Monthly Archives: July 2007

Lead, Birmingham

Posted on July 18, 2007 by | 4 comments

People are waiting for a savior in Birmingham. This savior must be able to pick up every piece of trash off of the streets, keep grass along the streets cut and in pristine condition and be able to renovate every building in town that needs it. They’ve also got to be able to stop the bickering in City Hall. Completely.

People are waiting for someone to lead the city to its position of prominence that many feel it deserves. The people are waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

I learned a quote during my first month of college that remains extremely important to me today:

“Leadership is action, not position.”

I’ve been thinking about this quote recently as things seem to be in flux around me. Part of this upcoming election will determine the type of leader we want. A leader that talks a good game is fine, but the real question should be “What will they be able to deliver?”

That leader must also be able to engage the population in able to deliver. This is whether you’re the leader of our city, a leader in an organization or church or just “someone” that wants to see something happen. While a leader may be able to help cheer the people on and use the bully pulpit, nothing will happen until the people that she or he represents take a larger role in the redevelopment of our city.

At issue is whether or not we are willing to take the action necessary to move our city forward or do we continue to wait for the knight in shining armor.

We as a city cannot continue to wait for it to happen. If it’s going to happen, we need to do it. It’s as simple as picking up a piece of garbage, not throwing a cup out of your window when you’re driving down the street and maybe becoming the real eyes and ears of the city again.

There are times when the village that is supposed to raise a child should be able to raise a phoenix from the ashes of discontent and perpetual promise. It’s time for this village to fully undertake their role.

4 Comments

Posted in Birmingham, Commentary

Is it really all about the “dome”?

Posted on July 9, 2007 by | 1 comment

Editor’s note: Originally posted on Dre’s Ramblings on March 23, I felt that it was pertinent to post again, especially with the recent talk about the entertainment district and the BJCC expansion. Let us know what you think by posting a comment at the end of this posting.

The numerous online forums here in town are always interesting to click through, especially when there is a hot button issue dominating the boards. In recent weeks, the issue in question is the expansion of the BJCC and the development of an entertainment district for the convention center district by Performa Entertainment Real Estate, Inc.

The development of the entertainment district is a no-brainer; locating such an attraction near Malfunction Junction provides visibility near one of the busiest intersections for interstate traffic in the Southeastern United States. The area’s redevelopment will most likely generate additional revenue for the city and the county through encouraging passersby to stop and take a moment to find out just what’s happening around town.

The more interesting debate among those that take place in the forums is the one about the expansion of the BJCC. Everyone points to all of these reasons why the expansion must include a 70,000 seat “dome” and not a 40,000 seat “arena”. In a city that is quick to point out how quickly something is out of date and needs to be replaced, maybe the real issue is whether or not the current situation is really broken. Maybe it’s also a case of deciding whether political grandstanding in an election year will keep us from exploring the possibility of doing what is truly best for the city and the region. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Alabama, Birmingham, Commentary

Our plans for the 2007 mayor's race

Posted on July 1, 2007 by | 2 comments

NOTE: You can check out our election coverage over at Election ’07

The first “serious” poll that we ran focused on what should be one of the major issues in the city of Birmingham as it continues to move forward at the beginning of the 21st century : The 2007 mayoral election.

I wanted to see if anyone would say anything or if people even cared.

I really did not know what to expect. I did know that we were purposely going to leave out the “none of the above” option. We weren’t sure how that omission would be received (or if it would even be noticed).

A comment was posted that most likely echoed the concerns of those who’d chosen not to participate (also making us aware of the fact that people did notice the omission). The dialogue that followed confirmed that the best thing that we could do is to encourage others to not only get involved in the process, but to make sure that we do our part to help people decide who their choice for the mayor’s job is.

We are going to take a stance that may surprise some as a result: we’re not going to endorse any candidate in the upcoming mayoral elections.

What we are going to do is provide those that visit The Terminal with as much information as possible to allow those living in the city limits the opportunity to make an informed decision come October (and November if necessary). This will hopefully include interviews and/or profiles with the candidates and looking at some of the issues that you will hopefully identify as important in the coming days.

Everyone is waiting for the leader to emerge, someone that can guide Birmingham where it needs to go. If you think of it in those terms, you may never quite find the ideal person, though you may find someone that can do their part and use their ideals to make Birmingham and most of central Alabama better. This is one of those times where waiting may lead some voters to sit it out. Maybe it should not be a question of leadership but of stewardship before us in October.
I invite any candidate running for mayor to contact me at andre@bhamterminal.com so that we can begin this process.

We also hope to include any opportunities to register to vote on the Timetable calendar in the coming months.

The history of low voter turnout locally in recent years is well documented and maybe helping to get the word out about registration opportunities and helping to encourage people to do so early will help in some way.

Birmingham has been referred to by some as “The City of Perpetual Promise”. This upcoming election in October is essentially about who takes the reins of the city’s future to guide it so that its “promise” becomes its reality.

The ironic thing is that the city and its surrounding area are enjoying a period of growth and excitement, despite some not wanting to believe it. That’s one of the reasons we try to show the promise and growth every week in our corner of the blogosphere.

I’m not quite sure what some of our decisions will get us labeled; people are constantly trying to assign labels to things in hopes that it will make things easier. I’m hoping for “interesting” myself.

Cheers.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal. You can reach him at andre@bhamterminal.com.

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Posted in Alabama, Birmingham, Election '07, politics, The Terminal