Category Archives: Election ’09

Election ’09: A busy weekend of sorts

Well, for those of you who missed all of the election coverage from Friday:

Election ’09:Let the mayoral forums begin

We’ve learned this morning that two mayoral forums have already been announced. The first one will be held by the Jefferson County alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta on November 17. The second one we learned of is being organized by Catalyst for Birmingham and is scheduled to be held on December 1.

The real question becomes “Will people pay attention and take these events seriously?”

I figured one way to do it would be by seeing what folks would think about parts of my platform if I were to throw my hat in the ring… there’s still time, right?

Election ’09: Douglas joins the race tomorrow

scott douglasWe continue to see more people announcing that they’ll be trying to get the job of Birmingham’s chief executive come December 8. Tomorrow Scott Douglas, the executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, will be formally announcing that he’s joining the race for mayor.

Douglas’ campaign website appears to be a placeholder currently, while his campaign’s fan page on Facebook is reporting that his announcement will take place at 10 a.m. at Kelly Ingram Park.

Looks like Bhamwiki will get to add a few more names to their list

UPDATE Election 09: The Bell been rung

Bell for mayor sign 2009

UPDATE: We’ve just received a press release confirming that Bell will announce his candidacy Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in Linn Park, the same time that Scott Douglas will be announcing his in Kelly Ingram Park.

While we’ve heard rumors about a possible run for mayor by former Birmingham City Councilor and current Jefferson County Commissioner William Bell, this sign is the first one that we’ve seen up around town (in the city’s Norwood neighborhood across the street from Cosmo’s). Well that and his website’s already up though still under construction after telling The Birmingham News that he was considering a run last week.

There are already several folks who’ve thrown their hat in the ring.

Additional signs announcing his campaign were seen along Greensprings Avenue this evening.

Photo: André Natta/bhamterminal.com

Columbus, MS is proud of Alana

When Alana Edwards recently defeated two-term incumbent Odessa Ashley in the Birmingham City School Board District 7 runoff last week, she became the youngest person elected to serve on that board.

The niece of Columbus, Mississippi’s first African American city councilman, Edwards’ hometown paper, The Commercial Dispatch, filed this brief in today’s newspaper – a user-submitted brief we might add.

Election ’09: Now the work begins

I voted stickerThe people have spoken (well, only about 14.5% have – and that’s with the storm holding off until late last night – but that’s besides the point) and we now have a new Birmingham City Council ready to take office in late November. Last night’s runoff elections for the Council and school board seats were definitely interesting and led to some great discussions on Birmingham Weekly’s live blog coverage. Meanwhile, Wade on Birmingham provided a rundown of who ended up where as a result of yesterday’s activities. The Birmingham News reminds us this morning about the most closely watched of the races – the one involving City Council President Carole Smitherman and Citizens Advisory Board president Sheila Tyson.

Of course, if you want a recap of exactly how it went down, check out BhamWiki’s page on the election.

Election ’09: Next, October 6

Last night’s municipal elections were somewhat anti-climatic, though approximately 20% of registered voters turned out. When the dust settled, four of Birmingham’s City Council seats were decided last night, leaving ten people to prepare to battle it out for the next few weeks until the runoff elections are held on October 6.

Lashunda Scales will take over representing District 1, while Valerie Abbott, Maxine Parker and Steven Hoyt all won re-election without a runoff. Bhamwiki has compiled a detailed list of results from both sets of races last night.

The folks after the jump will be the ones that have to convince voters to return to the polls.

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