Guns On Parade

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Guns On Parade

January 18, 2001

On a peaceful Saturday morning, the stories swapped among the men lounging in the front room of Saint Joseph’s Baptist Church had a common theme: the feeling of helplessness that comes from staring down the barrel of a .357 Magnum. Reverend Abraham Woods, pastor of Saint Joseph’s, recalled a face-to-face confrontation with a shaking, gun-wielding teen robbing a convenience store that Woods had entered to purchase a soda. As the sweating assailant held a gun on Woods, the Reverend started to tell the robber who he was in hopes that the kid would surrender-not a good idea. “He was too nervous for an introduction,” Woods recalled with a chuckle. Frank Matthews, community activist and radio talk show host, nodded his head and laughed as he recalled the night he and his dinner companions were locked in a freezer at Shoneys while the restaurant was being robbed. “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life,” confessed Matthews.

The scene was Saint Joseph’s annual gun buy-back, held each January on the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration. Sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, along with area churches and businesses, the weapons swap pays people up to $50 cash in exchange for a weapon. At Birmingham’s first gun buy-back in 1994, 411 guns were collected in 90 minutes-a national record according to Matthews. This year, a steady flow of gun-toting citizens waited patiently outside the church door, which was kept locked at all times. Inside, a Birmingham police officer from the Tactical Operational Unit checked to make sure the guns were not loaded. The officer had already emptied bullets from two pistols by mid-morning.

Frank Matthews, a former gang member who was arrested 33 times before he was 19, but who now goes by the moniker “God’s Gangster,” was designated “gun appraiser and negotiator.” Matthews studied each piece quickly, offering $10 to $20 for most of the surrendered weapons. While many people were happy to get what they could for their guns, one elderly gentleman, dissatisfied with Matthew’s $15 offer, said he would hang onto his .12 gauge double-barreled shotgun. Matthews warned him not to leave the gun laying around his home because his grandchildren might get hurt. “I ain’t got no grandkids!” the disgruntled fellow shouted as he left. “We got a couple of Uzis, and that’s a blessing,” sighed a middle-aged woman as she jotted down the serial numbers of surrendered weapons. Behind her was a long table covered with rifles, pistols, and the pair of coveted Uzis. “This is the gun of choice,” said Matthews, holding up an Uzi [also known as a "street sweeper"] as he repeatedly pulled out, then reinserted, the gun’s clip with considerable dexterity. “When a gang gets hold of an Uzi, it does something to the identity of the gang. Gives them more status,” explained Matthews. One of the Uzis fetched $30, while a .357 Magnum brought $35, the highest pay out of the morning.

A woman in a Betty Boop sweatshirt turned in her .38 Special because “the permit had expired, and I don’t want it no more.” A visibly uncomfortable man handed Matthews a .300 Winchester Magnum. “That’s a terrible gun, isn’t it?” noted Reverend Woods. “You could almost hold off an army with that thing.”

Another woman arrived with a gun-wielding tot. “I’m bringin’ in my little boy. He’s already killed 10 people this morning,” she laughed, as the four year-old aimed his plastic pistol and imitated gunfire at everyone in sight. The kid surrendered his weapon to Reverend Woods, who gave him a glimmering locomotive engine in exchange. “Toy guns and play weapons of destruction; we must do something about the terrible romance people develop with guns at an early age,” noted Woods who shook his head at the pile of approximately 60 weapons collected at the church. “It’s a meaningful way to pay tribute to Dr. King. He was the ‘apostle of nonviolence.’ We are our brother’s keeper, but he’d be appalled to find that many of us have become our brother’s killer.”

City Hall — December 19, 2000

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City Hall

January 04, 2001

December 19, 2000

Facing the dozen or so Birmingham Water Works employees attending this morning’s Council meeting to voice support for the return of the region’s water system assets to the Birmingham Water Works Board, Councilor Jimmy Blake expresses disbelief when Water Works employees are requesting that the city “not hold our assets hostage.” Blake promptly reminds the employees that the Water Works assets belong to all the people of Birmingham and are one of the most valuable assets the citizens have. Blake characterizes the employees’ gushing praise of the Water Works Board management as “naive,” and reminds everyone in the council chambers that not too long ago the Water Board wanted to turn the Water Works assets over to the city. He urges Water Works employees to avoid being used as “tools [of the Water Works Board]” and not to allow themselves to be “fooled.” Blake warns the public that the Water Board is a “highly politicized organization that used strong-armed tactics to get a resolution through this Council to essentially take the assets of the citizens out of the control of the city.” He further condemns the Water Board because it “has not been honest with the people of this city on a hundred different occasions,” according to Blake. Councilor Sandra Little shouts “Point of order!” as she tells Council President Pro Tem Aldrich Gunn, presiding over the meeting in Council President William Bell’s absence, that Blake is out of line because no one from the Water Works Board is present to defend themselves. As Gunn tries to hush Blake, the outspoken councilor shouts to the Water Works employees present, “Don’t be fools or tools!”

The Central Park Chargers 115-pound youth football team is present this morning to be honored for winning the national youth football championship in Daytona Beach, Florida. Central Park is a “split district,” divided by Councilors Little and Lee Loder, who have a few words of praise. “Thank you to this great football team!” Councilor Little tells the kids as she glows with pride. She urges everyone to support the Central Park league, emphasizing the improved conditions of the Central Park playing field due to recent upgrading from the Parks and Recreation Board. [Little is chairperson of the Parks and Recreation, and Arts Committee.] As a testament to the improved safety of the neighborhood, Little notes that she recently contributed money from her district discretionary fund to “secure the concession stand [at the football field] with burglar bars.”

Councilor Little complains to Mayor Kincaid about big trucks roaring down South Park Road next to the South Park Apartments, which are located in her district. “There are some 18-wheelers that’s going through there pretty fast, and we’ve been having this problem for about a couple of years,” says Little. The councilor notes that the addition of speed-breakers is not allowed, as such drastic measures to automatically slow automobiles and trucks would hinder emergency vehicles. Little says that she studied other city traffic dilemmas at seminars conducted at the League of Cities conference she and several other Birmingham city councilors recently attended in Boston [at last, evidence of something productive emerging from the notorious League of Cities conferences that councilors jet to at taxpayers' expense], and suggests erecting stop signs in place of speed-breakers to slow traffic flow.

John Garrett, head of the Traffic Engineering Department, tells Councilor Little, “Stop signs are not really intended as a speed control device. Their main purpose is to assign the right-of-way at intersections.” Garrett promises to look at the intersections along South Park to search out speed control methods that “might have an impact on those trucks.” Little cites the South Bessemer Housing Community as an example of stop signs in the middle of streets to slow traffic flow. Explaining that the use of stop signs at any location on a street other than an intersection is an “inappropriate use of a stop sign,” Garrett says the suggestion “would not comply with the national standards and things that we’re supposed to comply with.” Little argues that there are areas that do incorporate such stop sign practice, citing the aforementioned south Bessemer public housing [Little initially refers to the Bessemer community neighborhood as "the projects," but quickly switches the reference to "public housing."]. Acknowledging certain exceptions to stop sign placement, Garrett recognizes certain “public housing and private roads.” He quickly adds, “And with all due respects to Bessemer, they do not have a professional staff [laughs] of the type that Birmingham does.”

A resolution authorizing Mayor Kincaid to enter into a $150,000 contract with the Birmingham Construction Industry Authority [BCIA] to provide comprehensive assistance and certification of minority and disadvantaged businesses and enterprises is on today’s agenda. The encouragement of career opportunities for minority and disadvantaged students will be also be included through scholarships. Councilor Blake wants “somebody to define the terms minority’ and disadvantaged,’” a request that prompts Councilor Sandra Little to laugh uncontrollably. Council President Pro Tem Gunn smiles at Blake and says, “In this case, that’s you.” Sandra Little laughs even harder as Gunn continues his explanation to Blake: “You’re a minority on this Council. But you’re not disadvantaged. Disadvantaged is me when I get out into the public. I’m a minority when I get out into the circle of the world if, you want to talk about definitions and everything.”

