Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens asked before Thursday’s commission meeting who in the room will root for Alabama State and who for Alabama A&M during Saturday’s Magic City Classic.

No one had to ask Daren Lanier which way he was leaning. The deputy county manager, who earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from A&M in 1988, made his allegiance clear as he wore a white and maroon Alabama A&M tie.

Commissioner Joe Knight chose not to pick a winner of the 2:30 p.m. Saturday contest at Legion Field. But he did deliver a quip to Lanier.

“Are the Hornets going to sting you again this year?” he asked, referencing A&M having won the past three Classics in a row.

Stephens’ fandom was less apparent than that of Lanier. The District 3 commissioner called himself a “double Bulldog” after having earned his undergraduate degree from Samford University and doing graduate work at Alabama A&M, each of which has a Bulldog as its mascot.

“We want to have a good, safe weekend, great weather, a good ballgame and a Bulldog victory,” he said as he concluded the meeting.

The light-hearted Classic banter was indicative of the uneventful meeting.

Fifty-seven resolutions that commissioners vetted during their committee meeting on Tuesday were approved without further discussion in Thursday’s meeting, held in Bessemer. Those resolutions included a 10-year tax abatement for the noneducational portion of sales and property taxes requested by ITU Absorb Tech, which is a supplier of environmentally friendly industrial absorbents, towels, mats, garments and other launderable textiles.

The company is considering developing an operation in JeffMet McCalla, an industrial park of the Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority.