City Hall — Langford Defends Visionland

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City Hall

 

Langford Defends Visionland


On March 15, Mayor Kincaid’s office released a report from the city’s financial advisor, the Swarthmore Group, that indicated financial hemorrhaging at Visionland. The subjective tone and sarcastic phrasing of the report caused quite a stir at city headquarters. The report questions the hiring and firing of park managers, alleged payments to Fairfield Mayor Larry Langford and Fairfield City Clerk Melvin Turner, and debilitating financial losses incurred in 1999. One conclusion reads “There’s more blood here than at the local Red Cross unit” and the park’s dreadful 1999 season is summarized as one of “Rape, Pillage, and Plunder.”

Swarthmore’s Dan Maze, the author of the report, told the Birmingham News that the wording was intended for effect. “I wanted somebody to continue to read it,” Maze said. “Did I go over the line? I don’t know.” The 1999 season saw attendance fall by a devastating 100,000, resulting in a net loss of $9.2 million, even though the minutes from the July 8, 1999, West Jefferson Amusement Park Joint Board meeting claimed, “All’s well at Visionland.” Among the original 13 board members were Langford [chairman], former Governor Fob James, Elmer Harris [retired president and CEO of Alabama Power], County Commissioner Betty Fine Collins, and former State Legislator Jimmy Butts, who was recently convicted of accepting bribes relating to business with Visionland. No one was accused of offering the bribe. Visionland was a sponsor of a NASCAR race car driven by Butts’ son, reportedly a $50,000 investment.

According to the Swarthmore report, the Board of Directors of the West Jefferson Amusement and Public Park Authority [WJAPPA], which was created by 11 surrounding municipalities to deliver financial assistance to Visionland during the beginning years, met biannually until July 1999. Because the board did not meet again until November 2001, observers wondered who approved the hiring of the Ogden Park Management Services in June 2000 for $750,000 a year. The Swarthmore report urged the city to support the park for another year, then recommended that the facility be sold.

The City Council convened a committee-of-the-whole meeting on March 21, approving payment of the $1 million currently owed to the amusement facility. Councilor Carol Reynolds, the lone “no” vote against paying the $1 million, had invited Larry Langford to address the council that afternoon. Langford said he did not attend the meeting to defend himself. He addressed what he termed “bogus reports” that he was being paid by the park, explaining that he was only reimbursed for expenses. Langford urged the council to ask to see the checks allegedly paid to him. “If I did what they said, call the attorney general and put me in jail. It’s a real simple thing.” Langford said there has been interest expressed in purchasing the park. “It was never intended for us to try and stay there and operate the park until hell freezes over,” Langford said as he explained that the intent had always been to sell the amusement park in “five or six years.”

Langford blamed much of the disastrous 1999 season on bad luck. “The problem was, we had 52 days of rain, and by the time it stopped raining, the heat index went to 110 degrees and stayed there for the rest of the summer.” He added that an E. coli breakout at amusement parks around the country that summer frightened away patrons. Langford reminded the Council that a $6 million ride malfunctioned the first day of its operation. “The park overall has done what we had hoped the park would do,” said Langford. The property purchased for the park at the time sold for $3,000 an acre. Today, property in the area goes for $250,000 to $300,000 an acre, according to Langford. He noted that 27 million people pass along Interstate 20/59 between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa yearly. “What we were trying to do was find a way to get people to stay here in Alabama for a couple of days and quit treating this state like a service station — come to get your gas and drive on through.”

“Our problem has been, how do you penetrate Jefferson County?” Langford said. He noted that if one out of every three county residents visited the park one time a year, in 10 years Visionland would be as large as Six Flags. “We can sell the park quicker with the park being open than if we closed it,” Langford said. He concluded by pointing out that Visionland had at least initiated “the first sign of real regional cooperation.”

Noise Ordinance

Councilor Joel Montgomery has had his fill of loud music booming from automobiles cruising past his District One home. “It’s killing me,” said Montgomery. The noise also shakes “the front door of St. John’s United Methodist Church, where I worship on Sundays,” Montgomery adds with obvious disgust.

