Category Archives: Commentary

Exercise that right to vote

Posted on October 24, 2008 by | 1 comment

Today is one of the most important days for folks who are interested in seeing change occur. It’s the last day that you’ll be able to register to vote in the upcoming November elections in Alabama. I wanted to take this opportunity to implore you to take the time today to register or to update your voter registration for this upcoming election if you have not already done so.

I’m sitting in a coffeehouse in Denver, CO, preparing to head up to Ft. Collins and Boulder just as the stretch run of our campaign season begins. I can feel the level of excitement that’s existing out here as Election Day approaches, though for many, the change to exercise that right to vote has already been experienced via mail-in ballots. The work that I’m out here doing in Colorado has kept me from digging in and finding out just what that means for the region, but there is an energy that’s palpable in The Mile High City and elsewhere in this country. For that reason, I do hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to vote on November 4, regardless of party affiliation. You cannot complain about the direction our country will take or the results of the election if you do not exercise that right. People must get out, speak up and make sure that their voice is heard. If you think that your vote doesn’t count, realize that it will send a message to our elected leaders, allowing them to hear loud and clear the wants and needs of their constituents without the need of a filter, no matter what it is.

We’ve purposely not done a great deal of coverage of the national campaign in part because we think that those of you that visit the site on a regular basis have an idea of how those national issues will affect our region. We will also, as is our policy, not endorse a candidate (though I’m sure if you talk to us individually, we’ll be happy to share who and why).

This is a chance to take part in the process, to have your voice heard, to not sit on the sidelines and let others decide for you (and yes, I do realize that we turn over our votes to the Electoral College after the 4th, but I think you get the idea).

Don’t forget to take the opportunity to remind your friends to vote as well, since I know you don’t necessarily want to hear from them either after this is over (if you haven’t already tired of hearing their views during the process). Events like Trick or Vote are necessary as registering only makes you eligible while taking the next step and acting upon that notion is extremely important.

I’ll be back in plenty of time to cast my ballot. I hope to see you sporting that “I Voted” sticker that day. BTW, how about sending in a photo on Election Day of you wearing that sticker (have some fun with it – and hopefully you’ve actually voted too). 5 random submissions will get a white Terminal T.

Exercise that right.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal

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Why pay more?

Posted on October 21, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I hop on a plane and fly out to Colorado and hope that big news stories don’t happen while I’m in the air and getting settled in. Now that I’ve been reminded that news will never wait (and that inevitably there will be two stories)…

It will be extremely difficult for the city council to justify a raise for those that follow them into office next year, despite the best of intentions from Councilor Miriam Witherspoon. While the jobs are part-time, many in this current crop do treat it as full time work. Many would argue however that it as the price of being a public servant – doing the work of the people for a small amount of money and their gratitude.

The pay scale should be reviewed in the near future as there is some discrepancy in relation to what they do and what they receive as compensation. However one look at the financial situation that many of the city’s residents find themselves in suggests that if passed we would most certainly see faces change on the council dais next year as it would prove that our current crop were out of touch with what’s going on around them.

Councilor (soon to be County Commissioner) William Bell made the point that the council should not be able to increase their salaries. Those are words that should be heeded in this case. If the proposal was allowed to be presented in its current state it would  be extremely difficult to justify that 120% increase to many long time residents, especially those the who are about to watch one of their community’s anchors, albeit one that has been floundering for some time, begin the process of shutting down after 100 years. The two stories are in fact related (yes, they are).

The council should be encouraging the mayor to reach into the bag from which he’s already promised more than $1 billion in funds to find a way to keep Carraway‘s doors open or at least find a company that would be able to take over the hospital and fulfill its current plans for the area.

Before we go any further, we need to make clear the fact that the city has done what it could to try to help the facility stay open. The former Parisian warehouse at Carraway Boulevard and 12th Street North was torn down in June in hopes that a renaissance long promised to the area’s residents was about to be kicked into high gear. That renaissance was tied to a resurgent Carraway.

