry Langford has been convicted of all 60 counts

The jury in Tuscaloosa ruled that after only 2 hours that Larry Langford was found guilty of all 60 counts against him.  Here's the list of the counts:

Count 1 Bribery Langford received $69,000 in cash from lobbyist Al LaPierre and Bill Blount of Blount Parrish & Co. that went into Langford's personal bank account.
Count 3 Money laundering Langford paid Likis Audio $12,000 for audio equipment with a check drawn from his personal Compass bank account into which money from a bribe had been deposited
Count 4 Money laundering Langford paid Shaia's $12,000 for clothing with a cashier's check purchased at a Compass Bank using funds paid to him as a bribe.
Count 5 Money laundering Langford deposited $40,589 paid to him as a bribe into his personal account at Compass Bank.
Count 6 Conspiracy Langford, investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre willfully conspired on multiple occasions to defraud Jefferson County of Langford's honest services when Blount and LaPierre gave Langford money, clothes and jewelry to influence him as a public official.

Count 7 Bribery Langford solicited and received $30,000 from Blount funneled through LaPierre.

Count 9 Money laundering Langford used $29,241 of the $30,000 to pay his personal taxes.
Count 10 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted a $1,110 cashmere cardigan purchased at Turnbull & Asser.

Count 11 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $3,290 in clothes purchased at Ermenegildo Zegna

Count 12 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,133 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 13 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,707.56 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 14 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted a $2,796 in clothes purchased at Salvatore Ferragamo

Count 15 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted a $1,854.96 in clothes purchased at Century 21

Count 16 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $3,450 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 17 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $4,050 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 18 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $4,250 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 19 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $895 in clothes purchased at Salvatore Ferragamo

Count 20 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted a $12,015 watch purchased at Tourneau

Count 21 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,662.60 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 22 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $11,750.40 in jewelry purchased at Bromberg's

Count 23 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,239.97 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 24 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,800 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 25 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $3,547 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 26 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,000 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 27 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $5,000 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 28 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,500 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 29 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $2,300 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 30 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,800 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 31 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,876 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 32 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,000 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 33 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,047.96 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 34 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,500 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 35 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $1,000 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 36 Bribery Langford corruptly accepted $7,536 in clothes purchased at Remon's

Count 64 Mail fraud Langford corruptly caused a package from Turnbull & Asser to be shipped to Langford's County Commission office.

Count 65 Mail fraud Langford corruptly caused a package from Ermengildo Zegna to be shipped to Langford's County Commission office.

Count 66 Mail fraud Langford corruptly caused a package from Salvatore Ferragamo to be shipped to Langford's County Commission office.

Count 67 Mail fraud Langford corruptly caused a package from Century 21 to be shipped to Langford's County Commission office.

Count 68 Mail fraud Langford corruptly caused a package from Tourneau to be shipped to Langford's County Commission office.

Count 69 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $2,133 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 70 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $4,050 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 71 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $11.750.40 in goods from Bromberg's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 72 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $3,547 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 73 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $2,000 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 74 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $2,500 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 75 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $2,300 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 76 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $1,876 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 77 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $1,000 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 78 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $1,047.96 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 79 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $1,500 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 80 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $7,536 in goods from Remon's paid for with Blount's credit card.

Count 81 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $2,707.56 in goods from Remon's paid for with LaPierre's credit card.

Count 82 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $4,250 in goods from Remon's paid for with LaPierre's credit card.

Count 83 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $1,662.60 in goods from Remon's paid for with LaPierre's credit card.

Count 85 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $5,000 in goods from Remon's paid for with LaPierre's credit card

Count 86 Wire fraud Langford corruptly accepted $1,000 in goods from Remon's paid for with LaPierre's credit card

Count 87 Filing a false tax return Langford failed to report as 2003 income $125, 356.73 he received from Blount and LaPierre.

Count 88 Filing a false tax return Langford failed to report as 2004 income $81,419. 52 he received from Blount and LaPierre.

Count 89 Filing a false tax return Langford filed to report as 2005 income $22,186.97 he received from Blount and LaPierre.

Count 99 Forfeiture Any of the property or proceeds from the crimes and any additional gains made from the proceeds are subject to forfeiture. The amount of the property subject to forfeiture includes, but is not necessarily limited to, $7.6 million and any interest and proceeds agains or earned on that amount.

He's now removed from the office of mayor of the City of Birmingham, and current City Council President Carole Smitherman is now interim mayor until another council president is elected on November 24.  Also in all likelihood she won't be interim mayor afterwards because she can't be reelected council president from the helm of mayor, but that's another post...