So the councilor decided it was time to tweak city codes addressing noise abatement. The present noise ordinance is considered unenforceable, according to Birmingham Police Chief Mike Coppage. Requirements that Birmingham police use decibel meters to gauge volume levels makes it difficult to catch a perpetrator in the act. By the time police arrive, the offending noise has been turned down. There are only about a dozen decibel meters at present for the entire force, adding to the difficulty of enforcing the law. Coppage explains that the only way to consistently deal with the problem is to have complainants sign arrest warrants against noise level violators, yet most are reluctant to do so because they fear retaliation or future harassment.

As Public Safety chairperson, Montgomery collected noise ordinances from various states and municipalities in search of a model for Birmingham’s code. He found his answer in Kansas, where a state noise code explicitly addresses vehicle stereos. “This is the first step to revising our noise ordinance as a whole,” promises Montgomery. Changes in city noise laws will only affect vehicles. Other sections of the overall noise ordinance will remain intact until they can be addressed at future Public Safety Committee meetings.

“This is going to free the police officer. If he hears somebody within a distance of 35 feet, in an automobile rumbling, this is going to be his discretion as to whether or not he can write that individual a fine,”

Montgomery explained. No decibel meter will be needed. “To me there’s no difference in this and if you were writing somebody a speeding ticket and you had no radar device in the car. You’re still taking the police officer’s word against the operator’s word.” The new law stipulates that discernable noise heard by other vehicle passengers within 10 feet of an automobile or 35 feet for those in buildings will be considered a violation.

Montgomery emphasizes that he has no problem with what anybody listens to “as long as I don’t have to hear it. And I certainly don’t want to hear it when I’m lying in my bed.”

Councilor Montgomery originally suggested a minimum hearing range of 50 feet from a building with regards to a passing vehicle stereo, but Chief Coppage asked for a compromise. “I think that the 50-foot limit is a little bit gracious,” said Coppage, who suggested a 25-foot minimum. Captain Roy Williams of the Birmingham Police Department estimates he could write up to 50 tickets a day just on the volume of music in cars in traffic. “Sometimes I can’t even hear my radio,” Williams says.

The ordinance must be reviewed by the city’s Law Department, then voted on by the Birmingham City Council. Penalties will not exceed $500 or more than six months imprisonment or both.

“This is really trite,” said Councilor Reynolds. “But what about the popsicle man? Will he be required to have a permit to play his music?” Chief Coppage said that he would have to consult the legal department about the popsicle man. Coppage stressed that the ordinance is aimed at “boom boxes” that shake cars and rattle houses when they drive past. “To me, that is minimal compared to the fighter jets going overhead,” Reynolds said, referring to noise pollution at her home near the Birmingham Airport where an Alabama Air Guard is housed. She explains that she is simply trying to find a realistic way of enforcement “without creating a police state.”

The ordinance will include exemptions for emergency and public safety vehicles, vehicles used by municipal utility companies, sanitation trucks, and vehicles used in authorized public activities such as parades, fireworks displays, sports events, and musical productions.

“Praise the Lord!” Montgomery noted with a smile when he read the sentence addressing limits on “bass reverberations,” surmising, “One day noise pollution will be as much of an issue as air pollution.”

The Cause That Refreshes

A few weeks after Council President Lee Loder chastised Councilor Gwen Sykes for allowing a Highland Avenue coffee shop [which supplied the Council with pastries] to plug itself during cable television broadcasts of meetings, Coca-Cola got in on the action. After presenting the city with $100,000 towards the restoration of Vulcan, Coca-Cola United President and CEO Claude Nielsen accepted accolades from the Council commemorating the soft drink’s 100th anniversary. Coca-Cola’s humble beginnings were nothing more than “one mule, one employee, and we delivered 18 cases of Coca-Cola,” said Nielsen. “Next year, in this community, we will sell over eight million cases of Coca-Cola.” The CEO expressed appreciation for the “opportunity to refresh each of you every day. You can count on us for at least another hundred years of refreshing this city.” In honor of the anniversary, six-pack cartons featuring the Birmingham skyline and a rendering of Vulcan were presented to each councilor. Loder held a carton so the TV cameras could get a close-up as Councilor Carole Smitherman laughed, “Everything goes better with Coke!” &

