A couple of hours before the council approved the business license and sales tax increases, Mayor Langford opened his comments by presenting an XO laptop to those in attendance at the council meeting; he then passed the machine around among the councilors that were present.

Mr. Langford displayed the new laptop and demonstrated the computer to the City Council and those in the audience.

He reported to the council that he has been asked by representatives of the company to be a spokesperson for the effort encouraging other cities to participate in exchange for the city being the first U.S. city to receive the machines. He announced that 15,000 computers will be delivered to the city and that they would be distributed to students in grades K-8 on April 15 at the BJCC, with a special guest in attendance at the event. We won’t know who it is until then, the mayor’s not telling…

The mayor also introduced two ordinances to the council…

One would introduce wording already in existence at the state level, stating that it’s the council’s intent to encourage a minimum of 27% minority participation in all city projects (This one was delayed for a week to include friendly amendment suggested by Councilor Hoyt that needs to be worked into the ordinance).

The second item that will be presented to the city’s transportation and communication committee later this week deals with allowing AT&T to pay the franchise fees associated with offering cable television service in the city of Birmingham.

The mayor introduced the Alabama Symphony Orchestra‘s representatives, including executive director Trey Devey in his first appearance before the council,  and then stated that he wanted to start a mayor’s youth symphony and that the mayor’s office would assist in any way possible to make it a reality. Mr. Devey then encouraged residents to attend the symphony’s annual holiday concert performance in Fair Park this Saturday which includes a guest conductor – Mayor Langford! Mr. Devey asked that those that were able to attend bring a can of food with them to be collected for a local charity.