Seventh Congressional District highlighted in green
In a recently completed Caputo Report poll, Birmingham attorney Terri Sewell topped the list of candidates vying for the congressional seat currently help by Rep. Artur Davis. Sewell received 53% of the votes in the non-scientific poll. Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot finished second followed by state representative Earl Hilliard, Jr.
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Below is a post from politicalparlor.net that provides a quick run down on who’s in charge of Birmingham’s government. Expect many candidates to run when a special election is held later this year. Let’s hope Birmingham voter make the right decision when they head to the polls. Now more than ever, the city needs an honest, unifying leader with a clear vision for the future. Who fits that bill?
Carole Smitherman to Become Interim Birmingham Mayor Filed under: Local Politics — Danny @ 4:41 pm
Birmingham City Council President Carole Smitherman, wife of Alabama Senate President pro tempore Rodger Smitherman (D), will become interim mayor of the state’s largest city now that Langford has been convicted. Next month, the city council will elect its council president for the new term, and that person (perhaps Smitherman still) will be the interim mayor until a special election can be held. Unless it is determined Smitherman, as interim mayor, is ineligible to be elected City Council President next month and she stays on as interim mayor. Potential for confusion next month. Read more here.
Republican Bradley Byrne soundly defeated Democrat Artur Davis 70%-30% in the Caputo Report’s recently completed head to head gubernatorial contest. Almost 100 readers participated in the non-scientific poll. Byrne, a native of Baldwin county, is favored by many political pundits to be the next governor of Alabama.
Alabama is in Tuscaloosa this afternoon (2:30 CBS) to take on their much-despised rival, the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee has not shown me much this season to make me think they have a chance on the road. Meanwhile, Auburn travels to Baton Rouge (6:30 ESPN 2) to take on my alma mater, LSU. Given LSU’s woeful offense, I may end up eating crow on this prediction, but I have to think LSU gets back on track and beats Auburn by at least 10 points.
For a complete TV schedule of today’s games, click here.
Earlier this week, the Hoover City Council voted to end BJCTA bus service to Hoover. While I was at the Birmingham Regional Chamber, there was a lot of talk about improving regional transit. However, based on the minimal outcry from Hoover’s decision and reader comments on al.com, I’m not sure there is much interest in the general public for transit outside of those who are transit dependent.
For live updates throughout Mayor Langford’s trial, follow Kyle Whitmire from the Birmingham Weekly on Twitter: @bhamweekly. John Archibald from the Birmingham News is also tweeting from the courthouse: @JohnArchibald.
On a recent trip to Mobile, I noticed that the city’s transit system uses vans (pictured at left) for a number of its routes. Due to their smaller size, I have to think that they are more efficient to operate than the much larger 30 and 40 foot buses operated by the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA). Furthermore, the vans cost substantially less than the $400,000 cost of a bus. According to Tyrone Parker, General Manager of Mobile’s transit system, the smaller vehicles cost between $60-70,000 each–a price that could allow the BJCTA to quickly replace some of its aging and often broken fleet. Are vans the answer for every route in Birmingham? No, but I think it definitely could help on many routes that have buses filled far below capacity. What do you think?
Readers of this blog know that I have been an advocate of Birmingham’s proposed In-Town Transit Partnership project—a bus rapid transit (BRT) project that will connect Five Points South and UAB to the central business district and the downtown civic center complex via an 18th Street corridor. The project also includes five neighborhood connectors to tie Birmingham residents into the BRT system.
Earlier this fall, the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPC) applied for a $65 million federal stimulus grant to fully fund the startup costs of the ITP project. While I would like to see Birmingham receive the grant, there are a couple of factors that may ultimately keep the city from prevailing.
Today’s Wall Street Journal includes an interesting opinion piece that argues that several of the supposed insurance reforms contained in the health care reform bills pending in Congress have already failed at the state level. It may sound appealing to prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, but someone has to pay for the increased costs that come with insuring sick people. And guess what? It’s not going to be the insurance companies…it’ll be consumers. Remember, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. America deserves better than failed policies masquerading as true reform.