City Hall — Public access

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City Hall

Public access

Council committee-of-the-whole meetings are informal gatherings designed for councilors to hash out problems around the intimacy of a conference table. Though open to the public, they are held in a conference room where space is often limited, prompting occasional gripes from residents who can’t squeeze in. Occasionally, there are demands to move hot-button issues to the council chambers. At a recent Council meeting, Councilor Joel Montgomery mentioned that some of his constituents have recently complained about discussion concerning the Water Works assets battle being held at committee-of-the-whole meetings. Montgomery noted that Tuesday council meetings frequently include only a brief synopsis of what happened in committee-of-the-whole meetings. “I think the public deserves to see what goes on as far as the discussions in the committee-of-the-whole,” observed Montgomery. At that same Council meeting, Councilor Gwen Sykes suggested that committee-of-the-whole meetings be televised when addressing an issue with the magnitude of the Water Works debate. Council President Lee Loder explained that any item can be put on the council agenda if it is added by the Wednesday prior to the Tuesday council meeting. Defending the council’s open operating procedure, Loder said “I think this is one of the most open City Councils in the history of this city. We make every effort to do press releases and notify the public on everything.” Stressing that “‘convenience’ and ‘open’ are two entirely different things,” Loder added, “it probably costs more to be in here [council chambers] and have all the lights on. There are a lot of practical concerns why you wouldn’t want to use a big facility just because we have it.” Councilor Roderick Royal agreed that the “public should be completely aware of how the Council is deliberating.” Though noting that media are sometimes “slanted” because they “report whatever they like,” Royal said that at least three media representatives have been present at each committee-of-the-whole meeting he has attended. But he supports bringing such meetings into the council chamber should consensus dictate. “I’ll sit right here and say what I would have said [in conference rooms]!” Councilor Carole Smitherman echoed Loder’s comments that anything can be brought up on the council dais if it’s submitted in time. “I don’t meet in no smokey back rooms,” laughed Smitherman. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that we’re doing something in the back.”

Citizens Advisory Board supports night council meetings

At its February 18 meeting, the Citizens Advisory Board approved a resolution urging the City Council to conduct at least two meetings per month at night. Councilor Gwen Sykes first proposed evening meetings immediately after her election in November 2001, explaining that night gatherings would be “more representative of our community.” Council President Loder acknowledged that several councilors had expressed interest in holding a series of evening meetings as the previous council had done, which included one per month until each district had played host. Several surrounding municipalities, including Mt. Brook, Hoover, and Vestavia, meet at night.

Council reverses decision

At the February 26 City Council meeting, a trucking and excavating company located near the airport sought rezoning from “residential” to “light industrial.” There are only three homes in the neighborhood (“The trucks look better than most of the houses there,” bragged the trucking company boss.) Such rezoning would be an example of “spot zoning,” considered by many to be a political liability and a threat to residential stability. Councilor Carol Reynolds said the homes around the airport should be purchased due to airport expansion, and supports rezoning the area to commercial in this case. Sykes agreed with Reynolds that the airport neighborhood is different because it will always be threatened by blight due to airport expansion. Admitting that spot zoning is not encouraged, Councilor Carole Smitherman said that business is encouraged. Smitherman voted in support of the rezoning along with Councilors Reynolds, Miller, and Hendricks. Oddly, Sykes abstained. Councilor Montgomery refused to approve spot zoning in the airport neighborhood, fearing it would set a precedent allowing spot zoning in other neighborhoods.

During the following week, Council President Loder met with the city attorney, city clerk, and council administrator after investigating the accuracy of his previous decision, which stated that the four votes approving the rezoning did not constitute a majority of the nine voting members present [Three councilors voted "no" and two abstained]. Citing Roberts Rules of Order, the parliamentary guide for council conduct, Loder corrected his earlier stance that “abstention” votes are included in a total when seeking a majority. The denial of rezoning will be changed to approval of rezoning at the next council meeting after a vote to finalize the switch.