At one time Birmingham had a program in place that set aside 20 percent of all city construction work for ethnic groups, most of which went to blacks, according to Mayor Kincaid. The Associated General Contractors filed and won a lawsuit against the city over the program. As a result, the city implemented the Birmingham Plan, a volunteer effort by general contractors to assist minority businesses and enterprises in securing subcontracting work. The BCIA coordinates the volunteer program.

Acknowledging that he understands the program, Blake responds: “My objection is this. We all are talking about pledges to end racism. And when we pass a law that is for the specific benefit of a particular race or gender group, we are perpetuating racism. We are flying in the face of that pledge [Birmingham Pledge] as it relates to racism.” Blake also questions restricting scholarships to students based on race. Mayor Kincaid replies, “You might not like what it stands for. You might not like the fact that it has a genesis in race. But it is the law.” Councilor Blake questions the propriety of citizens financing the program, to which an angry Kincaid answers, “Yes [they should], because understand this [speaking to Blake]. This city is 73 percent African-American by race, and blacks don’t get a fair share of the building!”

The vote is taken, with Blake voting “No” while the other two white councilors, MacDermott and Johnson, abstain. Council President Pro Tem Gunn resoundingly votes approval, practically shouting “Yes, to the second power!” Councilor Blake asks Gunn, “What kind of a vote is that, Mr. Pro Tem? A Florida vote?” &

City Hall — December 5, 2000

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City Hall

December 21, 2000December 5, 2000

No City Council meeting.

December 12, 2000

Accompanied by a sheep named “Timmy,” Patty Pendleton of the Birmingham Zoo makes her annual visit to the council chambers to promote Zoolight Safari, the yearly Christmas extravaganza staged nightly at the zoo, featuring “half a million lights,” according to Pendleton. Before she is through with her presentation, the number of Yuletide lights will grow to a “million.”

Mayor Kincaid announces an increase over last year in the number of riders taking advantage of the city’s expanded holiday bus service. According to Kincaid, the first week saw a 16 percent increase from 1999, the second week a 74 percent increase, and the third week a 43 percent increase in ridership. He thanks the Council for approving appropriation for the extended night and weekend service.

Calling the morning invocation “fascinating,” Councilor Jimmy Blake questions “whether it’s appropriate for us to have an invocation that invokes the Lord’s actions on behalf of one political agenda or another political agenda.” Blake tells Council President Bell that if this trend, which he notes is a frequent feature of weekly meeting invocations, continues, “we will need to start having equal time in invocations,” an idea that Blake frowns upon, as he encourages nonpartisan prayers. Councilor Aldrich Gunn replies that no one should determine “how one talks to his God, whether it’s spoken in the closet or uttered through the tongue.” Gunn further suggests that critics of council meeting prayers are employing selective listening techniques. Gunn finishes his response to Blake by noting, “If you know the prayers that some of us have had to pray, you would never understand it.”

The Council’s approval of an off-premise beer and wine license at Dee’s World in Pratt City commands a great portion of the morning half of today’s Council session. Sylvester Benson and his sister Donna, the store’s owners, are present with a petition containing “over a hundred names of people that are for the convenience store having off-premises beer and wine,” according to Sylvester Benson. He notes that he and his sister recently presented their proposal at a Pratt City community meeting, where they lost by a vote of 12 to 7. Moments after the vote, eight supporters of the convenience store beer and wine license walked into the meeting, but the Pratt City community president “refused to grant a second recount,” says Benson, staring into the eyes of councilors as he utters the word “recount.” Benson also has his mom in tow, and she offers up a handsome endorsement of her kids to the Council. Councilor Leroy Bandy, who immediately notes that the store is in his neighborhood, does not want the license granted. Bandy’s list of problems over the past several years within the store’s vicinity includes “gang members on the corner, drive-by shootings, shooting into people’s homes.” The councilor notes that when the store previously closed, questionable activity in the neighborhood settled down. “Sure, they [Pratt City residents] welcome a store. They welcome milk and bread. Honey. But why does everybody wanna sell beer and wine?” Bandy wonders, noting that he has lived in the area for 53 years. An angry Sylvester Benson responds, “I’ve been living in Pratt City all my life, also. And I know from standing here, you can’t say beer and wine caused the shootings in that area.” His sister Donna and his mom nod their heads vigorously in agreement. “It was the drugs and narcotics in that area which caused all the problems over there,” says Sylvester Benson. He further testifies that the neighborhood community president that denied his “second recount” had her house fired upon because her “son-in-law was a big-time drug dealer in that area!” Several councilors shout “Point of order” to hush Benson. Councilor Bandy becomes even angrier, asking in a scolding tone. “What are you gonna put wine and beer on top of drugs for? This is what I’m saying, young man.” Bandy begins to move his hands in a churning motion, his eyes growing wider as he surmises, “When you mix all that stuff up together. . . . Boom! There it is!” Benson replies that other businesses in the immediate area sell beer and wine without incident. The Bensons’ mom suddenly intervenes. “My son is a corrections officer. We do not condone drugs!” she proudly notes. The Council votes to postpone making a decision on the license for eight weeks, urging the Bensons to patch things up with the neighborhood and its maligned president.

The Council votes down the approval of an additional $1 million to the city’s Law Department to cover outside attorney fees. The $1.2 million the Council approved in the budget for fiscal year 2000-2001 was less than half of what had been allocated to the Law Department in past budgets, according to City Attorney Tamara Johnson. Councilor Little requests that invoices for outside attorney fees be submitted to the Council in order for the money to be allocated. Councilor Blake proposes that “the hiring of outside attorneys should be the exception, not the rule.” Blake requests the “specific purpose” of any necessary outside legal aid be clarified by Mayor Kincaid and City Attorney Johnson. Councilor Blake also asks that a cost estimation over a limited, specified period of time be included in such explanations. If more money is needed, then the Council could be petitioned for additional funds on a specific basis, according to Blake. Mayor Kincaid jumps in to remind Blake that $1 million was removed from his 2000-2001 budget proposal. The Mayor suggests that if other cities’ legal fees are studied, Birmingham would fare well comparatively. He stresses that it is “absolutely essential that we go outside [use non-city attorneys] to avoid conflicts, and to garner expertise as needed.”

Blake responds that he doesn’t object to paying any of the legal fees presently due, but he repeats that he is not going to vote to pay any more outside attorneys until their roles and budgets are clarified. “We’re gonna have to plug the holes, whether they’re holes that existed prior to this administration or since this administration. The Council has to grab the responsibility for knowing and scheduling the expenses of this city,” warns Blake. “There’s not one issue that’s gotten more coverage, that relates to the sort of sleazy dealing [Blake indicates quotation marks with his fingers] of the city of Birmingham, that is greater than the issue of outside attorney fees. And it is time for us to take a responsible position on that,” concludes the councilor. Councilor Gunn proposes allocating a half million dollars for the attorney fees, as $438,000 is the amount currently due. Mayor Kincaid expresses his appreciation to Gunn for offering compromise [for trying to play Solomon here], but notes that legally it’s the mayor’s call to request the payment of outside legal fees. City attorney Tamara Johnson emphasizes that the Mayor-Council Act “specifically points out that the Mayor supervises and controls the financial affairs of the Council.” In response to Councilor Little’s request for making invoices available to the Council, she says that some invoices are not allowed to be shared with the Council, such as those for cases that involve attorneys representing the Mayor in his official capacity. Councilor Blake reminds Johnson that the Council passed an ordinance that limits the Mayor to an expenditure ceiling of $10,000 without Council approval. “No more blank checks!” Blake reiterates angrily.