Atlanta's mayoral race has made a turn for the worst

I've been sleeping on the Atlanta mayoral race for the last few weeks because 1) it's Atlanta and I'm in Birmingham with so much activity going on that keeps my attention and 2) I've been doing my much need preparation for graduate school.  However, the race on race has turned out in the favor of Mary Norwood, the councilwoman who was the center of the majority of the contraversy because if elected she would the first white mayor of Atlanta in nearly 4 decades as the front-runner in the mayoral race on November 3rd.  Norwood is leading a poll released on Oct. 26 at 46% whereas her closet opponent is only at 26% and that is Kasim Reed.

However, last weekend during a speech before the Hungry Club, some organization like Rotary Club in Atlanta, current mayor Shirley Franklin, spoken of the weakenesses in a negative light. On Sunday, Franklin went into much more detail.    Apparently, in the Sunday edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a comment on the Political Insider blog, Franklin freely used Norwood’s name, questioning her competency and lack of experience under the name "Shirley".  Then Monday a spokesperson for the Atlanta mayor's office issued this:

I didn’t say I had any fear of white political leadership in Atlanta or anywhere. The vast majority of candidates I have voted for and supported with my time and money are white and I expect the same will be true into the future. 
I support candidates with vision, integrity and intelligence and I have voted for candidates with these 3 characteristics throughout my life. Mary Norwood has none of these. Therefore, I do not support her candidacy for mayor.
Should she win I will wish her well and continue my activism in politics and civic affairs. Race nor gender are the issues for me. Competency is. Norwood has not demonstrated vision, competence or integrity in her public life as an elected offical. Rather she has spent her time building a political network to run for mayor. It looks like she’ll be successful.

She’s provided no evidence in her service on the Council as to her competence to govern. She has not led on ethics or public policy. In fact she’s known for slips of the tongue about what she’ll do as mayor.
Norwood has run against me as if she’s been a force for good in public debate on the issues for the last 8 years. A few weeks ago on the floor of Council she proposed holding up contracts because the new mayor might not agree with them as if the nine month procurement process had not been open, fair, competitive and comprehensive.
Ultimately she voted for the contracts but after hours of debate because a new political leader might choose other firms. That is the type of decision making I’ve replaced having found subjective rather than objective and fair processes when I arrived at City Hall in 2002. I am astounded Norwood proposed returning to [politically] driven procurement of city services. If you don’t [believe] me check the City Council archives of recent Council meetings.

So Atlanta Mayor Franklin isn't feeling Norwood at all.  She admitted that she has supported mostly white candidates for political office, but doesn't feel Norwood is fit to be mayor.  She also made it known how presumptive Norwood has been for the last few weeks like she knows she will be Atlanta's next mayor.  Franklin does have a point since it is documented and proven...

However, I do feel there is still an element of 'racism' not so much from one side because I've seen first-hand that there a number of whites as well as blacks in power throwing around covert language.  Atlanta is just bubbling with issues because crime is up for sure in the "city too busy to hate", seen practically all major construction projects come to a halt, and now its racial issues coming to the surface in the mayoral race.

Now, it's come to my attention that Norwood is an Independent with former Republican affiliations.  Hmmm, sounds like she is another Michael Bloomberg (see Rod 2.0's blog on that because I don't do NYC politics).  However, her other two opponents Borders and Reed also had some Republican affiliations as well, but not as prominenent as Norwood, who has apparently been registered as one.  But she has received endorsements of key black leaders like SWATS (Southwest Atlanta) former Georgia state legislator Mable Thomas, so it's going to be very interesting how some feel about this.  (I smell trouble in the air, but that's just me).

Then the ads glore with Borders playing to the kitchen table side of politics whereas Kasim Reed playing to the helping the kids angle.  Meanwhile Norwood visits the crime scenes of high-profile murders including that of former heavyweight champion, Vernon Forrest, in SWATS in her latest ad. 

On Tuesday morning, leading Atlanta radio station (and my personal favorite station), V-103 (WVEE), and Atlanta NBC affiliate "11 Alive" WXIA-TV will be airing a live mayoral forum hosted by morning man Frank Ski.  All the candidates including Norwood, Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders, and former Georgia state senator Kasim Reed will all be in attendance.  I will be listening for sure to hear this for myself what's really good. 

I have no dog in this fight, but somebody get a bottle of champaign because Atlanta will likely get a mayor that some black folks may not even want...