Bills Due
It was bound to happen. Council President Lee Loder, whose patience with his Council colleagues has been tested in recent months, blew his top at Mayor Bernard Kincaid during the May 14 City Council meeting. At issue was the city’s failure to pay a $7,100 bill for the Council’s inauguration reception held at the Harbert Center in November 2001. The unpaid expense has accumulated late fees and includes a $672 charge for wine, which Loder and his fellow councilors claim to know nothing about. Loder angrily lashed out at Kincaid for keeping the Council in the dark regarding reasons for nonpayment. The Mayor snarled right back. And before everyone was through arguing about the correct procedure to finance parties, Operation New Birmingham (ONB) was characterized as a “money-laundering” system.
Kincaid said the city didn’t receive the bill until February, and has no idea when it initially appeared in the Finance Department. According to the Mayor-Council Act, the Finance Department must certify that the money is available to cover the expense. Authorization for the Harbert reception was made by recently departed Council Administrator Jarvis Patton when the former Council was in office. Ironically, only one of the incumbents was re-elected. [The reception was originally scheduled as a private event, but the newly elected Council made it a public affair after public outcry.] Patton was told a purchase order was needed, said Kincaid, but the Council administrator ignored correct procedure. Denying that his office had been sitting on the bill to avoid paying for the event, Kincaid angrily denounced the insinuation that the Mayor’s office was “derelict” in duty.Food cannot be paid for with city funds unless the function is deemed to be for a public purpose. The inauguration reception did not meet that criteria, according to the city’s Law Department. “Liquor cannot be paid for under any circumstance,” added Kincaid. “The liquor was problematic.”
Loder argued that the event was a public function and therefore eligible for city funds. “I don’t know what the problem is,” said Loder. “I haven’t received a response — a formal response — at all over the last three months as to what the problem is with this event. And that’s a problem.” When asked by Loder when he expected to inform the Council that the bill was not payable by the city, Kincaid said his office has been trying for the past four months to find a way to cover the outstanding debt. The Mayor said that the corporate community could cover the expense.
Addressing the issue, Council Attorney J. Richmond Pearson said, “It is the most foolish thing in the world for you to take money from a private company, or a public utility, that comes before you for decisions,” warned Pearson. “That’s just plain common sense. You don’t even have to have lunch at law school to know that.” Using an example, Pearson pointed out that Alabama Power Company is on the council agenda seeking an easement on city land, though it was not stated that Alabama Power would be one of the corporations asked to pay off the reception expense.
“Investitures and inaugural festivals that include citizens, as well as public officials, is [sic] an extension of public business,” Pearson said, adding that, however remote, those benefiting from city decisions are in potential conflict if they contribute money, which should be avoided lest any “appearance of evil” be construed. City funds should cover inaugural events, with direct payment to “those vendors who rendered service, and not through any conduit,” continued Pearson. “And I mean by that, don’t send it through Operation New Birmingham, send it directly where it is intended to go.” “That’s what some of your legislators have done,” said Pearson. “There’s always the avenue of campaign funds being utilized to pay expenses of the nature referred to here. . . . All this other esoteric nonsense I’ve heard doesn’t make sense.”
Councilor Joel Montgomery noted that the Council had previously followed the advice of Patton regarding the reception. Montgomery suggested that perhaps Patton, who was Council administrator for over 20 years — and signed the original contract for the event — should foot the party bill. Montgomery added that he has refused many times to approve payment through the city custodial fund at ONB. He agreed with Pearson that the city is using ONB as a conduit to pay for food and other activities.
“You’re taking your citizens as fools, the same thing racketeers do,” said Pearson, unafraid to speak his mind. “You’re laundering money. It’s tainted all the way! If you owe somebody, pay ‘em direct. Don’t send it through the Devil!”
Commending the Commenders
Never one to miss an opportunity to laud the city for anything, the Birmingham City Council saluted the Vonetta Flowers Planning Day Committee. That’s right, the Council passed a resolution at the May 7 council meeting recognizing those who organized the city’s salute to Flowers in honor of her Olympic Gold Medal as a member of the two-women bobsled team. Each member of the group received a certificate and told the Council how moved they were to be able to honor the Olympian. Council President Loder calls the group a “dream volunteer team.” As the resolution’s sponsor, Councilor Bert Miller posed for photographs with the Planning Committee members and led a round of applause for Flowers because she was named “one of the most fiftiest most beautiful people in the world [sic]” by People magazine.
Auto Auction Prompts Questions
“Remember the day, folks . . . because it’s all going to come out in the wash,” Councilor Montgomery warned. The “day” in reference is the City Council’s approval of a redevelopment agreement with Serra Automotive. Birmingham will spend nearly $3 million to purchase land and make infrastructure improvements that will keep all Serra dealerships in the city for the next decade. The city expects to reap $8 million in tax revenues.Montgomery voted with other councilors several weeks earlier to endorse the plan, but when the May 28 vote to finalize the deal came up, the councilor protested vehemently. Montgomery’s change of heart was prompted by radio ads announcing that Serra Toyota was holding a used vehicle auction in Trussville. “Why would you be selling those automobiles there the weekend before you were fixing to enter into an agreement with the city of Birmingham to do business exclusively in the city of Birmingham?” Montgomery said after the meeting. “That raises the question in my mind as to where they think the true market is for their being able to sell the vehicles.”
Serra attorney Tom Baddley told the Council that the automobile dealer was holding auctions outside Birmingham because there was no available space near the dealership. Serra needs an area large enough to park 150 to 200 vehicles, according to Baddley, who said that auctions were also conducted in Irondale. Sales tax revenue goes to the municipality where the vehicle is delivered, according to city officials.
“If you want to do business in the city of Birmingham, we’ve got lots of parking lots,” Montgomery said to the Serra attorney. “What good is that [$8 million in projected revenues] gonna do us five years from now if they’re gone and we’ve got blank land sitting out there? We need to start trying to have businesses come to the city of Birmingham because they wanna be in the city of Birmingham . . . not because we’re having to pay them to stay here.”
Councilor Roderick Royal shared Montgomery’s concerns. “We want 100 percent of the revenues generated,” said Royal, who would like to see Serra hold auctions at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Huffman after it closes [a new Wal-Mart SuperCenter is currently scheduled for East Lake]. Serra attorney Baddley said that it was his understanding that an effort was being made to develop potential auction space in eastern Birmingham. “If [available area] is there and closer, Toyota would love to have their auctions in the city of Birmingham,” said Baddley, who added that automobile manufacturers approve auction sites. The attorney noted that the annexation agreement had not been signed, and that Serra was not yet in the city.
Should Serra violate the contract in an attempt to relocate, the city would be forced to go to court to recoup the $2.5 million it is paying the auto dealer. City attorneys said that the dealer’s right to conduct auctions outside the city could depend on how often they took place. &