Birmingham View News Portal

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, in one of his first official acts with the City Council, gave them his plan to “do something.”

He personally handed Council members a broad-ranging proposal that would pay for transit, computers for city schoolchildren, the domed stadium project and neighborhood improvements, among other items – all with an economic impact of $1.35 billion.

Details of the plan, dubbed “The Birmingham Community Development and Revitalization Ordinance,” were for the City Councilors’ eyes only; he wanted them to see the plan before the press did. Langford said he would make it public after they’ve had a chance to digest it over the weekend and give him their feedback.

“I will never go forward with information of this magnitude without giving it to you first,” he told six of the nine Councilors present at their Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday afternoon. “I want give you time to go over it … then collectively we can put it out to the public.”

Langford said he wanted the Councilors to meet Monday and air their comments in public. He would make a formal presentation at Tuesday’s Council meeting.

Ordinance Details

In explaining his plan today, Langford said he wanted to create a permanent funding source for the area’s public transit system that would add $17 million to the $8 million the City already pays into the system. The $25 million, along with potential contributions from outside Birmingham, would allow the City to leverage federal dollars to build a system that truly serves the citizens.

The plan would fund his desire to give laptops to every Birmingham City School student in grades 1 through 8 through the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation. Langford said he would meet later this month with Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founding director of the MIT Media Laboratory that set up the nonprofit foundation. Its mission is to provide computers to children in Third-World countries to improve their educational opportunities.

“Birmingham will be the only city in the U.S. to participate in this program” if the agreement with OLPC moves forward. He said officials from CBS’ 60 Minutes TV news magazine will be at the meeting.

Andra Sparks and Patrick Packer, members of the new civic group One Birmingham, watched the real-time reaction of audience members to nine mayoral candidates who answered questions at the One Birmingham/Fox 6 Town Hall E-Forum last night.

What they saw, they said, was “very interesting.”

Sparks and Packer didn’t see the monitored reactions during the entire 1-1/2 hour forum. But from what they did see, the focus group generally reacted more positively to statements by political newcomer Patrick Cooper and long-time politician William Bell.

Natalie Davis polls focus group members about their responses to the mayoral candidates.

Willis “Mickey Mouse” Hendrix got the biggest laugh from the WorkPlay audience at Tuesday night’s mayoral forum when he said Birmingham’s citizens needed to stop running to City Hall, begging elected officials to fix the city for us.

In the Constitution, he pointed out, any powers not granted to the federal, state or local governments reside with the people. Instead of begging, he said, they should demand what they want from their elected leaders, “Look here, dammit, we want it done!”

(Mr. Hendrix went on to lose ground when, upon being asked what he would do to promote racial harmony, mentioned that he has some “colored” acquaintances.)

The 10 mayoral candidates line up on the Workplay stage.

And what we want, based on the questions raised at the forum (organized by the League of Women Voters, Catalyst, Rotoract and the Birmingham Association of Black Journalists) includes reducing the city’s ridiculous crime rate, tackling inner city education woes, forging partnerships to create a viable transit system, and attracting new businesses and jobs to Birmingham. The candidate with the vision, passion, strategic planning and political savvy to achieve these ends is exactly what Birmingham needs in its next mayor.

This mayoral election is crucially important to the people of this city, based on what I am hearing and what I saw last night. Young, old, black and white, higher-income and lower income folks, neighborhood leaders, young professionals, business owners — all concerned citizens — leaned forward in their chairs, weighing the candidates’ comments. You could almost hear their mental gears turning as they took careful mental note of every word the candidates uttered from WorkPlay’s stage.

There was more laughter at the forum, some of it not good. Some people openly snickered when Mayor Bernard Kincaid said that crime is low compared to other years, and when he said he couldn’t directly prevent the declining student enrollment at Birmingham City Schools because he had to stay in his lane (i.e. not interfere with the elected school board), or face a wreck.

Council President Carole Smitherman countered that the city’s education system is already a wreck and more direct intervention is needed from the mayor. She suggested re-introducing trade skills back into the schools for kids who don’t go to college.

Some clapped with approval and others frowned when Commissioner Larry Langford said parents should “knock out” misbehaving kids so that teachers don’t have to fight undisciplined students in school.

When attorney Patrick Cooper called himself the fresh face on the scene compared to the career-politician opponents, some responded favorably; others felt he was still too fresh and inexperienced.

Leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police — which recently endorsed William Bell — had that “Oh, please!” look on their faces as some of the candidates talked about their plans to reduce crime.

Whatever the responses to the candidates, though, last night’s attendees were intently searching among the 10 candidates for the man or woman to be Birmingham’s CEO for the next four years, the person who can move the City forward.

I propose that we take Mr. Hendrix’s observation to heart. If the mayor is the CEO, then we, the citizens of Birmingham, are the board of directors. We need a leader who can move our company to prosperity and prestige we know it deserves.

Developers of the BJCC entertainment district announced today that American Idol(R) winner Ruben Studdard has finalized an agreement to open a club. And they are working on a similar deal with Taylor Hicks, another Birmingham American Idol(R) winner.

With a smile on his face, BJCC Executive Director Jack Fields read the announcement from Memphis-based Performa Entertainment to his Board of Directors during their meeting.

The Velvet Teddy Bear’s club is to be called “Ruben’s Club 205,” an obvious reference to the Birmingham area code that was emblazoned on the over-sized sports shirts he wore during his run on American Idol.

The club “will offer the kind of soulful music that he is known for,” Fields said. He also said Taylor Hicks’ representatives will meet with Performa on Friday to work out a deal for his own club.

“It will be wonderful to have both Ruben and Taylor in the district. It is part of Performa’s plan to have tenants who reflect the history, culture and music of Birmingham,” Fields said. “Tenants like that will make the district distinctive, something you can’t find any other place. That’s what will draw visitors.

Performa CEO John Elkington, who didn’t attend the meeting, said at another gathering in June that his goal is not to re-create Beale Street’s attractions, but to create a uniquely Birmingham venue. The yet-unnamed entertainment district will recruit tenants who reflect the home-grown culture and talent that is obvious from the number of Idol winners and runners-up from Birmingham, and its signature restaurants, he said.

Fields said Elkington and other Performa principals are working to recruit three classes of tenants to the BJCC district: entertainment, restaurants and retail, with a focus on Birmingham-based names whenever possible. Fields — who says he talks to the Performa principals several times a day — said they would come themselves to the Board’s September meeting with more announcements and in-depth updates on the district’s recruits.