Jefferson County commissioners approved funding a town hall meeting on rising sewer rates Thursday, but not without lengthy debate of whether proper procedures were being followed. The gathering will be in the meeting room at Regions Field on Monday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. Doors will open at 5 p.m. Read more.
Sworn personnel of the sheriff’s department received a 5 percent cost-of-living raise when the Jefferson County Commission met in Bessemer Thursday. The raise in the sheriff’s department is on top of the raise given to Jefferson County employees at the beginning of this fiscal year. Sheriff Mark Pettway said the extra pay is needed to keep his department competitive with nearby law enforcement departments. “We are losing officers, deputies, daily to surrounding agencies,” he said. “We want to maintain those that we have and bring on good people to work inside the sheriff’s department. Everybody works for money, so we want to make sure that we’re competitive.” Read more.
Citizens of Jefferson County could only imagine the discussion and debate that happened when commissioners assembled for their committee meetings. The five representatives meet in a board room around the corner from their offices with their respective staffs, the county attorney, the county manager and his staff and perhaps a few others. But Tuesday’s commission committee meeting ushered in a new age for Jefferson County citizens, who were given a peek inside the proceedings courtesy of Commissioner Lashunda Scales. The commission president pro tem brought livestreaming to the business of Jefferson County as a member of her staff broadcast the committee meeting via the internet. She promises to continue to practice with internet broadcasts of future committee meetings and full commission meetings. Read more.
Jefferson County Commissioners are planning a town hall meeting to explain sewer rate increases being made as a result of the county’s bankruptcy. Read more.
Jimmie Stephens said “it wouldn’t be right” for Jefferson County to spend money preparing for the move of UAB West Hospital to McCalla only to have the hospital annexed by neighboring Bessemer. “It wouldn’t be right for the county to expend all those dollars on infrastructure in unincorporated Jefferson County for them to reap those benefits and then go away,” Stephens said following Thursday’s Jefferson County Commission meeting. “We want to work with our municipalities,” the commission president said. “If the CEO of UAB West wants to go into Bessemer, that’s fine. But they should do the infrastructure. If you do the infrastructure with the county, it should be in the (unincorporated part of the) county.” Stephens said there’s no news concerning plans for the new hospital. “It’s still planning to be moved,” the commission president said. “We haven’t gotten any drawings. We haven’t gotten any of the infrastructure work that will be done.” Read more.
Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales expressed concern Tuesday about the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute cancelling its plans to honor Birmingham native and Civil Rights icon Angela Davis. BCRI was to have given Davis its Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at its annual gala next month. That event has been cancelled, and plans to give the award to Davis have been rescinded. “I believe that (BCRI) board members … need to be very cautious that we’re not trying to rewrite the American history according to African Americans, or blacks or the Negro experience,” Scales said. “We all want to embrace diversity, but diversity should not come at the expense of telling the history that makes us uncomfortable.” by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Commissioner Lashunda Scales wasn’t content to simply talk about approving fiscal 2019 funding for ClasTran. The president pro tem broached the subject of Jefferson County providing more funding to the company charged with providing transportation to many area senior citizens. “ClasTran, to me, has always been underfunded,” Scales said as she chaired the committee meeting of the Jefferson County Commission. “Not just necessarily with the county but even with the municipal government I just came from. ClasTran provides a very critical part of our transportation that meets the needs of our seniors (and) those individuals who have disabilities. “We need to try to get to as many of those cities within our county that we can provide this service to,” she continued. “That was my ultimate concern. Those cities that can’t afford it, can we help offset the cost.” Read more.
Economic development is likely to be a primary focus for Jefferson County and the County Commission during 2019. The county hit a mother lode, or at least the offshoot of one, during 2018 with Amazon and DC Blox announcing they are establishing operations in Bessemer and North Titusville, respectively. Look for Jefferson County to continue prospecting for more golden nuggets in 2019. Read more.
More What to Watch in 2019
By Land, Water or Air, Pollution Will Be a Controversial Topic Throughout the Year
Environmental issues have made headlines throughout 2018, and 2019 promises to be no different.
Decisions will be made that affect the cleanliness of the state’s waters, air and land. Issues that will affect recycling, coal mining and solar, nuclear and hydropower generation also are looming on the horizon. Here are a few of the issues to watch in 2019.
Gas Tax Is a Top Priority in 2019 Legislative Session
A gasoline tax increase to fund road improvements is expected to be a major topic of the 2019 Alabama legislative session. Legislators also are expecting several hundred million more dollars to spend in the education budget and will be debating raises, a child literacy program and other education improvements. Other issues include funding improvements in prisons and a possible lottery proposal. Read more.
The Jefferson County Commission unanimously agreed to a contract with Big Marketing and Communications today, but not without Commissioner Lashunda Scales again expressing her opposition to contracts that don’t reflect the county’s need to increase its dealings with historically under-represented businesses. Jesse Lewis spoke to the commission as it considered the contract to rebrand the county and promote its bicentennial. He said there is an oral agreement between Big Marketing and Communications and his company, Agency 54. “I trust Big Communications, and we have agreed to do half of the work and we get half of the money,” Lewis said. As the contract is for $204,560, Lewis’ company would get $101,780. “We have agreed to that and if that changes, I’m no longer interested.” Lewis said. “I strongly recommend that you approve the contract as is. If you don’t do that, it’ll be March or April before you reach a conclusion.” Read more.
Lashunda Scales wanted to make one thing perfectly clear. The president pro tem of the Jefferson County Commission was not “playing the race card” as she debated a proposed contract on rebranding the county. Scales’ concern centered on a contract county manager Tony Petelos presented for a professional services agreement with Big Marketing and Communications. The $203,500 contract did not spell out how historically under-utilized business enterprises would be represented in this agreement. “Let me say this so this doesn’t turn into a race card conversation,” Scales said Tuesday. “If it were someone white, if it were someone of any other race, if there is not inclusion, I’m going to ask the question as to why. The county makeup is of all races of people, all classes of people. If it does not reflect that, I’d like for us to work within the same vein and cooperative spirit to make it right.” Read more.