Council President Pro Tem Gunn closes the session by noting, “It has been a long day.” Gunn thanks each councilor for participation in the “longest Council meeting since I’ve ever been on this Council [5 hours, 45 minutes].” &

Wildflower Child

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Wildflower Child

December 07, 2000

It was an odd scene for a small town. The tiny but spiffy art-deco Ritz Theater glowed in yellow and green neon. Pulsating bulbs flashed beneath a brilliantly lit marquee announcing: An Evening With Judy Collins. Across the street, downtown Talladega’s tiny courthouse square remained quiet, the townspeople perhaps reluctant to make a big deal about the presence of a star of Judy Collins’ magnitude.The parking spaces around the town square finally filled up a scant 15 minutes before showtime. Around the corner from the Ritz, a lonesome limousine waited patiently in front of the Talladega Water and Sewer Department to whisk Collins back to Atlanta for a midnight flight to Florida. A strange twist of destiny, indeed, that President Clinton’s favorite singer was scheduled to entertain controversial Palm Beach County the following evening, the same night the Sunshine State first certified George Bush for president.

Five minutes before the 6:30 p.m. show at the Ritz, a crowd of elderly customers suddenly invaded the quaint 1936 theater. Two-thirds of the well-behaved audience were local septuagenarian “patrons-of-the-arts,” silver-haired women who supported the local concert series regardless of the performance. They had no clue who this Judy Collins person was, and their collective, overwhelmingly perfumed fragrance threatened to exterminate the audience. The remainder of the 500 in attendance (almost a full house for the first of two shows that night) was a sprinkling of middle-aged, professional couples and reluctantly aging hippies, enthusiastically embracing Collins and the memories of decades past.

Gracefully strolling onstage in a pink satin suit and pink pumps, the attractive, 61-year-old Collins looked like anything but an aging folk singer. She smiled and picked up a 12-string acoustic guitar as her pianist played the bare, tinkling introduction to Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”

Collins was captivating. Her soaring soprano has aged little, and it effortlessly reached for and found all the high notes as she covered the songbook that defined her 40-year recording career. Arlo Guthrie’s “City of New Orleans” was a ragtime piano masterpiece, and her version of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird On the Wire” was a bluesy, solemn ode to Cohen, a composer that she has frequently referred to as her “mentor.”

Between songs, Collins told stories of childhood, tossing off bits and pieces of traditional Irish standards she had learned from her father. Sense of humor intact, Collins frequently interjected wit into awkward onstage dilemmas with remarkable comedic timing. While continually attempting to tune her uncooperative guitar, she apologized that she was unable to make tuning “a spiritual experience, like Ravi Shankar when he tunes his sitar.” Eventually making peace with her tuning efforts, Collins concluded with a shrug, “Well, it’s good enough for folk music.” She even told a favorite sacrilegious Christmas joke, and inquired of the overpowering perfume, “Is there something blooming in here that’s causing my allergies to act up?”

A sparse, almost sacred version of her 1975 hit “Send In the Clowns” ended the show. Accompanied only by her pianist, Collins offered up the endearing melody in hushed tones framed by the song’s climactic piano crescendos. The obligatory encore, an a capella campfire sing-along of “Amazing Grace” ended the evening.

Judy Collins’ Answering Machine Message to the World

The message on Collins’ cell phone voice mail the afternoon before her Talladega show offered a revealing glimpse of the singer’s contagious enthusiasm for life. “And we will fly beyond the sky. Beyond the stars. Beyond the heavens,” Collins sings into the telephone, her distinctive speaking voice sharing her home telephone number with the caller at message end. A second call attempt a few minutes later found her preparing for that evening’s Atlanta concert. Collins gladly agreed to take time out to reflect on her career, which started at age 10 with classical piano lessons from famed international orchestral conductor Antonia Bricoat. (Collins produced and co-directed a documentary on Bricoat, and subsequently received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary in the mid-1970s.) Collins addressed a question about her ever-evolving musical endeavors: “I’m not so sure it’s about the changing of musical styles. I think it’s probably about being timeless, and integrating what I knew as a child with what I’ve learned as an adult, and sort of tying it all into one kind of music, which I can’t really define. I think it’s more like Judy Collins music than anything else. I’ve been called a lot of things-folk singer, country singer, classical pianist, and so on.”

Judy Collins’ father, Chuck Collins, was a blind singer and pianist who had a career in radio from 1937 to 1968-a fact about which the younger Collins is noticeably proud. She credited her father’s unique ability to spot good songs with her exposure to early songwriters, such as Rogers and Hart, and laughs about the subliminal presence of folk songs in her childhood home. “I grew up on folk without realizing it,” admits Collins. “My father was constantly singing traditional Irish stuff, things like ‘Kerry Dancers’ and ‘Danny Boy.’” Collins adds that “an element of timelessness” is what she looks for when choosing songs to record.

Collins believes her piano background is a primary resource for writing. She abandoned the piano in the early 1960s when her folk career blossomed, but soon returned to her first love. “I’m so grateful that I have this wonderful background in the piano,” noted Collins. “I do my writing on piano. I still practice, just like I used to. I practice and do my scales [laughs] and exercises every time I sit down to play.”

Send in the Clowns

“I was planning a new record, and was looking for material. The show, A Little Night Music, by Stephen Sondheim, had been out for a couple of years. Others have recorded the song, but my version seemed to strike a chord, and I’ve always felt it was because of that very, very sympathetic orchestration that Jonathan Tunic did,” Collins notes with pride when asked how she came to record the 1975 classic “Send In the Clowns.” She also doesn’t hesitate to briefly knock Frank Sinatra: “A lot of people, including Frank Sinatra, had recorded that song. I have a theory about Frank Sinatra’s version. He was working with Nelson Riddle at that time. And instead of taking Sondheim’s orchestration, Nelson Riddle did his own orchestration. And it doesn’t do the song justice, and I think that’s why Sinatra did not have a big hit with that song, in my estimation, because otherwise he would have. I think Sinatra got every single other song he ever sang [right], but he didn’t get that one [laughs]. So it was my good fortune that he didn’t.” She quickly adds that she saw Sinatra live a number of times, and always went to learn from the singer. “I had the privilege of seeing him work with Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald. And that’s the best.”

Songs That Go Bump in the Night

Collins has been awakened in the middle of the night by two of the greatest songs to emerge from the 1960s-a couple of soon-to-be-hits she heard while they were being created by their respective composers. Around 1966, noted musical sideman to the stars (and organist on Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”) Al Kooper woke up Collins at 3 a.m. to put a young, unknown folk singer named Joni Mitchell on the telephone to sing her latest, “Both Sides Now.” Collins recorded the composition, and Mitchell was propelled from coffee house obscurity to household stardom.Collins’ slumber was also interrupted in 1963 while she was staying at a large house in Woodstock, New York, with Bob Dylan and a few other friends. “In the middle of the night I woke up, because I heard music playing. And I went hunting out through the house,” recalled Collins. “I could hear this voice singing, and hear this music playing. And I opened the door to the stairwell, and there was Dylan sitting on the staircase in this old house on the stairway to the basement, and he was just finishing [composing] “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man.” &

Glen Campbell

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Glen Campbell

There’s no place quite as empty as a 17,000 seat coliseum filled with a couple of thousand chicken farmers, but even that couldn’t faze a rejuvenated Glen Campbell as the singer recently revealed the number one reason his was once a household name-an ability to spot hit songs and make them his own.Campbell, quietly slipping into Birmingham as the featured entertainment for the annual state convention of the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association at the Birmingham Jefferson County Civic Center, effortlessly showed how religion and what appears to be a facelift or two can resurrect the talents of an aging entertainer who has left his fingerprints on everything from pop music and variety television to country singer Tanya Tucker.

