Oct. 17, 2017 — Three outgoing councilors bid their farewells during Tuesday’s meeting of the Birmingham City Council, the last before the new council’s Oct. 24 swearing-in.

But the impending infusion of new blood did little to keep the council from engaging in one perennial debate — about funding for the Magic City Classic — or to keep it from appointing a handful of new parks and transit board members, despite protestations from one councilor.

Debate over the $675,000 in city funds allocated to the Magic City Classic — an annual football match between Alabama A&M and Alabama State University that takes place at Legion Field — echoed a similar argument from last year, with some councilors expressing frustration over the lack of specifics regarding where the money would be spent.

Council President Pro Tem Steven Hoyt and District 2 Councilor Lashunda Scales were both outspoken about their dissatisfaction with the lack of transparency despite earlier requests for a breakdown of spending.

“The information that we asked specifically for … why has it not been provided?” asked Scales, who said she was concerned that the money was not being spent with women- and minority owned businesses. “We ask this question every year … except I think we’re being more firm about it this year than we’ve been in the past, because I think it’s a shame that we even have to ask this question from the start.”

Other councilors contended that, since the Magic City Classic is slated for Oct. 28, it was too late to raise those concerns.

“It’s awfully late to be making an issue of this now,” said District 3 Councilor Valerie Abbott. “This should have been made an issue of six months ago.”

Abbott balked at allocating funds for the Classic last October, voting against the measure because the council had not been given a breakdown of spending.

Councilor Jay Roberson, of District 7, argued that the council was “riding a fine line right now,” and that continued debate over the spending would persuade Alabama A&M and Alabama State to move the game elsewhere, depriving the city of the game’s reported $20 million economic impact.

Hoyt dismissed Roberson’s remarks as “inflammatory” and “disingenuous.”

“Nothing is going to stop this game,” he said.

The council decided to table discussion until the mayor’s office could provide a copy of the city’s contract with the participating universities, a list of every expenditure covered by the $675,000 and a list of participating vendors. When the list was provided, Scales and Hoyt expressed disappointment that it did not include more minority- and women-owned businesses and that so much of the funding would go toward private parties.

Eventually, the council voted to allocate roughly $666,000 to the event, leaving out approximately $9,000 that would have been spent on furniture for private parties for corporate sponsors. Hoyt and District 9 Councilor Marcus Lundy abstained from the vote; all other councilors, except for an absent Sheila Tyson, voted yes.

The council also appointed new members to the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board and the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, despite Abbott’s urging that the council wait for new council members to be sworn in before the appointments were made. Her motion for a two-week delay was voted down by the council.

The council appointed Bernard Kincaid, Montiel Morton, Ronald Mitchell and Larry Cockrell to the Parks and Recreation Board; Ruby Davis, Tomeka Wren, Myeisha Hutchinson, Kevin Powe and Theodore Smith were appointed to the BJCTA.

 

Final Thoughts

While Councilor Kim Abbott (née Rafferty) left midway through the meeting, Lundy and Council President Johnathan Austin spent the last few minutes of the meeting reflecting on their time in office and bidding farewell to their fellow councilors. Abbott and Austin were defeated in the Oct. 3 runoff elections by Hunter Williams and Darrell O’Quinn, respectively; Lundy chose not to seek re-election, with John Hilliard elected to take his seat.

Lundy said that God “gave me a vision in 2011” to run for public office, and despite his misgivings, he decided to “enter into pharaoh’s court.” Lundy asserted that he had “not taken a dime of y’all’s (the taxpayers’) money,” and that he’d “tried to be a fiduciary agent.”

“All I’ve tried to do is hold folks accountable and improve processes and make this city better,” he said. “If I don’t wake up tomorrow, y’all know Lundy tried.”

Austin remarked that it had been a “joy and a privilege and an honor” to serve on the council for nine years.

“I’m very happy with the things that this council has been able to accomplish over the last almost-decade since I’ve been here,” he said. “And one thing I want to leave all of y’all with, especially the new council and the new mayor … . What we have experienced over the last four years is a serious paradigm shift, and it’s evidenced by the results of the elections that took place on Aug. 22 and Oct. 3. And that’s a good thing for our city. It’s a good place for us to be … . Regardless of the conflicts that we’ve had with our current mayor, the city has grown. We have been able to make progress … . We can certainly say without a doubt that we are leaving this city in much better shape than it was in when we got here.”