The pending closure of the facility, despite the “great” opportunity provided by having a piece of property ready for redevelopment (note sarcasm), is a situation that is tied to the current economic crisis but one that needs to be dealt with swiftly. Making sure that people in Birmingham are employed and that we’re continuing to go after the tax revenue that is desperately needed to complete many of the projects on the boards would go a long way towards influencing residents that our city council needs a pay raise, though it would make more sense to deal with such a raise after next year’s elections (perhaps by the voters).

Our city is currently much better off than other larger cities like San Diego, CA and Newark, NJ (two cities that come to mind as I watch an interview on television this morning with both cities’ mayors talking about their financial crises). For the council to reward itself financially for that accomplishment is definitely not the most effective way to demonstrate that fiscal responsibility.

While I’m starting my first day as a Main Street practitioner in more than 18 months about the time that the council will most likely begin to debate this issue, I’ll catch the highlights of the meeting later on today. I’m sure that most of the city will be doing the same to see how the first issue of the 2009 council race shakes out.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal.

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Sweat that corner on the grand stage

Posted on October 7, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I was on my way to a meeting late last week, walking westbound along 1st Avenue North when I got to 22nd. I suddenly wished I’d had my camera with me because of the tableaux vivant before me – one that would definitely tell a story to Birmingham area residents. It would have been one that no doubt confused them and enraged them at the same time.

The easternmost lane of traffic was blocked off as city crews worked to restripe 22nd Street. The westernmost lane was occupied by one of the MAX buses that had been purchased right after I arrived in town four years ago – broken down at a bus stop. The driver was standing at the door to the bus, leaning on it and looking as though it had happened many times before. A passenger looked quite animated as he vented the frustration of all the others at the driver, who appeared as though he cared, but knew that he could do nothing.

In the background because of the angle one could look at The News’ new building and the cranes signaling construction on a much-needed garage addition next to former corporate headquarters soon to become a luxury hotel.

I said the scene would tell a story to Birmingham residents, though some who stumble across this post will no doubt wonder why, since some would argue that this scene takes place in cities across the world every day.

In college one of my architectural history professors introduced me to a phrase I often use to describe urban life:

The city’s a stage.

All of life is a theatre, a play if you will, with some sets more dramatic than others. We’re all actors, whether intentionally or not. The big city is normally viewed as that stage – the place where you pull out all the stops. My favorite story from living on the coast is of Charleston’s mayor, Joe Riley, choosing the gravel for their waterfront park based on the sound it made under his feet. People still revel in his attention to detail as well as the constant examination of whether or not he was doing what was best for the city and its citizens. He has had his critics as well for other reasons but that’s more of a Dre’s Rambings post anyway…

Here in Birmingham there are some projects that will move forward visibly in the near future, among them those first two legs of the Three Parks Initiative, our new downtown hotels and the expansive campus green that now punctuates that you’re on an urban college campus on the city’s Southside. Improving that main stage of downtown is tempting and necessary, though perhaps it is more important to look at the realities of the situation and determine how to help the understudies – the folks that help the theater continue to run from day to day – enjoy their stages as well.

Some of the “realists” out there would say that paving city streets in the midst of an economic crisis doesn’t make sense. It makes perfect common sense however when streets without potholes make it easier for us to get from point A to point B without it tearing up our cars. This way we can earn money to keep a roof over our heads.

What the realists should question is the idea to stripe the same streets that you’re proposing to repave first as part of an ambitious infrastructure improvement campaign. Especially after stating that one of the reasons that you’re undertaking it involves some of the patch work done by work crews when servicing our utilities. Perhaps it will take a while for that project to be awarded (and winter is coming) but maybe folks need to have that explained to them.

We don’t even have to go into the bus situation and why it needs to be addressed.

As breathtaking and as necessary as some of these upgrades to our sets are going to be, we’ve got to pay attention to those “little” details while the big changes occur. While some will not care initially about the public’s opinion on this matter, they will eventually vote – with their wallets first as they continue to lament for the good old days and then in the booth.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal.

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Riding towards the right solution

Posted on September 26, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I have this one habit that came to light when I worked for my previous employer that’s always led to some fun conversations (and smiling faces) when expense reports from trips came in. The best example of it was when we were planning for our first trip to Baltimore, MD. My boss decided that he needed to rent a car for the trip, while I said that I’d have no problem getting around on ground transit. I ended up riding in from BWI on their light rail service, eventually pulling up in front of Camden Yards (where I caught half an inning through the gates). I then rode the bus from the ballpark to the city’s Fell’s Point neighborhood, where I got a chance to explore one of the very communities I would be learning about during that conference while getting to our hotel. I walked the rest of the time there.

By the time he met me for dinner that evening, he’d sat in “baseball traffic” for more than 2 hours while trying to get in from the airport. I’d gotten into town in about 40 minutes (including a walk that could have easily been a transfer to another bus to get me there).

My trip to Seattle, WA was already booked before I resigned from that job, so I attended the conference anyway (looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made). Residents in that region enjoy knowing that you can take an express or a local bus from the airport into downtown for $1.25 – each way. My counterparts were paying $15 each way to get into the city using a charter bus service. People from all walks were on the bus – flight attendants, business people heading to the Boeing plant, travelers and residents all sitting next to each other. Yes, they were building a light rail line from SEA-TAC, but it was due primarily because of the impressive use of the bus service already available, which was slated to continue.

While I’ve always had to scramble to find a ride to get to and from the airport here, since I’ve lived here I’ve never not used mass transit to get where I need to from the airports of the cities I’ve flown into.

Growing up in New York probably helped shape my belief that buses are fine way to get around (if they can get you where you want to go). For many people in my hometown, despite the availability of subway service in some of the denser areas of the city, the bus is an important piece of their commutes. It’s safe to say that they are the workhorses of most mass transit networks. Some communities appear to want the cart before the horse, including ours.

At the end of Regional Planning Commission director of transportation and community planning Bill Foisy’s presentation to attendees at Thursday’s ONB Breakfast Briefing about work being done to deal with increasing traffic congestion in Birmingham, someone raised their hand and asked if we would ever see light rail service in Birmingham. Foisy tried to explain that normally you’d see such services connecting cities and not just within a city and that any rail system that returned to metro Birmingham (we did have a pretty well-respected streetcar system at one point) would not be successful until we fixed our bus system. I’m still picturing those faces among the crowd having this puzzled “Well, why can’t we just replace the buses with light rail; they’re cooler?” looks on their faces.

It doesn’t make sense to build a system if those that need to be riding don’t use the current system. If those that need to be riding look down on the current system as something not good enough for them. If they don’t realize that the buses will give them a way to get from that light rail station to their homes if needed.

Call me crazy, but normally if a city wasn’t built like a New York or a Chicago by rail service you normally look to light rail as an upgrade to a system that is functional and that enjoys fair ridership. As far as who is to blame for Birmingham’s current system’s plight, I’ll leave that to everybody else and I won’t even get into whether or not those that currently ride the system are treated fairly or given adequate service.

My point is that fixing the problems with our system (especially with gas prices poised to rise), whether they be new buses, revamping the routes taken by buses, their frequency and their reliability is more important now than ever. It must be addressed and those riding now satisfied before delusions of grandeur are sought that we are not prepared for. We can’t build our way out of traffic issues either, and since our funds are beginning to dry up, wouldn’t a shift in philosophy towards assisting in transit improvements be better?

I’ll be thinking about that during my trip to Chicago in the spring, as I ride in from the airport on the El – and then take the bus.

André Natta is the managing editor of bhamterminal.com.

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So, why WordCamp Birmingham?

Posted on August 25, 2008 by | 4 comments

If you’ve been to the front page of the site today, you’ve learned that we’re serving as an organizing sponsor for WordCamp Birmingham on September 27 & 28. A simple explanation of the event is it’s an unconference for fans, users and folks just interested in blogging in general and WordPress in particular. I’ll wait for you to check out the program’s website to learn more if you want to.

We know one question that may be running through your minds is “Why do this?”

This is my attempt to answer that question for you.

Some look at blogging as our new public access channels or a new form of talk radio. Blogging allows individuals to share of themselves (whether it’s their opinions, their photographs, or their favorite recipes) with anyone who cares to pay attention. Blogging is also social media, to me in its most visible form and tangible form. It is the sharing of ideas coupled with the ability to get feedback from those that either support or disagree with them. You can do it for the love of sharing your thoughts, a longing to change the world and to earn a living.

