Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — The U.S. House and Senate on Dec. 21 gave approval to a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that would start delivering benefits immediately. The House voted 359 for and 53 against HR 133 and the Senate voted 92 for and six against. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-5, was the only member of Alabama’s delegation who voted against the bill. Read more.
Birmingham’s finances appear to be holding steady despite COVID-19’s impact on city revenues, finance director Lester Smith told city councilors Tuesday afternoon — though he warned that a clear picture of the city’s financial health won’t be visible until March. Read more.
After 45 years of scrutiny, five years in receivership and two years in monitorship, Jefferson County has been released from its consent decree governing hiring and employment practices. Senior U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith signed the order that brought the decree to an end. “It is a validation of what we have done since we've arrived here in Jefferson County,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said at a hastily called press conference Monday afternoon. “It validates the actions that we have shown you and shown the citizens of Jefferson County, that our hiring practices are progressive, they are color blind, they are gender blind and they represent the population of Jefferson County, whom we serve.” Read more.
Richard Shelby was sworn in to the United States House of Representatives in 1979, eight years before he took his current place in the Senate. He was 44 years old at the time, and also a Democrat. A lot has changed for the Birmingham native since then. Having switched to the Republican Party in 1994 after the GOP’s historic sweep of Congress, Shelby has assumed a great deal of influence in the Senate, now serving as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee. It’s a position that has helped him steer federal money to the state since he took the gavel two years ago, and it’s a chairmanship that Shelby — and many of his Republican friends back in Alabama — is keen to keep. But time is not on his side. With two years remaining in his sixth and term, Shelby faces a huge decision: whether or not to run for re-election in 2022, when he would be 88 years old. It’s a decision Shelby has said he will announce sometime in January. Read more.
Alabama plans a 3,100-inmate prison in the Brierfield community of Bibb County, but officialdom holds all the cards and the governor isn't showing her hand. Even Bibb County administrator Derek Reeves responds to questions about the proposed prison by saying: "I don't know anything about that. We are not involved with the prison.” Gov. Kay Ivy has disclosed three general locations for prisons that the state will lease from their private developers. Brierfield, the last general area revealed, has received the coolest reception from the residents of Brierfield Estates, who are leading the opposition. Big questions loom involving how infrastructure would be provided in the rural area, such as treated water, sewage disposal and access roads. The precise site of the new prison has not been officially announced. But signs point to it being built at the intersection of A. Arker Road and Brickyard Pass about a mile west of Alabama 139, in the Ashby area. Such a large prison calls for about 500 acres, and the parcel at that location, which has been cleared to bare earth, fits the description released by the governor’s office. A road potentially suitable for heavy construction vehicles also has been cut into the site. Equipment and activity now at the site are of the type suitable for well drilling or environmental testing. A source with knowledge of the prison development confirmed that the site is, indeed, the intended location for the prison and that contractors are drilling a well there. Read more.
Lashunda Scales removed Mission Alabama from the entities getting Cares Act funds on Thursday during in the final meeting of the Jefferson County Commission for 2020. All of the federal money allotted to help entities deal with the challenges of the novel coronavirus pandemic were to have been allotted prior to Dec. 30. The commission is not scheduled to have another meeting before then. During their committee meeting on Tuesday, commissioners talked about the primary contractors –- Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity (JCCEO) and Birmingham Urban League –- involved in assisting residents with utility bills and mortgages. Mission Alabama was also included on today’s meeting agenda to be in line for funds. Read more.
A lawsuit filed last week by the U.S. Department of Justice could lead to federal supervision of Alabama’s prison system. It’s the culmination of an investigation that began in 2016 and resulted in two scathing reports, published April 2019 and July 2020, that detailed rampant abuse of inmates. Before filing the lawsuit, the DOJ spent more than a year negotiating with state officials and trying to get Alabama to improve its prison system. University of Alabama law professor Jenny Carroll said the federal government got tired of waiting. “I think the fact they did go ahead and file suggests that the solutions the state came up with and were bringing to the table and were offering just weren’t enough,” said Carroll. “They weren’t enough in light of what DOJ was finding.” Read more.
Jefferson County officials Tuesday took care to make sure all of the Cares Act money in their charge gets spent before the Dec. 30 deadline. The County Commission prepared to reallocate money entities couldn’t spend. Read more.
The city of Birmingham will apply for a $34 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the “comprehensive revitalization” of the Smithfield Court housing project. Read more.
Floyd Council, executive director of the Birmingham Public Library, announced his resignation Tuesday morning after three embattled years on the job. “After much prayer and consideration, I wanted you all to be the first to know that I will be announcing my resignation this week from my position as Executive Director of the Birmingham Public Library with plans to start the new year with other blessings and use of my gifts and talents to the Glory of God,” Council wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday morning. “Health, wellness and peace all come from God, not jobs, big salaries, and people.” Council did not give any motive for his resignation. He had spent parts of October and November suspended without pay by the BPL board of trustees for undisclosed reasons, but had returned to the job last month. The board had been scheduled to evaluate Council’s performance during a personnel committee meeting on Dec. 17. Read more.