Fresh on the heels of her latest hit, “Little Bird,” Australian country songstress Sherrie Austin, the opening act, was ignored for the most part by the subdued audience, finally eliciting a roar of approval when she announced that her mom thinks that anything other than country and western is “drug music.” Less than an hour later, former drug addict Glen Campbell strolled out with an electric guitar and kicked into the unforgettable guitar intro of his 1969 hit “Galveston.” For the next 90 minutes, Campbell dusted off his repertoire of ’60s and ’70s radio classics, wooing a subdued audience that included this year’s inductees into the Alabama Poultry Hall of Fame and the “Alabama Farm Family of the Year.”

Campbell’s voice was remarkably clear and powerful, smoothly snagging the high note that ends each chorus of “Wichita Lineman” and reflecting with melancholy resignation on “By the Time I Get To Phoenix.” His guitar playing was no less impressive, left leg perpetually keeping time like a Las Vegas version of Chuck Berry. His lightening-fast fingers ripped through the Mason Williams’ hit “Classical Gas” and rode the melody of the “William Tell Overture,” never missing a note as he raised the guitar over his head, effortlessly picking the song’s grand finale.

The hits never stopped: “Gentle On My Mind,” “Try a Little Kindness,” “All I Ever Need Is You.” He even brought out daughter Debby, a talented airline attendant who sings with her father on her days off, for a series of duets that found Campbell impressively impersonating everyone from Sonny Bono to Johnny Cash.

Campbell dug into his pockets countless times, sometimes even in the middle of guitar solos, to toss guitar picks into outstretched hands at the foot of the stage. And he didn’t think twice about abandoning the microphone in the middle of his 1968 hit “The Dreams of the Everyday Housewife” to kneel down at the front of the stage, wrapping his arm around grinning women as he smiled for photos, joking with the ladies, “Is your husband here tonight?” His stage persona was so relaxed it was as if he were entertaining at home in his living room, constantly singing bits and occasional pieces of songs, only to give up as he laughed and said he couldn’t remember the words. He was even tuning his 12-string guitar as he sang the opening verses to the 1977 hit “Southern Nights.”

Checking his watch for about the fifth time, Campbell bemoaned the lack of good tunes in modern music. He took a couple of jabs at the country music establishment, saying he didn’t play any of that “line dancing garbage” before noting that Nashville record executives were a “bunch of schmucks.” With that off his chest, Campbell finally brought the audience to their feet with a rousing “Rhinestone Cowboy,” took one final bow, and caught a midnight jet so he could play a round of golf in a charity tournament early the next morning. &

City Hall — November 21, 2000

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City Hall

December 07, 2000November 21, 2000

Mayor Kincaid announces that the 15-member task force formed by his office to study neighborhood problems caused by expansion of the Birmingham International Airport will inspect the affected neighborhood on November 27. The Mayor says that the bus will leave City Hall at 1:30 p.m. if any councilors are interested in joining the group. Council President Bell says that some councilors are “in a bind,” as Kincaid had previously called for a finance committee meeting that very same afternoon. The Mayor suggests moving the finance meeting to a different time, and Bell says he’ll try to comply.

The government class from Shades Valley High School is in attendance at this morning’s meeting. Councilor Little notes that she will be interviewed by the class after the council meeting, and is prepared to take on tough questions.

A group of disgruntled citizens led by Mamie Jordan and collectively known as the Committee for Accountability in City Government protests petitions calling for voters to have a say in who controls the Water Works assets. Jordan says that those signing the petitions “are not recognized as people.” Concerned that “the city is at a standstill, bogged down in bickering, and drifting like a ship without a rudder, or leader,” Jordon condemns “the Mayor’s efforts to hold the assets of the water system hostage at City Hall!” She decries Kincaid’s spending of taxpayer money on attorney fees to stop the assets transfer back to the Water Works Board, which she says is their rightful home. She also demands to know why the Mayor is “spending taxpayer money to look for electronic bugs in his office and to build security fences!”

Today’s featured disagreement between the Mayor and the City Council involves HealthSouth’s donation of used computers to Birmingham schools. A quarrel develops over whether the computer program is an action on behalf of the city or council. The resolution appropriates $200,000 from City Council consulting funds to HealthSouth to begin the program. Council President Bell says no appropriation is needed, and explains that he merely needs to authorize the contract with his signature instead. Mayor Kincaid asks the city’s law department to issue an opinion. City attorneys say they have not seen the contract, so no opinion can be rendered as to whether this is city or council business. Councilor Blake hopes that “this issue won’t get down to one of these spitting contests about who signs the document.” Blake says that the Council must approve the signing of the contract and expenditure of the consulting fees, and that he doesn’t care who signs the contract. Councilor Little sums up the quarrel as a “power grab.”

Mayor Kincaid interjects that “this is not a City Council initiative; it’s a city of Birmingham initiative.” The Mayor explains that the funds for the project were not approved in the budget, and requests that the finance department examine the issue, urging a one week delay. Councilor Blake grows combative, accusing the Mayor of trying to take “total control of the dollars in this city, and that’s inappropriate!” Blake argues that the Council “can put that money in whatever basket it wants and can subsequently allocate it.” The councilor says that right or wrong, the Council put this appropriation in a category called “consulting fees,” and now has the right to spend it, regardless of who signs off on it. Mayor Kincaid wants to know who the consultant is. Blake replies that he doesn’t know “how that [word 'consultant'] would be termed.” Council President Bell maintains that the Council has the right to move funds from category to category in a department, which is what he believes happened in this instance. Bell offers to pull the resolution off the agenda. Councilor Blake asks him why, since he’s got a majority of the Council on his side. Mayor Kincaid jumps back into the discussion, reiterating that computers for schools is a city project. Councilor Blake quickly disagrees, accusing the Mayor of “trying to usurp the power of Council, and it’s inappropriate.” Blake explains that everything the Council does is on behalf of the city, and that the Council has the right to authorize whomever they desire to sign for the city of Birmingham. Blake calls the Mayor’s argument a “digression from any of these notions that the Mayor and Council want to work together.” Blake continues, “I believe the Council has the authority to allow Mickey Mouse to authorize a contract. The power of expenditure comes from this body [City Council].” Blake notes that department heads, as well as external boards and agencies, are authorized to enter into contracts.

Speaking on behalf of his district, Councilor Aldrich Gunn praises the computer program. Gunn takes issue with past references that the Council will be voted out of office in the October 2001 council elections. Gunn promises that he’ll be back in office next October, but others might be gone. “When we’re gonna be rational on this Council, and you have a conviction, don’t worry about what’s down the road,” urges Gunn, alluding to the advantages computers offer to schools. “Be like that ant. If there’s a brick in the way, go over it, around it, or under it.” Councilor Gunn sides with Blake when he notes that the Council gives money to other organizations with Council President Bell’s signature. Councilor Loder suggests amending the resolution to read on behalf of the City Council. Blake remains exasperated, sighing, “We’re splitting hairs over this.” He hopes that the Council will “rise above the pettiness here,” as he agrees to Loder’s word change. Blake doesn’t want “this silliness to stop a program that everybody agrees is a good program.”

Councilor Bill Johnson offers a resolution welcoming a Big Lots department store to his East Lake district. It passes unanimously.

