Tag Archives: #alpolitics

“Showplace of the South” center of the political world tonight

Line for GOP forumIt’s the day before the Alabama Republican presidential primary and all through the state, there were a lot of folks stirring, though they may not be at the debate.

It’s actually not a debate, but a GOP presidential candidate forum being held at the historic Alabama Theatre this evening (March 12) beginning at 5:30 p.m. The doors will open at 3:30 p.m. and seating will be first come, first served (with a maximum capacity of 2,500). Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have both accepted invitations to attend; Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have been invited but have not indicated whether or not they will show up.

If you can’t make it tonight, don’t worry. ABC 33/40, Fox 6 are planning on simulcasting the event on their websites and via their digital TV signals (there may be more). The Birmingham News‘ Marty Swant plans to live tweet the forum as well.

You may also want to avoid the area around the Alabama this evening as 3rd Avenue North is currently blocked off between 18th and 19th Streets.

By the way, with all of the attention being focused on the Republican primary tomorrow, there have been a lot of links flying around about voting for delegates to the national conventions for both the Democrats and the Republicans (PDF format).

Jefferson County… on the BBC

Official seal of Jefferson County, ALThe BBC World Service’s Business Daily decided to take a look at Jefferson County’s sewer debt situation as an example of the issue of potential municipal and county level bankruptcy.

One statement of note during yesterday’s interview with Jefferson County Commission president David Carrington when asked if the county has come close to bankruptcy(at 5:23 in):

I guess, if you look at $3.2 billion – or $4.2 billion with the debt that we can’t afford to pay, I have to be in all sincerity that we areĀ  bankrupt, right now. We can’t pay our bills. We’re just not in bankruptcy. We’re going to have to restructure our debt or we will be in bankruptcy.”

Times are already tight at the County Commission as Carrington’s chief of staff, Pascal Caputo, made his first drive to Montgomery to essentially serve as the county’s lobbyist during the legislative session. ABC 33/40 reported that the daily trips are a result of the $129,000 contract for a county lobbyist being eliminated.