Selfishly, we here at The Terminal want more voices out there online. We want more people to share their thoughts and opinions about what’s going on in Birmingham and its metropolitan area in all of the ways available through social media. We want there to be a more complete virtual picture for folks who wonder just what’s going on in The Magic City. We want more folks comfortable with how blogging actually works. There’s no better way to do so than to bring together people from all over the region and potentially the world to learn from and share with each other. WordCamp Birmingham is a forum we believe that will allow us to do just that. It will give folks a peek into the world of social media in all of its forms, including ways to integrate many of these tools into a WordPress blog and finally answer that nagging question for many, regardless of what software you choose to use, “Why blog in the first place?”.

There have already been more than 20 of the unconferences held throughout the world, including San Francisco, CA (WordPress parent company Automattic‘s hometown); Birmingham, England; Cape Town, South Africa; and Dallas, Texas. All of these locations allowed for conversations to be held and collaboration and cooperation to be fostered. For those that may need to look at this more competitively, the week following our event, Raleigh-Durham, NC is scheduled to host one. We’ll also be slightly ahead of my hometown as New York’s first WordCamp will be held the day after RDU’s.

It is also a great weekend to showcase Birmingham to its visitors. The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary while the Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival enjoys its fifth year of providing a musical interlude to jazz aficionados of the region. Folks that want to enjoy more music on Sunday can make their way up to Vulcan Park and enjoy the Vulcan After Tunes series in addition to breathtaking views of the city. This is not to forget that two incredible exhibits will be opening at the Birmingham Museum of Art that weekend, including the one featuring Leonardo Da Vinci.

For others we plan to give our visitors a chance to wander the city via a scavenger hunt and invite folks to talk about other ways that Birmingham in particular and the South in general can continue to connect and share their voices with each other and the rest of the world.

Registration is scheduled to open on Wednesday Thursday morning and space will be limited.

What can you do? We hope a few things – that you’ll join us for what we hope is the first of many ways that we can contribute to our community’s technological goals; that some of you will consider contacting me about sponsorship opportunities; that you’ll consider volunteering and help us publicize the conference. That you’ll consider presenting at the conference.

Have I at least made you interested in what’s going on? Good…

Send me a message with “wordcampbham” as the title to acnatta@gmail.com or andre@bhamterminal.com and we’ll go from there.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal and one of the organizers for WordCamp Birmingham.

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Birmingham's largest block party?

Posted on June 20, 2008 by | Leave a comment

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There are always several ways to look at a situation, and there is no question that City Stages 20 will be second-guessed by every Monday morning events planning quarterback in the region for at least the next 2-3 months as we await the public release of the organization’s financials.

I’ll freely admit that I only attended the festival for about four hours on Saturday – time I desperately needed away from this computer to remind myself of what the real world might be like. I heard nothing but praise from folks I knew that had actually attended Friday night and danced along to Diana Ross, The Roots, Galactic and probably the biggest surprise of the evening to many, The Carolina Chocolate Drops. Later on I got to watch as Buddy Guy decided to come on down and play among the thousands that showed up to watch him after catching the end of the Hill Country Revue set.

I’ve come to think that perhaps the purpose of the festival needs to change, at least mentally. I’m not sure that one can say that it’s an event that represents the cultural heritage of metro Birmingham anymore (though getting Ross to play this year was a coup). I would say that it is a great collection of acts that many feel should be coming to our fair city anyway (and some of them do), available to us for a reasonable price.

I heard a television reporter call it Birmingham’s largest block party. That may be a better way to describe what it’s become.

It’s become an excuse for people to come together and hear great music; to see folks that you don’t run into as much anymore and catch up. In the near future it will also be an excuse for those that still think it’s not safe to come downtown to poke around between acts and see the progress that continues to take place.

I also think that it can claim that something that should be a major goal of the festival’s – exposing the City of Birmingham and the surrounding region to acts that you normally wouldn’t see or be exposed to (e.g., the Carolina Chocolate Drops).