November 28, 2000

Lawson State hosts tonight’s monthly traveling City Council meeting. Reverend Abraham Woods, representing the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, is present to express concern regarding the recent shooting of Larry Reddick in Woodlawn by a Birmingham police officer. Woods acknowledges reports that Reddick had been drinking and struck the officer, reportedly with the officer’s own baton. But Woods disputes that the man should have been killed because of his actions, saying, “That was not a justifiable reason for Larry to be gunned down.” The reverend notes the records show that Reddick was shot four times from the front and once from the back, disputing Birmingham Police Chief Mike Coppage’s argument that the route of the bullet that supposedly entered from the rear indicates that it was unlikely to have been fired from behind the victim. Woods explains that the coroner is “a professional in this kind of situation,” and, according to Woods, the coroner reported that the shot fired at Reddick’s back was the deadly shot. Reverend Woods reminds all present that he had backed Coppage during an inquiry by the previous administration when police actions were under fire. But he says that Coppage is “trying to whitewash the situation by taking issue with the coroner. We need a chief who is going to be responsible!” Woods promises that if necessary, Reverend Al Sharpton will be brought in to protest the police department. Noting that he [Woods] is upset with some “of our black officers” over previous police shootings, Woods warns that “trigger-happy policemen, be they black, green, red, white, or polka dot, have no place on this police force!” Woods urges the formation of a civilian police review board. Council President Bell interrupts Woods to tell him that “councilors are asking me if you would summarize your remarks.” Woods wraps up two minutes later.Councilor Blake expresses appreciation to Reverend Woods for his presence this evening. Blake agrees with Woods that points have been raised that “this council and our city should be willing to look at.” Blake expresses support for Coppage, and acknowledges the dangers police officers constantly face. The councilor says that the officer in question was reportedly seriously injured during the incident, and must have been concerned for his life. “Under those circumstances, a police officer does have a right and responsibility to defend himself.” Blake urges that two officers should always be in a police car in high crime areas, which he says is not the situation at present. Blake also pledges support for a civilian review board, as long as the board consists of individuals with “no political agenda.”

Chief Coppage speaks next, and explains that he promised the parents of Reddick that there “would be a fair and impartial investigation.” Coppage stresses that the investigation will proceed in a timely manner, but will not be rushed.

Council President Bell takes issue with Coppage over some of the chief’s recent public comments, accusing Coppage of trying to “shade the facts” about the coroner’s report. Bell says that the police chief’s comments do “not help the atmosphere with what the public believes, and what they perceive.” He urges Coppage to “guard” his future remarks.

Councilor Loder says that a primary question of the incident focuses on why the officer stopped Reddick. Loder is curious about why a confrontation was necessary, and asks Chief Coppage why there are no reports detailing what Reddick did. Coppage replies that the information is not being released in case there are witnesses that still want to come forward. He says that the report will be released once the investigation is complete. Loder then wants to know who is responsible for investigating the police department. Coppage responds that there is a “dual investigation”: one conducted by internal affairs, and the other is a criminal investigation by the department’s homicide unit. The homicide investigation-a criminal investigation-involves a representative from the district attorney’s office.

Councilor Little reads from the Mayor-Council Act, citing the allowance for the Council or Mayor’s office to conduct an investigation. Little refers to the
“investigation team” organized to look into a controversial Center Point land deal a couple of years ago as an example of City Hall’s organizing an investigative committee. [That controversial "investigation team" refused to meet in public, and reportedly was negligible in contacting committee members about participation. No wrong was uncovered by that team.] Little points out that tonight’s Council meeting is being held “right across the street from where a young man’s body was found on Thanksgiving morning.” She goes on, “His body was riddled with bullets!” She then urges the city to take prompt action, which would alleviate the need for “people from outside, and other states, to come in.”

Mayor Kincaid notes that it has been difficult for his office to be silent, but the reason for withholding comment is that all the facts in the case are not in. The Mayor explains that forensic evidence is still being studied, but that the dual investigation of the police department is proceeding as scheduled.

The power to draw redistricting boundaries [council districts are redrawn after the census is conducted each decade, as required by city law] is transferred from the Mayor’s office to the Council by a near-unanimous vote of the Council. The redistricting still must be approved by the Mayor, with a six-vote council majority necessary to override a mayoral veto. Public hearings will be forthcoming. Councilor Blake urges the Council to determine if redistricting can be undertaken by the city without hiring “an outside consultant.” Blake elaborates: “I don’t see any reason why we have to make rocket science out of something that’s not rocket science and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that.” Bell concurs with Blake that any hiring of outside consultants should be approved by the Council. &

Cahaba River Threatened by Barber Construction

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Cahaba River Threatened by Barber Construction

November 09, 2000

The recent summer drought has brought into question compliance by the developers of the new Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum (which will include a racetrack) with previous agreements reached with the city of Birmingham, the Cahaba River Society, and other environmental activist organizations.

On October 6, Birmingham experienced its first steady rainfall in weeks. Samples of water taken from the tributary leading from the construction site of the Barber museum to the Cahaba River revealed an alarmingly high amount of soil particles present.

Dr. Randy Haddock of the Cahaba River Society collected the samples and noted that the tributary was “completely muddy.” Photographs revealed a stark contrast between the clarity of the river upstream from the tributary receiving the construction discharge, and the Cahaba’s cloudy status downstream from the discharge. The Barber construction site is located upstream from the Birmingham Water Works drinking water intakes on the Cahaba River.

Contents of the sample jars containing water filled with soil particles drawn from the Cahaba River, the major source of Birmingham’s drinking water, looked like “chocolate milk” when the collection container was shaken, according to Haddock and several others who attended an October 23 meeting between representatives of the Barber Museum, city officials, the Cahaba River Society, and several other environmental groups. “It’s the worst single event as far as erosion and sediment control failure that I’ve seen in my 10 years associated with the Cahaba River,” noted Dr. Haddock. He also questioned whether proper storm water control measures have been installed by the Barber Museum construction.

Curiosity has also been raised regarding the status of a proposed lake that would catch construction runoff before it could invade the Cahaba tributary. Anonymous sources close to the situation say a dispute has been brewing regarding whether or not the lake was actually included in agreements made between the city and Barber that allowed the building of the museum and racetrack.

When contacted for comment, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) refused to discuss the issue on record, but said that they was aware of the predicament and were currently looking into the situation.

Officials from Barber did not return telephone messages as of press time.

City Hall — October 24, 2000

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City Hall

November 09, 2000 

October 24, 2000

Announcing that “the Mayor is in poor voice this evening,” Birmingham Public Information Officer Mark Kelly reads Mayor Kincaid’s weekly report at tonight’s city council meeting at the Hawkins Center in Roebuck.

Councilor Jimmy Blake asks Mayor Kincaid about the status of the controversial petition allowing a referendum to determine ownership of the Birmingham Water Works assets. In a raspy whisper, Kincaid replies that the Justice Department will have to clear the issue because “it comports with the Voting Rights Act.” Blake promises to make the Mayor talk no more than necessary but admits he likes the sound of Kincaid’s hoarse voice. “It has kind of a jazz quality to it,” quips Blake.

At issue this evening is a new cab company moving into the Birmingham market that plans to buy out Yellow Cab and Homewood Cab companies. [Councilors readily point to the lack of taxi availability]. City attorney Rowena Teague offers a brief history of the taxi industry in Birmingham: A quarter-century ago, Yellow Cab was the top cab company in town, with more than 125 vehicles. As Yellow Cab downsized, Veteran Cab [a part of Yellow Cab] did also, but Homewood Cab and other smaller taxi companies grew. Councilor Lee Loder voices concern about how independent taxi operators will be affected. Teague explains that the cab system is not a closed operation and that independent operations are still welcomed [three cabs and a dispatch service are required to start a taxi service]. Representatives of the new taxi company explain that the independent taxi service will benefit from the overflow of demand that will result from new life being pumped into the Birmingham taxi industry. Councilor Aldrich Gunn asks the name of the new company. The company’s representative explains that his company is actually three different corporations: Jefferson County Yellow Cab, Birmingham Yellow Checker Cab Inc., and Jefferson County Transportation, LLC. “Who’s your lawyer?” Blake asks off-microphone. No discernable reply is heard. The issuance of new licenses, as well as the revocation of Yellow Cab and Homewood Cab operating licenses upon purchase by Jefferson County Yellow Cab, is approved unanimously.

