{"id":210,"date":"2009-12-09T13:23:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-09T20:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/mybirmingham\/?page_id=210"},"modified":"2009-12-09T13:23:38","modified_gmt":"2009-12-09T20:23:38","slug":"2007-mayoral-interviews","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/2007-mayoral-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Election 2009: The 2007 interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Posted below are answers to questions posed to candidates in the race for mayor of the City of Birmingham during the 2007 campaign, including the two people competing for the chance to complete the term of former mayor Larry Langford – William Bell and Patrick Cooper.<\/p>\n

We felt as though the best way to begin a conversation about the candidates was to see what they thought was important when they first ran for the office in 2007<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

What are the major goals of the your administration?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell goals.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Coopergoals.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As we continue to struggle with a transit system to move our city forward, what steps will you take to \u00a0assure that the legislators and governor create the long term dedicated funding source for transit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper transit.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell transit.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How will the city pursue the objectives of the Comprehensive Master Plan, the City Center Master Plan,\u00a0and Region 2020\u2019s plans for the Birmingham area?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell plans.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper plans.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Putting the master plan and dome project aside for a moment, what can you as mayor do to find solutions\u00a0within the individual neighborhoods and districts within the city in regards to crime, lighting, and\u00a0maintenance? How would you help motivate leaders and citizens in these areas to work together to make\u00a0change, real change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper issues.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell issues.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Given the droughts that we seem to be getting on a more frequent basis, should the mayor and city council\u00a0be working on ways to minimize future water shortages for the city? It’s something that is largely out of the\u00a0mayor\u2019s hands, but a plan for future city action could be set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell drought.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper drought.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The City has a recycling program but very few citizens seem to know it! What will you do as mayor to\u00a0promote the city’s recycling program and other environmentally sound ways of living in Birmingham?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper recycling.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell recycling.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As I understand it, the city allocates around $1 million a year to the neighborhood associations, yet you\u00a0hear very little if any information as to how this money is used. The yearly meeting that neighborhood\u00a0presidents and delegates go to is also in question to me. How can we measure if this trip is worth while and\u00a0how can the public genuinely get a grasp of how our tax dollars are being spent? Just looking at many of\u00a0our neighborhoods, it doesn’t appear to be helping at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell nhood.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper nhood.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How should Birmingham\u2019s next mayor go about forming a productive working relationship with other\u00a0governments in the region?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper regional.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell regional.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

What is your vision for how Birmingham can be in the next 5-10 years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell 5year.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper 5year.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

What issue would be your biggest challenge if elected mayor of Birmingham?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cooper<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Cooper challenge.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bell<\/td>\n[audio:http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/audio\/Bell challenge.mp3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nback to top<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

\u0001\u0002\u0003\u0004\u0005\u0003\u0006\u0007\u0005\u0004\u0002\u0007\u0005\b\u0003 \u0006\u0005 \u0003 \u0005 \u000e\u0005\u0004\u0002\u0007\u0005\u000f \u0010\u0006\u0005\u0003\u0011\b\u0012\u0013\u0012 \u0004\u0006\u0003\u0004\u0012 \u0013\u0014 Posted below are answers to questions posed to candidates in the race for mayor of the City of Birmingham during the 2007 campaign, including the two people competing for the chance to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-210","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P50I8-3o","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/dearbham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}