Tag Archives: City Council

Fireworks at the BJCC yesterday

Posted on January 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

We’ve known for some time (well, some of us have) that Alabama State Representative Mary Moore has wanted City Council representation on the BJCC’s board. Well, yesterday she decided to make those comments again during the BJCC Board meeting and had some words with the city’s current representation on the board, Mayor Larry Langford. Apparently, a lot of words.

I’ve got some words about the situation of my own today over on My Birmingham.

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Posted in The City

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Johnathan Austin appointed to City Council

Posted on December 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

The newest face among Birmingham City leadership is now its youngest. A majority of City Councilors voted to appoint 29-year-old Johnathan F. Austin to fill the vacant District 5 seat of William Bell.

Vickii Howell of Birmingham View describes it as “an Obama-like moment when the community organizer and relative political newcomer was chosen from among four other better-known candidates, sworn in and seated within an hour of Tuesday’s vote by Councilors Valerie Abbott, Carol Duncan, Joel Montgomery and President Carole Smitherman.”

She reported that Steven Hoyt and Miriam Witherspoon voted no and Roderick Royal abstained.

You can read more of Vickii’s account of this morning’s events on Birmingham’s View’s News Portal as well as the Birmingham News’ breaking news blog.

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Posted in On the agenda

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You go, Raven!

Posted on November 26, 2008 | Leave a comment

The big story from yesterday’s Birmingham City Council meeting was the hiring of a 13 year-old as a consultant by Mayor Larry Langford – well, sort of.

Raven Hatcher (of no relation to the mayor’s executive assistant Terri Hatcher) actually turns 14 on Friday. This means that she will be able to apply for a work permit and receive $10,000 as a consultant to the city’s parks and recreation department after presenting her suggestions for improvements to Ensley Park to the Council. NBC13 is reporting on their morning show that $5,000 of the total amount will be placed into a college scholarship fund for the W.J. Christian School student.

The girl’s good fortune and suggestions did not prevent some from offering a wide range of comments on AL.com’s blog post about the story, causing the website to not accept more comment early yesterday evening after several violations of the site’s community rules. We’d recommend watching the interview that Joseph Bryant did with Hatcher yesterday.

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Posted in Parks

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On the agenda: Honoring and supporting

Posted on November 18, 2008 | 2 comments

The easiest items to pass on today’s City Council agenda involve the honoring of two local leaders by renaming portions of streets. Item 4 will rename 8th Avenue North from Center Street to 34th Street North for Rev. Abraham Woods, while Item 5 will rename the portion of 20th Street in front of City Hall for former city councilwoman Nina Miglionico.

There will also be a chance to create what’s essentially an expanded effort to preserve the city’s Civil Rights history (Item 7), though this morning’s interesting item #8, which says that the council supports the lawsuit filed on behalf of the city by Johnson and Walker, LLC “pursuing claims arising out of unfair, deceptive and discriminatory lending activities that resulted in foreclosures and other hardships” for residents.

Five councilors already support it, so it may not necessarily be that much of a deal, but you never know…

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Posted in On the agenda

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Let the 2009 City Council races begin

Posted on November 18, 2008 | Leave a comment

I knew that I should have had a bet going as to how soon someone would announce their intentions to run for City Council seats in 2009. The first candidate out the gate is… Hooper City Neighborhood Association and Birmingham Young Democrats president William Barnes.

The announcement was made via an Evite to his campaign’s first fundraiser early next month at The Wine Loft (downtown location). if you know of anyone else intending to throw their hat in the ring for any of the districts, let us know.

BTW – if you’re interested in William Bell’s former seat, you’ve got until tomorrow to apply.

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Posted in Election '09, Timetable

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The line forms for District 5

Posted on November 13, 2008 | Leave a comment

Those residents that live in Birmingham City Council District 5 learned two things yesterday (well, maybe – depending on who they were listening to) – William Bell was no longer their representative and someone was going to be picked for them by December. According to the Birmingham News, the list of folks that want the job (even if only for one year before having to run for re-election with the rest of the council) is already quite long – and it’s bound to get even longer before it’s all said and done. It already includes the former councilor and several others that have previously tried for the position.

Want to throw your hat in the ring too? As long as you’re over 18, registered to vote and currently live in District 5, you’ve got a chance – but applications are due in on Wednesday.

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Posted in City Council, Election '09

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Food bank collection campaign announced

Posted on October 21, 2008 | Leave a comment

Mayor Langford publicly thanked the city’s employees for the tons (literally) of food that were collected for Haiti recently during his weekly report to the City Council this morning. He then publicly challenged Birmingham’s citizens to do the same for people in their own communities, asking the City Council to declare November 5, 6 and 7 as the dates for a citywide food collection drive and then challenging them and the local business community to match a $10,000 donation from the mayor’s office for the area food banks. The council immediately stepped up to the place.

So after you’ve finished voting for your candidate on Election Day, start preparing to bring non-perishable food items to various locations once details are announced by the mayor’s office.

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Posted in Take a moment

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