Loder elaborated that Council Administrator Jarvis Patton stated that there may be an “unwritten rule, at least by past practice, that the [previous] council has counted abstentions as actual votes,” said Loder. However, Loder said he would follow Roberts Rules of Order. Councilor Sykes asks the million dollar question: Could the previous council procedures regarding voting supersede present council procedure in a legal challenge?

Loder insisted he will follow Roberts Rules of Order unless he is shown otherwise. “Education is a wonderful thing,” said Councilor Smitherman. Lavishing praise on Loder for researching and correcting the procedural mistake, Smitherman asked everyone to give the Council President a round of applause. All complied with Smitherman’s request.

Police cars to be monitored

Computers similar to the “black boxes” used on aircraft will be placed in police patrol cars at a total cost of $199,000. According to Police Chief Mike Coppage, the boxes “chart the driving habits of the individual officer so that the supervisor can sit down with that officer and explain to him his good points and his bad points.” Over-revving, over-braking, speeding, and operation of sirens and blue lights will be monitored. Funding comes from a federal technology grant, according to Coppage.

Twenty patrol vehicles have recently been tested in the west precinct. The police chief noted that none of them were wrecked in the five months each carried the computer, a driving record that he called “absolutely fantastic.” Also onboard is an automatic vehicle-locator, capable of printing out a map of where the patrol car has been. “It’s also a management tool,” smiled Coppage. “If we happen to pull up that same map and find that we’ve got six police cars parked down at Krispy Kreme, then we want to know about that, too.” Public Safety Committee chairman Joel Montgomery marveled at the driving record that resulted from the computer enhanced patrol cars, asking, “Could I get one in my wife’s vehicle?” &

Gone in Sixty Seconds

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Gone in Sixty Seconds


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Who else but racing legend Mario Andretti could balance an IMAX camera on an Indy car traveling at 230 miles-per-hour? It’s all part of the filming involved in the new IMAX film, Super Speedway, at the McWane Center.

Speed demon Mario Andretti is the epitome of the handsome, charming race car driver. The most versatile champion in racing history, Andretti has won in Indy cars, stock cars, high-tech Formula I racers, sprint cars, and 24-hour endurance racing. Adding a Hollywood flourish, the Italian racer with the Tony Bennett-good looks drove for a team owned by actor and fellow driver Paul Newman.

Now, highly-acclaimed IMAX director Stephen Low gives audiences the rare opportunity to experience Andretti’s 230-mile-per-hour perspective. For Southerners open-minded enough to check out racing other than the NASCAR sort, the McWane Center’s IMAX Theatre will feature the documentary Super Speedway for a five-month run beginning Saturday, March 23. Indy cars are faster and quicker than stock cars, and their wheel-to-wheel, tension-fueled battles are breathtaking. The half-million dollar automobiles pull four G’s in the turns, and create enough suction to jerk manhole covers from streets on road course surfaces (covers are welded to the street for road races).

Andretti was lured out of semi-retirement to pilot an Indy race car fitted with an IMAX camera whose aerodynamically intrusive bulk raised concerns that the car would fail to reach top speeds. Refusing to participate unless filming was done under true racing conditions, the veteran driver put those doubts to rest when he hit 240 miles per hour. “You never really know what’s going to happen until you dive into a corner at over 200 miles per hour, because otherwise these cars don’t react,” says Andretti, describing the aerodynamic forces that drivers challenge in order to find the perfect balance between risk and opportunity. Testing a new car is a daring, unpredictable venture. “You don’t have the sense of what this animal is going to do,” Andretti comments. “These things can bite.” Initially, the camera would shut off when speeds hit 210 miles per hour because of “harmonic vibrations killing the electronics in the camera,” according to Andretti. Filming took place during practice sessions prior to each of four different races during the 1996 season, documenting Mario’s son Michael Andretti’s quest for the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) championship. Mario Andretti was in control of switching the camera on and off, and it was up to him to find the best shots.

A second story line develops when an automobile restorer finds a 1964 Dean Van Line Special Roadster in an abandoned chicken coop in Indiana. It’s the same car that Mario Andretti drove at the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Restoration continues throughout the movie until Andretti is reunited with the reconditioned sparkling white and chrome Roadster at the film’s end. Vintage footage depicts races from earlier days, including an ample number of dramatic crashes to emphasize the risks drivers take.