It will never be Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo and honestly, I’m glad. If I want those types of events, I’ll find a way to go there instead. The thing is, no matter what you hear said positively about our festival, and on a larger scale this city, there will always be someone that says that you’re not being realistic or serious – that it’s bad and it will always stay that way, no matter what’s done.

I’d argue that it’s that attitude that needs to change, though some more interaction with those that could make City Stages more successful in the coming years would help. The conversations about the future of the festival have been held all over the place, including the blogosphere, forever. Harnessing it in one place, presumably a revamped version of their site, may give residents more perceived ownership of the festival, including enabling the festival to engage its fans in the selection process and allowing organizers to expose the fans to the music that will be coming. It could be a microcosm of what could be done to truly move the city forward as well, but It’s just one suggestion and it probably won’t be the last one either party hears.

That said, I am looking forward to next year, just to see what can happen…

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal.

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Well, at least we're talking about it

Posted on May 19, 2008 by | 4 comments

“Nobody is trying to deny the seriousness of getting this under control, but does it have to be on a billboard?”

– Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford

Yes, as a matter of fact Larry, it does.

But apparently making Jefferson County residents aware of a syphilis outbreak is more of a detriment to our efforts for attracting new businesses into the region than a necessity to make sure that it does not become worse than it already is. In case you didn’t see Saturday’s Birmingham News story, two of our elected leaders feel as though bus advertisements calling attention to the fact that we have the #1 concentration of syphilis cases in the United States were portraying a bad image for the region (among other things).

While they are only removing ads announcing the outbreak off of the sides of buses, it takes away a valuable tool available to the Jefferson County Department of Health in this battle of educating the public, one that they should be commended for. It was doing what it was supposed to do – catching the attention of those that saw the signs even if only for a few seconds at a time.

If there is anyone that understands the importance of catching the attention of people in short, simple sound bites, it is the current mayor of the city of Birmingham. Mayor Langford provides just enough information to pique our interest and then he moves on to the next 6 or 7 things on his agenda. We stay just confused and bombarded long enough for the next idea to be planted and then the questions that need to be raised never are. It’s a shame, since some conversation may actually make some of these ideas better. In this case it’s a real shame that he doesn’t realize that the Department of Heath is simply taking a page out of his play book.

He’s done something again, only this time it’s something that could become a bigger issue if not handled properly. I’d like to know if he and Commissioner Fine-Collins plan to have the health department remove the billboards and television ads as well? If so, we’re going to use taxpayer dollars to remove ads that were partially paid for by taxpayer dollars trying to educate the taxpayers about a serious issue — like the logic?

Maybe he has a secret plan to use that bully pulpit that mayors possess to make sure that more people are aware…

Maybe.

Maybe spending taxpayer dollars to sweep one of our regions issues under the rug could be better spent making sure that we dealt with the outbreak appropriately, making sure that everyone was aware of the issue.

The problem with both of those solutions is that they sound too logical.

As a city recognized as a national leader in medical research, maybe the idea of making people aware of the issue constitutes our area hospitals and medical leaders doing the job that they are best known for. And it’s not like the ads haven’t had an effect, it has encouraged more people to go in and be tested for symptoms.

We can’t call the kettle black without making sure that we air all of our dirty laundry as well. We’d actually had a story prepared about the outbreak more than a month ago; however we were waiting for a list of current solutions that were being undertaken to be completed before putting it up on the site. We felt as though that was most important – making sure that solutions were presented. Unfortunately, most of us are only now writing about the issue because Mr. Langford and Ms. Fine-Collins finally gave us a reason to do so.

So we decided to run the story this morning (if you didn’t come here directly from the post, head on over to the Newsstand to take a look). Even if you feel as though this issue cannot hit you personally, it is important enough to the overall health of our region to take a good, hard look at it and what can be done to assist with handling it.

So maybe recent stories about Birmingham’s potential are just not powerful enough to overcome this outbreak as selling points, at least in the eyes of our city’s chief executive. But I think I’d rather have folks coming in to join this transplant in a movement to make the city a better place than have them wonder why we hadn’t accepted the situation and admitted to it up front — completely.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal.

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