Jefferson County Assistant Tax Assessor Charles R. Winston Jr. Party: Democrat Age: 65 Residence: Hueytown Political experience: Has been assistant tax assessor, in charge of office in the Bessemer Division, since 2015; elected constable four times. Professional experience: Member, Alabama Association of Tax Administrators and the Alabama Association of Assessing Officials; candidate for Certified Tax
Jefferson County Tax Assessor Gaynell Hendricks Party: Democrat Age: 69 Residence: Downtown Birmingham/Loft District Political experience: Successfully won two 6-year terms as Jefferson County Tax Assessor. First woman and first African American to hold the seat. Professional experience: Entrepreneur; founder and owner of Wee Care Academy Childcare Centers since 1988. Civic experience: Served on numerous
Rather than adding to the just approved fiscal 2021 budget, Jefferson County Commissioners said Tuesday that money called for from a recent classification survey would come from the county’s contingency fund. Chief Financial Officer Angela Dixon presented a resolution for an increase in funds related to a community development specialist position. The survey called for additional funds totaling $119,280. “We’re in a brand-new budget,” Commissioner Steve Ammons said. “Why would this survey not be done prior to us doing the budget so we don’t have a budget amendment just 45 days into the budget?” Commission President Jimmie Stephens moved to change the funding request, with the money coming from the commission’s contingency fund rather than the balance of the budget. Read more.
Updated — The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to implement new software for the Birmingham Police Department’s real-time crime center, despite public concerns that the agreement could pave the way for facial recognition software to be used by city law enforcement. The resolution will allow the city to lease-purchase rights to Motorola Solutions’ CommandCentral Aware and BriefCam softwares at a total cost of $1,315,659 over a five-year period. Fifteen residents — several of whom had also vocally opposed Mayor Randall Woodfin’s FY 2021 budget — spoke against the proposed agreement at Tuesday’s meeting, expressing concerns that BriefCam’s capability for facial recognition could have a negative impact on residents, particularly Black people, who are misidentified by such software far more often than white people. Read more.
Monday, Oct. 19, is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 general election. You still may register to vote online through the Secretary of State’s Office. Go here to fill out the form online. You also can register at your county’s Board of Registrars and other locations. In Birmingham, you can register at the Board of Registrars Office in the downtown courthouse; the revenue or probate departments in the Bessemer courthouse; and at most libraries. You can find those locations listed on the registration locations link here. Read more.
Hundreds of people lined up in Linn Park on Saturday to cast their absentee ballots in person. The Jefferson County Commission decided to open the courthouse for in-person absentee voting this Saturday and next because people have been waiting in line for up to three hours to vote during the week. The Alabama Poor People’s Campaign was among several groups manning tables in the park with absentee ballot applications for voters to fill out before they got in the official line to vote. Volunteers also could make a photo ID in case a voter did not have one, which is required before they cast their ballots. “At least one step will be done before getting inside the courthouse,” said the Rev. Carolyn Foster, one of the chairs of the state Poor People’s Campaign. Read more.
Following are contributions of $5,000 and up to U.S. Senate candidates Doug Jones and Tommy Tuberville, as listed in reports filed Thursday with the Federal Elections Commission for the period of July 1 through Sept. 30. Read more.
The courthouses in Birmingham and Bessemer will be open for in-person absentee voting the next two Saturdays, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. The move comes in response to long lines and wait times to cast absentee ballots in person in recent weeks. Jefferson County Probate Judge James Naftel said that, as of Wednesday, the county was processing more than 25,000 absentee ballots and ballot applications. That’s compared to about 10,500 absentee ballots cast in the 2016 general election. Read more.
The counting has stopped, but nobody is releasing any tallies yet for the 2020 U.S. census in Alabama, and those final tallies hold the keys to federal funding and congressional redistricting. Spokespersons and Census Bureau websites tell us that “99.9%” of the households in the state have either self-responded or answered questions from a door-knocking census mop-up worker. But just try to find out what that 99.9% is 99.9% of. If you go to the state response section of the Census 2020 site, it gets even more confusing. Read more.
Sen. Doug Jones, generally regarded as the most vulnerable member of the U.S. Senate in the November elections, is approaching Election Day with huge advantages over Republican challenger Tommy Tuberville in fundraising and spending. Reports filed Thursday with the Federal Elections Commission show the freshman Democrat raised about three times as much as Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, and spent almost five times as much during the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. Read more. Recent Contributors to Jones and Tuberville