The film transcends the titillating boundaries of in-car race cameras that project drivers’ perspectives during Sunday afternoon telecasts. Both Mario and Michael Andretti were amazed at the realism of IMAX racing. “With an on-board video camera, you don’t really get a true picture of what’s going on,” explains Mario. “This IMAX stuff will keep you on the edge of your seat because everything is happening the way the drivers see it.”

Super Speedway will be shown at the McWane Center March 23 through August 30. For more information, call 714-8300.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll

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Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll


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Nashville Rebel: Waylon Jennings, 1937-2002.

Waylon Jennings was addicted, no question about it. Skipping meals and going for days without a bath, Jennings spent hours wallowing in self-absorbed, hedonistic pleasure as bells rang and colors flashed before his eyes. Life was getting out of hand. He’d drive all night after a show in Louisiana just so he could wrap his fingers around his favorite Nashville pinball machine. His habit eventually reached $35,000 a year — in quarters.

Jennings’ childhood in Texas epitomized the drama of country songs. He picked cotton from dusk to dawn, his mother openly wept every time she heard Roy Acuff sing “Wreck on the Highway,” and an alcoholic uncle regularly consumed grapefruit juice with brake fluid. Jennings was an outlaw long before his music was literally marketed as such. Refusing to conform to ideals defined by the Nashville music establishment, Jennings grew his hair long and boycotted the Grand Ole Opry for 10 years because the show did not allow performers to use a full set of drums. His disdain for the music industry took root in his teens when he played with his Texas pal Buddy Holly. Jennings gave up his seat on the doomed airplane that killed Holly, J. P. Richardson [the Big Bopper], and Richie Valens. Holly had teased Jennings about being afraid to fly to the next show 400 miles away, laughing that he hoped the bus Jennings and others were traveling on would freeze. Jennings replied, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.” Guilt and remorse about the remark haunted him for years.

The promoter found a local teen who had won a talent show to fill in for Buddy Holly the night of his death. Jennings was convinced to play the show with assurance that he would be flown home to Texas the next day for Holly’s funeral. The flight home never materialized, and the tour proceeded for another three months across the Midwest. At tour’s end, Jennings received only half of what he had agreed to play for; promoters had short-changed the musicians since the stars had been unable to appear.

Jennings revolutionized music, creating an irreverent blend of country and rock ‘n’ roll that introduced a generation of drug-addled hippies to a warped version of 1950s cowboy singers Roy Rogers and Tex Ritter. Music critics branded the sound “Outlaw.” A string of duets with Willie Nelson, including “Good-Hearted Woman,” “Luckenbach, Texas,” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” drew an audience that Nashville had failed to snare with its marketing of “folk-country.” In truth, Jennings had never set foot in Luckenbach, and absolutely detested the song because he thought it sounded too much like “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.”

“I left all my ex-wives. They didn’t leave me,” Jennings bragged in his autobiography. “I went through my marriages like Grant went through Richmond.” The singer boasted that all of Hank Williams, Sr.’s, ex-wives had hit on him, and claimed to have often had several women in one night, hiding them on different floors of the same hotel. Jennings even tried to pick up newscaster Jane Pauley when she interviewed him on NBC’s “Today Show.”

Getting high became a way of life for Waylon Jennings. The Telecaster Cowboy, as he often referred to himself, ate a couple dozen amphetamines a day for 15 years, citing Johnny Cash, Roger Miller, and himself as “world champion pill-takers.” Loretta Lynn used to walk Jennings around the dressing room when he got too high before a show. A friend finally convinced him to take up cocaine to kick the pills. Over the next decade, Jennings spent $1,500 a day feeding his cocaine habit. He ignored a White House meeting with President Jimmy Carter to do drugs with a Washington Redskins football hero, and he shared his cocaine with members of the Oakland Raiders at halftime while the Raiders were trailing the Chiefs 6-0 during the Kenny Stabler years. The Raiders scored 54 points in the second half to win. Jennings played poker and drank beer with Mother Maybelle Carter, introduced Nashville to the 12-string electric guitar, narrated The Dukes of Hazzard (“I aimed the narration at children and it made it work”), and once had a run-in with Grace Slick while filming a television special, calling her a communist for her criticism of America.

In 1984, he took his fourth wife, Jessi Colter, to Arizona, where the couple leased a house in the desert so that Jennings could end his years of cocaine addiction. Jennings, forever the outlaw, kicked the drug his own unique way. Stashing $20,000 worth of coke on his tour bus parked in the driveway of his temporary desert home in case the cocaine urge got too strong, Jennings quit cold turkey. One of his favorite anti-drug quotes was from former boss Chet Atkins at RCA, Jennings’ record company for over 20 years. “You’ve only got so many beats in your heart. Why shorten the number?” &

City Hall — Council overrides Kincaid’s judicial preference

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City Hall

Council overrides Kincaid’s judicial preference

After voting for Agnes Chappell to replace controversial Judge Carnella Greene Norman as Municipal Court judge, Councilor Valerie Abbott said her choice was “the most difficult decision I’ve had to make since I’ve been on this council because we had such highly qualified candidates.” In a 5-4 vote that surprised City Hall observers, Chappell beat Community Development head Etta Dunning, Mayor Bernard Kincaid’s choice to follow Norman. Chappell had 18 years experience as a Family Court senior referee, where she heard 250 cases a week in her role making recommendations to the presiding judge. “In the end it came down to the person who had experience as a judge already,” said Abbott, who called the decision “agonizing.”

Councilor Carol Reynolds, who supported Dunning, also struggled to make up her mind. “I listened to the people within our community as to their recommendations,” Reynolds said, noting that she kept a tally sheet by her home telephone to keep up with constituents’ suggestions. Councilor Roderick Royal, who voted for Chappell, was bothered that none of the seven finalists for the judicial post live in Birmingham. Councilors Lee Loder, Carole Smitherman, and Elias Hendricks also voted for Chappell.

After the vote, Kincaid said that the Council’s choice was their prerogative. “If they’ll stay out of my business, I’ll stay out of theirs,” the Mayor laughed at the narrow defeat. Kincaid preferred Dunning because she had been director of Community Development and is very aware of community issues. Kincaid added that Dunning’s community development experience would make her the “ideal person” for presiding over the Environmental Court. The Mayor admitted he would be curious to know how Family Court would function after replacing Chappell.

Council approves controversial $5 million to UAB

UAB’s proposed $90 million, 12-story biomedical research center has caused some councilors to question the city’s priorities. Citing UAB as the leading employer in the city, Mayor Kincaid has defended the research center due to expected gains in occupational tax coffers through the research facility’s creation of 1,400 jobs. The economic impact should flourish in other areas as well, according to Kincaid. “It replicates itself in terms of economic benefit,” the Mayor explained, pointing to an increase in license fees and job opportunities at restaurants and other businesses affected by the opening of the center.

On February 19, the Birmingham City Council voted to approve appropriating $5 million for the project, with the first of five $1 million installments due in September. Councilor Joel Montgomery had voiced support for a February 12 resolution of intent, [the resolution aids the university's solicitation of other funding sources] but requested from the Mayor’s office projections of revenue benefits to the city against the $5 million investment before making up his mind to approve the money. A week later Montgomery had decided to oppose the funding until neighborhoods and schools got their share of the financial pie. Montgomery called UAB a “vital partner,” but quickly added, “We also have another vital partner in this city, and it’s the people of the city of Birmingham.” The councilor is concerned about diminishing population numbers, stressing that the city must invest in its neighborhoods to halt the flight from the city. “You do not start building a house with the roof. You start with the foundation.”

Councilor Gwen Sykes requested an audience with UAB officials so that the Council could “become even more of a partner in this venture.” Sykes’ request for more discussion irritated Councilor Hendricks, who noted that UAB officials had met with councilors at both Finance Committee and Economic Development Committee meetings. Chastising fellow councilors, Hendricks railed about the unfairness of councilors’ suggestions to the public that no dialogue has taken place. Sykes angrily voiced displeasure regarding implications that there is “lying” on the Council. Declaring that it was impossible for her to attend the meetings Hendricks referenced, Sykes maintained that she is “not a liar” and remains “in touch” with the public regardless of her attendance record at committee meetings. Sykes stated that the Council needs to examine every way that UAB “spreads its money as it relates to contracts and services throughout the city of Birmingham.”

Insisting that he is neither “a financial wizard nor a genius,” Councilor Royal reiterated his support for the resolution of intent supporting UAB funding, but points out that on January 18, the city could not “ante up” a million dollars for Huffman High to complete its construction of a gymnasium. If the city could not find a million dollars a month ago, why could the city find a million for UAB now, Royal asked. He added that the funding of the biomedical research center is “a little dishonest” as it relates to the schools. The councilor preferred that the UAB funding be included in the July 2002-2003 budget. Royal defended certain councilors’ refusal to fund the research center with a philosophical one-liner: “If all of us are thinking alike, then no one is thinking.” Royal also expressed displeasure with Hendricks’ scolding. “I take special exception to chastising of the council people.”

Councilor Reynolds wanted to see a list of the subcontractors employed by the top 20 white-owned businesses dealing with UAB. “We need to know if they are getting work to minorities or if these dollars are leaving town,” Reynolds inquired before yielding the remainder of her time to Kamau Afrika, a critic of UAB’s minority contracts practices.

“We must not have a continuation of ‘Uncle Tom’ politics as we had with your predecessors,” objected Afrika to councilors. “That’s why we put you in office.” Afrika continued: “The Summit had $12 million in land preparation but no minority participation at all. You had Mexicans doing the work.” Afrika repeated that it is wrong for UAB to hire “illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America” instead of local black residents. &

 

Bonding At City Hall

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Bonding At City Hall

By Ed Reynolds

Mayor Bernard Kincaid threw a curve ball at the City Council January 29 when he notified councilors that a proposed April 9 bond referendum needed preclearance from the U.S. Justice Department. Because the Justice Department must receive the ordinance detailing categories and spending of the bond referendum no less than 60 days before the scheduled vote, the Council was forced to act on the ordinance by February 5. Councilors made little attempt to hide their irritation with the rush. Councilor Smitherman was “very disturbed” by the sudden haste to finalize bond categories and amounts to be spent in each. When pressed by Smitherman for an explanation of why he did not know about the deadline sooner, Kincaid said that previous bond referendums did not require Justice Department preclearance. The city knew that the school board election needed preclearance because it is a new issue, but was reportedly caught off-guard by the bond referendum notification. [Because the bond vote is being held as a special election, preclearance is needed.]

Both Councilors Smitherman and Abbott were concerned about the status of the remaining town hall meetings, which allow residents to provide input on bond money spending. Kincaid noted that each district will have had one town hall meeting before the council finalizes the bond’s spending categories. Abbott’s first meeting, though, was held the night before the Council had to confirm the ordinance, and she is concerned that her constituents might feel betrayed. “We’re always being rushed to do something without much time to consider what we’re doing.”

A rare Sunday meeting was called for the Council to determine where bond money should be allocated. The starting time of the meeting flip-flopped, with Council President Loder desiring a mid-afternoon meeting so he could catch up on his sleep, while Councilor Bert Miller wanted to begin early so he wouldn’t miss the Super Bowl. Miller won.

Though the potential of a Mayor-Council showdown seemed high, the Sunday session went smoothly. Mayor Kincaid agreed to include funding for education in the bond referendum, pleasing Councilor Roderick Royal, who wants money for schools until the $260 million from the Birmingham Water Works currently tied up in litigation becomes available. Royal and the majority of the Council also lobbied heavily for street and sewer improvement. Councilor Hendricks preferred that the focus be on long-term investment, stressing economic development and cultural needs. Councilor Smitherman disagreed, saying that sewer problems, which have led to flooding in her district, were her priority. The councilor suggested that improvements to streets and sewers are the type of projects that will encourage voters to get behind the referendum.

Streets, sewers, and schools were the big winners, receiving the largest boosts following the Sunday meeting. The entire $125 million bond fund is drawn incrementally to avoid paying interest. An amount that can be floated without raising taxes — $50 million — is borrowed first. The city can then borrow the balance in the future as the debt is reduced.