Voluntary drug testing of the nine councilors and the Mayor as proposed by Councilor Don MacDermott is back on the agenda after a request for a one-week delay. MacDermott says he wants the drug testing so that the Mayor and the council can set a “good example” for the Birmingham community. The motion is approved, with the tests scheduled to be held in two weeks.

Councilor Blake, however, disagrees with MacDermott’s motive. Blake asks MacDermott what drugs are included in the city’s policy of screening city employees for illegal substances. “Marijuana, cocaine, PCP, and heroin, as far as I know,” replies MacDermott. Blake then asks what situations determine which city employees are required to be tested. MacDermott replies that it includes jobs involving safety, such as firemen, policemen, and anyone who operates a motor vehicle or other equipment. Secretaries and clerks are excluded. Blake says he thought all city employees are required to be drug-tested. Blake presses MacDermott further, inquiring about any other circumstances that might force a city employee to be tested, especially city councilors. An irate MacDermott tells Blake, “If you have a problem with that, then state your problem!” Blake assures the councilor that he is about to do that, answering his own question by explaining that “aberrant behavior such as wrecking a truck” is one such circumstance. Blake then asks MacDermott what sort of “aberrant behavior” by the council would result in drug testing. MacDermott smiles and admits that he hasn’t watched any videotapes of council meetings lately. Stressing that drug testing is important when public safety is at issue, Councilor Blake wants to know who determines “aberrant behavior” when a councilor is involved, and who directs that they take a drug test and lose their job. MacDermott replies that termination would not follow if a councilor refused to take a drug test. He explains that his resolution simply says that all nine councilors should volunteer to submit themselves to drug tests and “then let the chips fall where they may, apparently.” When asked by Blake if he had ever submitted to a drug test, MacDermott replies that he and Kincaid [before Kincaid was mayor] showed up for a previous test at the same time. Blake asks, “Well, who had the purest [urine] between you?” as the audience howls with laughter.

Blake again states that drug testing should be taken seriously and not be administered for “political purposes, which is what I think is going on here.” Blake further suggests that perhaps “aberrant behavior” could be defined as when “a member of this council, who called a public institution universally corrupt, and asked for each of its members to resign, i.e., the Water Works Board, then a year later changes his mind and wants to hand all the assets of the Birmingham Water Works Board back to that organization, I call that ‘aberrant,’ Mr. MacDermott!” [Blake is referring to MacDermott's present position on the assets issue.] MacDermott counters that it was Blake who called for resignation of the Water Works Board, not him. Blake quickly disputes that claim.

MacDermott holds up a copy of a news story dated May 12, 1994, and reads quotes in which Blake indicated he had once urged drug testing of all city employees. When Blake asks MacDermott why he brought the news article to tonight’s meeting, MacDermott replies, “A little bird told me you might object to taking the test.” Admitting that he had taken drug tests before, Blake again emphasizes the political nature of the issue, declaring, “I’m not voting for this silly thing!” The issue passes. Blake leaves the dais to take one of his frequent walks through the council chambers. As he walks by this daydreaming reporter, he administers a friendly punch to my arm, threatening, “Boy, we’re gonna drug-screen you if you don’t wake up!”

October 31, 2000

Council President Pro Tem Aldrich Gunn presides in the absence of Council President Bell this morning. From an issues standpoint, it’s a rather short, dull meeting. Among council business is a vote to increase taxi fees held over from last week’s meeting and the denied request of a liquor license for the Cozy Corner lounge, which reportedly had been selling liquor for years without a license. Councilor Sandra Faye Little’s hot orange suit, replete with rhinestone-studded wide collars and open neckline reminiscent of an Elvis Presley stage getup, is the only salute to Halloween by Council members.

The speaker’s forum, reserved for citizens to address the council for three minutes at the end of each meeting, is where all the action is this morning. Jimmy Corley is back in the council chambers, having been banished several months earlier after an incident in which police wrestled him to the ground before carrying him out of the council chambers. Corley is a self-professed prophet of doom who takes credit for Village Creek floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. Council President Pro Tem Aldrich Gunn, who was challenged to a fistfight several years ago by Corley, tells Corley it’s good to see him again.

According to Corley, he was arrested by the Birmingham Police Department five years earlier on charges that he continually maintains were false. Today, Corley reiterates that he was denied medication while incarcerated, which caused him to suffer a seizure. Claiming $14,000 worth of debt and hospital bills to treat an injury he blames on the police department, Corley again demands a financial settlement from the city. He gives the city two weeks to settle.

If nothing has been done at that time, Corley forecasts “cancer, strokes, heart attacks, tumors, body failures to all persons who conspired against me.” Among his dire predictions is a curse he puts on Mayor Kincaid [the same curse he placed on former Mayor Arrington]. He warns that the “curse on Village Creek shall not be lifted,” and that his curse on preachers [Corley singles out Reverend Abraham Woods] who preach on behalf of the city council, the Mayor, and the Jefferson County Citizens’ Coalition will remain in effect. He also predicts that “City Stages shall continue to be rained upon and to lose money.” Corley concludes: “I got the curse on Lake Purdy. There will be no lake like it was before. It shall be cursed 53 years, and the lake level shall drop another four feet.”

Another vocal citizen, Carolyn Corbet, is back after a noticeable absence. Corbet’s resume includes running for president of the United States, mayor of Birmingham, and city councilor. Her past grievances have ranged from accusations of rape in the Birmingham jail to protesting the legality of promotional contests sponsored by various fast-food restaurants.

Today Corbet complains that her “bad tooth” cannot be removed “because of the law.” She also gripes about a broken leg suffered several years ago while walking on a pebble-covered sidewalk in East Lake. Corbet suddenly pulls out a cellular phone, holding it close to the microphone so that her dialing of 911 can be heard in the council chambers. She tells the responding police dispatcher to send “several police cars up here, because I would like to have the Birmingham City Council, along with the Mayor, arrested and charged . . . with attempted manslaughter.” She admits to the dispatcher that she is not an attorney but has been damaged by laws passed by the council. A laughing Councilor Gunn, sounding much like an automated telephone operator, tells Corbet that her three minutes are up.

Radio talk-show host Frank Matthews finishes the speaker’s forum, snickering through his observation that the Council moved so rapidly through the agenda this morning that “we got more treats than tricks, so I’ll just hold my comments until . . . [his sentence breaks off into irrepressible laughter, his conclusion erupting into unbridled giggles].” As usual, Matthews makes little sense. &

City Hall — October 26, 2000

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City Hall

October 26, 2000October 10, 2000

The initial order of business this morning: arguments over a citizen-led petition drive that calls for a referendum to allow the people of Birmingham to decide who should own the Water Works assets. It’s unclear if any Council action on the issue is permissible due to Mayor Kincaid’s lawsuit, filed several weeks earlier, to halt a Council vote that returned the assets to the Water Works Board. Councilor Sandra Little says she will support the people’s demand for a referendum to decide asset ownership, adding that she thinks that there are five votes today that would approve allowing the public to vote.Councilor Aldrich Gunn states that the “mere fact that we are sitting here talking about voting on whether or not we vote to transfer the assets is a historical occasion.” Councilor Bill Johnson urges the Council to vote for the referendum today so the vote can be taken during the November 7 election thereby saving the taxpayers the $300,000 that it would cost for a special referendum vote.

