Category: Birmingham City Council
Birmingham Lawyer Appointed to Replace Former Mayor Kincaid on Park Board
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to appoint attorney Carly Miller to the city’s five-member Park and Recreation Board, replacing former Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid. Kincaid had served on the board since 2011, and his second term on the board expired Oct. 8.
Miller is an associate at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP with a legal focus on construction, government contracting and energy. Her term on the Park and Recreation Board will last through Oct. 8, 2022. Read more.
Birmingham Council Appoints 2 to Land Bank Authority Board, Pushes It to Become Self-Sustaining
The Birmingham City Council appointed two new members to the Birmingham Land Bank Authority’s board of directors during Tuesday’s meeting, but not before councilors repeated their oft-stated beliefs that the organization should make greater strides toward autonomy from the city. Read more.
Eyes in the Sky: Birmingham Partners With Alabama Power, JeffCo Sheriff’s Office for New Surveillance Program
Big Brother might be watching you.
That’s the intended message, at least, of a new agreement between the City of Birmingham and Alabama Power Co. that will allow for the installation of nearly 100 surveillance cameras at undisclosed points throughout the city.
The $672,000 annual contract is part of a pilot program intended to deter crime in Birmingham neighborhoods and to provide data to the Jefferson County Metro Area Crime Center, which serves as a communications hub for 16 local law enforcement agencies.
The cameras are intended to combat violent crime in the city, which has seen a marked uptick in violent crime — homicides in particular — since 2015. Read more.
Birmingham Council Replacement Delayed by Trip
The search for Jay Roberson’s replacement on the Birmingham City Council will stretch on for at least another week. Interviews to fill the council’s empty District 7 seat were slated to begin Thursday, but they have been pushed back a week due to the absence of District 9 Councilor John Hilliard.
Hilliard asked that interviews be delayed because he already had been scheduled to be out of the country Sept. 27-29 for an “economic venture … on city business.”
“I want to be here for those interviews,” Hilliard said. “I thought my colleagues would be accommodating.”
Council President Valerie Abbott agreed to push the interviews back a week so that Hilliard could attend. Read more.
Ensley Shell Station May Remain Open Despite Killings, Council Decides
After nearly two months of debate, an Ensley gas station where three homicides have taken place will remain open, the Birmingham City Council decided Tuesday.
Antonio Jerrell Taylor was fatally shot at the Shell at 800 Third Ave. W. on June 10. Taylor was the third person to be killed there since 2015, leading the council to consider revoking its business license.
The List Is In: 13 Apply to Fill Roberson’s Seat on the Birmingham Council
Thirteen people have applied to fill the seat of former Birmingham City Councilor Jay Roberson, who announced his resignation last month. The lineup includes a former board of education president, a handful of candidates who previously ran for the District 7 seat, and a current member of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, among others. Read more.
Birmingham Council Delays Selecting New Pro Tem After Roberson’s Departure
The eight members of the Birmingham City Council spent much of Tuesday morning’s meeting focused on the daïs’ sole empty chair, stuck on the question of how to replace former President Pro Tempore Jay Roberson.
Roberson, who had represented District 7 on the council since 2009, announced his resignation last month, citing his wife’s new job with Alabaster City Schools. He officially left office Monday, meaning that Tuesday’s meeting was the first in which the remaining members of the council could vote on his replacement.
They didn’t, though. The deadline for applications to fill Roberson’s seat had been extended to Tuesday afternoon. Council President Valerie Abbott attempted unsuccessfully to hold a vote for Roberson’s replacement as president pro tem. Read more.
Birmingham to Request Expansion of Foreign-Trade Subzone to Include BNSF Railway
The City of Birmingham will apply to expand its foreign-trade subzone to include a property owned by BNSF Railway, a move proponents argued would extend the Mercedes-Benz brand within the city.
Foreign-trade subzones are areas within the United States in which a certain company’s commercial merchandise is not subject to import tariffs and taxes, which is intended to lower costs for companies engaged in international trade. BNSF Railway wants to add a 261-acre area near Finley Boulevard, which officials said could make the city more “business-friendly” to Mercedes-Benz, one of BNSF’s clients. Read more.
Giving It Away or Only Fair? Bham Council Debates Ceding Rights-of-Way
A little less of Birmingham will be accessible to the public in the wake of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, in which the council ceded two rights-of-way to private companies.
The council also voted to close portions of two downtown streets to make way for the construction of the BJCC’s new open-air stadium.
Of the two rights-of-way discussions, the first — which focused on a stretch of property on the corner of 13th Street South and First Avenue South, near Railroad Park — proved to be the more controversial. Read more.
Birmingham Council Limits Spending by Outgoing Councilor
Jay Roberson wasn’t present at Tuesday’s Birmingham City Council meeting, but his recently announced resignation loomed over proceedings. A discussion over whether to reallocate funding for parks in his district led to a prolonged debate over how much spending power lame-duck councilors should have — with the only present outgoing councilor, District 1’s Lashunda Scales, expressing outrage that the discussion was even happening. Read more.