Council attorney Michael Choy asks if Judge Hanes, who is currently contemplating a ruling on Kincaid’s lawsuit, can be called to determine if any Council action is legal. Choy explains that if the Council approves the referendum vote, he is sure it will be challenged in court. “That’s gonna cost the taxpayers more money,” he says.

A resolution requesting that Council members submit to voluntary drug testing as “an example of leadership for city employees in an effort to combat drug abuse” prompts a few giggles from councilors. Councilor Don MacDermott, who sponsored the proposal, asks for a one-week delay, which ignites a round of light-hearted jokes. Councilor Lee Loder says that as a new member, he’s had a recent test. Councilor Pat Alexander keeps saying, “I’m ready! I promise you, I’m ready!” Council President William Bell expresses curiosity that “we keep having these nice meetings for some strange reason.” Kincaid requests that “the Mayor be included in [drug tests].”

Councilor Little thanks the Mayor “for a delightful weekend,” to which a chuckling Kincaid suggests that she define her comment. Little is, of course, referring to the previous weekend’s mayor-council retreat at Point Clear near Gulf Shores. A slightly embarrassed Little thanks Kincaid for the “delightful conversation” regarding the Roosevelt City fire station she has been waging war over for the past year. Councilor Alexander thanks Bell for organizing the retreat, admitting that she never gives up hope that the Council and Mayor can one day see eye to eye. Noting that she and Kincaid held hands at one point during the retreat, Alexander tells the Mayor that “I don’t have to like you, and you don’t have to like me. But we got to respect each other. And I think we can do it,” she adds with a smile. Alexander concludes by telling the Mayor that she loves him.

As the Council approves the travel expenses of Raymond Powell, manager for internal audit in the Mayor’s office, for a conflict-management seminar in Biloxi, Mississippi, Councilor Johnson points out that the word “Biloxi” does not have an “e” at the end. The Council votes to correct the spelling.

During the citizen speaking forum held at the end of each Council meeting, former Alabama State Senator Fred Horn addresses the Water Works issue. Horn urges, “I am here to appeal to all of us to stop this buffoonery and put the assets and the Water Works back where it ought to be, as a department of the city. That is our only salvation.” The former senator warns, “Otherwise it will be run by a board that is decided by the state legislature to make the laws.” Horn warns that the state legislature will decide how many people will serve on the board, and who will control the assets. The legislature is waiting until the year after next to decide who will be on the water board, according to Horn. This will be after previously black legislative districts are to be redrawn as ordered by the courts. He again stresses that the only way to control the water system is to make the Water Works a city department.

October 17, 2000

This morning the drama of the weekly City Council meeting spills into the third-floor hallway directly across from the council chambers. A few minutes of threats, possible attempted assault, and a string of obscenities add the perfect touches to the unforgettable freak show. More on the bizarre episode later.A poker-faced Council President Bell introduces new UAB athletic director Herman Frazier as “a man who has been to the mountaintop of athletics. And he understands that in order to achieve great things you have to dream great things.” Councilor Jimmy Blake enthusiastically welcomes Frazier after Bell and confesses, “I personally am very tickled to see somebody who is a track athlete being athletic director at UAB.” Blake notes that he looks forward to seeing the campus “continue to flourish and the social life of students continue to improve.” The councilor also is excited that the school will “continue to move toward being a real athletic power.”

The early morning frivolity ends soon enough. First order of business is controversial Addendum Item 57: Consideration of petition for an ordinance to require a vote of the electorate to sell, transfer, or lease the water and sewer facilities, Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Birmingham as presented by Probate Judge Michael Bolin for the Council of the City of Birmingham on October 10, 2000, which was submitted by six electors of the City of Birmingham. The six names included in the ordinance are listed for Council record. In question is whether the Council can legally vote on Item 57 since a lawsuit filed by Mayor Kincaid to halt transfer of the assets to the Water Works Board has not yet been ruled on by Circuit Judge Hanes. Mayoral attorney Emory Anthony (a former mayoral candidate) passes out copies of Judge Hanes’ decision that any Council action dealing with the petition and referendum did not violate the status quo.

Charlie Waldrep, attorney for the Birmingham Water Works, addresses the Council to question the legality of the petition signatures. Addressing Choy’s statement to the Birmingham News that the petition is “junk,” Waldrep questions whether or not Choy actually made the comment [Choy appeared on a local talk-radio show the same morning to deny it.] But Waldrep takes the use of “junk” a step further: “Junk has some value. At least it’s scrap or salvage. This [petition] is valueless. This has a negative value because it would be put to an election for an ordinance that clearly, on its face, is invalid.” The Water Works attorney notes that the first petition had 36 percent of the signatures declared invalid and the second petition had 41 percent discarded as invalid. Waldrep adds that petitioners were not required to show identification before signing.

Kincaid reminds Waldrep that voting polls do not require identification to cast a ballot in an election. Waldrep says he obtained copies of the petitions, and after reviewing 95 percent of the signatures, he conservatively estimates that approximately 2000 were illegally counted, including “instances where clearly the signature that appeared on the petition has been signed by one individual on several occasions.” Waldrep admits that he is not a criminal lawyer but points out that Kincaid has a pair of attorneys with “excellent reputations as criminal lawyers” and suggests that “perhaps they could shed some light on what could be applicable to these signatures submitted to the City Council for action.” Waldrep also states that the ordinance is written so that any transaction involving sale of any Water Works equipment [used computers, etc.] would require a vote of the people-a charge the Petitioners Alliance and its attorneys vehemently paint as false
“scare tactics.”

Councilor Blake notes that the citizens’ referendum process was used to “kick Bull Connor and his regime out of office. And this time it’s (being used) to kick a different regime out of office.” Blake asks Waldrep how much his firm makes from performing legal service for the Water Works. Waldrep responds that he would have to check his records. Noting that he has
“great respect for Mr. Choy and generally agrees with most of his opinions,” Blake criticizes what he terms as monopolization of time this morning by those defending the asset transfer to the Water Works Board, especially Waldrep, whom Blake describes as “panicky because he might lose his gravy train.” [Waldrep allegedly collects an annual fee of one million dollars to represent the Water Works.]

Waldrep, who hints at fraud, questions the validity of the petition signatures as he uses an overhead projector to flash some of the signatures on a screen in the council chambers. Councilor Little points out that three of the names on the projected list appear to be in identical handwriting.

In response to Waldrep’s earlier characterization of the petitions as being less than junk, Mayor Kincaid tells Waldrep that it is the “will of the people, and that alone gives it more than just a passing value. It gives it a very deep value.” Kincaid stresses that Probate Judge Michael Bolin had determined that the petitions were legitimate. Kincaid says that certification of sufficiency is not the question at hand today because Judge Bolin appeared in the council chambers last week to verify that the petition met all sufficiency-certification criteria. The Mayor accuses Waldrep of using “scare tactics” regarding citizen approval of easements, rights of way, and the sale of equipment in regard to the Water Works.

Bob Friedman, WJLD radio talk show host and petition organizer [the "Pied Piper," according to Councilor Gunn], addresses the Council. He stresses that his petition does not discourage the sale of the Water Works but, rather, allows the citizens to simply decide if they should be able to vote on who should own the water system assets. Friedman says he knows more about petitions than Charlie Waldrep, and that just because some signatures are invalidated does not mean the people’s convictions driving the petition are invalidated. Gunn jumps in to tell Friedman that he’s not as smart as he thinks he is.

Councilor Little holds up a copy of the petition ordinance, calls it fraudulent, and says that she doesn’t believe that most of the 10 percent of citizens who signed it could understand the petition ordinance, but quickly denies that she thinks the signees are stupid. Little goes after Friedman. “I have lived in the city of Birmingham all my life. Mr. Bob Friedman, a radio DJ that constantly batters the City Council, and to walk around Birmingham coming out of New York or wherever he is [sic], and to lead our people in such a disgraceful campaign to divide and conquer the black vote! Our people, some of us just don’t know what’s happening!” Little concludes her condemnation of Friedman by shouting that “it is not fair to allow people to come in and mess up our minds!” She refuses to support the ordinance, insisting that she is “standing up for those people who didn’t sign it [the petition].” The Council votes down the ordinance six to three, sending the issue to the Election Commission [Kincaid, Council President Bell, and city attorney Tamara Johnson] to finalize plans for a special referendum.

In the hallway following the vote, Charlie Waldrep holds court for the television cameras. Bob Friedman walks up to the gathering to offer an opposing opinion. As WBRC television news reporter Cynthia Gould questions Friedman regarding perceived insults that those who signed the petition could not grasp the ordinance’s concept, Council Attorney Michael Choy suddenly begins screaming at Gould that she “started all this,” calling the reporter a “bitch.” Two men restrain him as he appears to lunge towards the female reporter. Choy breaks away slightly from the men’s grasp, pointing at Gould as he moves toward her, yelling that “you don’t know who you’re fu**ing with.” Again, the out-of- control Council attorney is restrained as he continues his verbal assault on Gould. Choy is finally escorted into the conference room followed by Council President Bell and Council publicist Ken Mullinax. While Choy remains confined to the conference room until he calms down and order can be restored to the City Hall corridor, a speaker in the hallway broadcasts the Council passing a $185-an-hour pay raise for attorney Choy. &

Editor’s note: Choy resigned as City Council attorney after this incident.

City Hall

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City Hall

September 12, 1000

By Ed Reynolds

write the author

September 28, 2000

Council President Pro Tem Aldrich Gunn supervises today’s meeting in the absence of President William Bell. A resolution commending the Birmingham Pledge Task Force, MSNBC, and Newsweek for their participation in the Birmingham Summit, a two-day conference designed to promote racial harmony, is the first order of business. Gunn tells the Council that his third child was born the night the bomb killed the four young girls at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Mayor Bernard Kincaid, who has refused to sign the Pledge because it fails to stress actions over words, notes that this [recognition of the Pledge, including its author, Bill Rotch] is an “awkward moment for the Mayor.” He reminds the Council that Birmingham has come a long way, emphasizing that he is working with officials of the Pledge to “take action steps,” which he believes will make the document more concrete.

Councilor Jimmy Blake explains his “no” vote on the resolution, insisting that the Pledge demands “we not sit quietly when we see things that, in my judgment, are not acting or behaving in a manner that’s going to reduce racism but, in fact, might inflame racism.” Blake further condemns those whom he regards as “blind in one eye.” He elaborates: “They can see black but they can not see white. They can see racism in white people but they refuse to see racism in black people.” Blake reassures everyone that he opposes racism by both blacks and whites. The councilor further condemns the presence of Johnnie Cochran and Al Sharpton at tonight’s town hall meeting on racism at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Blake refers to their presence at the meeting as “outrageous,” prompting Councilor Sandra Faye Little to shout “point of order” to quiet Blake. He then goes on a tirade about last week’s Council meeting that addressed minority hiring practices by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, referring with disgust to what he called attempts to “hold UAB hostage.”

Councilor Bill Johnson, whose wife is actively promoting the Birmingham Pledge, says that Blake’s comment about the UAB racial hiring discussion proves that “it’s [racial discrimination] there. It’s under the surface all the time.” Blake responds to Johnson: “I very much value the Birmingham Pledge,” stressing that it will only work if “we’re not hypocritical as to how we apply it.” Blake reads a line from the Pledge to illustrate his point: I will discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity. “I am a white guy who’s saying, ‘Hey, this is a two-way street,’” explains the councilor. “And by showing that kind of disrespect, Mr. Johnson, you are . . . ” Johnson immediately interrupts Blake, calling him “out of order because this item’s over!” Blake slips in a final word, shaking his head, saying to Councilor Gunn, “Mr. Pro Tem, our order in this chamber seems to be racially motivated sometimes.”

Approximately 20 residents living near the Birmingham International Airport are present for a public hearing on the formation of a permanent task force seeking solutions to unbearable living conditions created by airplanes flying over neighborhoods. “Just imagine if you lived out in the area and had 80 flights flying over your house every day,” Councilor Johnson tells the Council. Gunn reduces the traditional three minutes each citizen is allowed to address the Council during public hearings to one minute. Objections echo through the council chambers. Justifying the time reduction as necessary because of the large number of people desiring to speak, Gunn notes that “nobody lives any closer to the airport than I do.” An airport neighborhood resident shouts, “Yeah? Well why don’t you represent us like you’re supposed to?” An angry Gunn calls for a police officer to remove anyone else who speaks out of turn again.

Councilor Lee Loder joins Johnson in protesting Gunn’s one minute allotment. A vote is taken on how long to allow residents to speak, but Blake’s temporary absence from the chambers gives Gunn the majority he needs to enforce the one-minute rule. Gunn then agrees to give each speaker a five- second warning when their minute is up. Councilor Johnson is obviously disgusted.

Included in residents’ complaints about the airport is the dumping of excess fuel by airliners before landing, which neighborhood residents blame for respiratory ailments, leukemia, and cancer. One woman says even the animals are acting out of character. “Birds don’t sing and nest like they used to. And the squirrels act nutty,” she explains. Another resident invites councilors to live with her for a week to observe the deplorable conditions in which she and her four-year-old daughter live. An elderly woman warns that future airport extensions will be keep residents from sleeping day and night. “You think we’re living in hell now? Just wait until they start more expansion,” she says. She also notes that there are “children that have been in their yard playing, putting things in their mouth. Down the road those children are going to have diseases and sicknesses that will be traced back to the airport.” Local radio talk show host Frank Matthews, who has been an airport neighborhood resident for a decade, issues a threat. “I firmly believe that it takes a revolution to get a solution,” Matthews says, noting that residents could be relocated for $10 million. “We’re gonna make you understand the way Miami does things. Therefore, I threaten you [the Council] this morning that we will take our cars early one morning so you won’t know when it will happen, and we will line them up and stop people from getting into that airport!” Gunn responds that this action would likely land Matthews in jail.

After the neighborhood representatives have finished addressing the Council, Johnson explains that the primary goal of the task force is to open better lines of communication between the Airport Authority, the community, and elected representatives. Mayor Kincaid expresses his support for the task-force resolution, acknowledging that residents are certainly justified for feeling ignored, as the Airport Authority did not hire a public-relations representative until earlier this year. Councilor Blake demands that the Airport Authority reveal its future expansion plans, noting that the Council should be included in whatever decisions are made regarding expansion.

Councilor MacDermott is critical of pilots, noting that even though the airport is not in his district, the airplanes fly directly over his house. “Stray pilots like to see how close they can cut it [flying too close to his home].” Councilor Pat Alexander, who is on the Airport Authority, promises she will do everything in her power to bring the Authority and residents to common ground.

Determined to get the final word, Councilor Gunn says that no one has lived near the airport as long as he has. He suggests that the Council hold a meeting there with the Airport Authority present to “hear your [neighborhood residents] whims.” To illustrate his empathy with the neighborhood, Gunn recounts his own personal airport nightmares. He repeats a story he frequently tells about the afternoon in 1944 when he watched in horror as a skydiver’s parachute failed to open at an air show. &