Candidates Line Up to Replace Larry Langford
November 12th, 2009Birmingham Special Election Fast Approaching Dec. 8
by Glynn Wilson
The conviction and departure of Larry Langford as the controversial mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, and the fast approaching special election to replace him scheduled for Dec. 8, has a number of candidates scrambling to raise money, put up Web sites and hold press conferences to announce their intentions to run.
Attorney Patrick Cooper, who placed second to Langford in 2007, announced his candidacy last Thursday, saying he would fight unemployment, crime and declining schools.
The special election was set last week by the local election commission after Langford was convicted on 60 counts of bribery and fraud and removed from office. He still declares his innocence and vows to appeal.
Jefferson County Commissioner William A. Bell will officially declare his candidacy during a press conference on Thursday, November 12, at 10 a.m. across from City Hall at Linn Park.
Dr. Bell has dedicated many years toward serving the public and “brings years of honesty, integrity and experience with him as he pursues the office of mayor,” according to a press release. He is asking the residents who have trusted his vision and leadership in the past to come out and support his candidacy.
“For the good of the city, I am committed to making a sacrifice to move Birmingham forward,” he said. “In order to do that, we need you, the voters, to help us make that happen and make Birmingham the city it should be.”
Acting Mayor Carole Smitherman declined to say whether or not she would join the race, according to local press sources, but Greater Birmingham Ministries executive director Scott Douglas is planning to announce his candidacy Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in Kelly Ingram Park.
“People are tired of senseless conflict,” he said on his Facebook page. “I hear your frustration with broken promises, insufferable bureaucracies, unnecessary delays, deteriorating neighborhoods and broken communities. I not only recognize the need for increased cooperation and collaboration among people, neighborhoods non-profits, business, and governmental entities, I believe as mayor that I can help make such cooperation possible.”
Several local environmental activists have recently expressed an interest in the candidacy of Douglas on their Facebook pages. His campaign is promising “green jobs, green schools, green transportation, green communities.”
Editor’s Note: As an alternative, independent Web only news sites with more of a national and statewide focus, we don’t normally cover local politics in Birmingham. But due to the sad state of local media, we have been asked by a number of readers to spend some time covering this race.
Tags: Alabama, Birmingham, Larry Langford, Mayor
November 12th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Scott Douglas is an intriguing candidate. Creating green jobs programs in Bham is a win/win with long term as well as short term benefits.
I am not as fond of William Bell, who is still connected in my mind to the Arrington machine.
Cooper will be tough to beat, but I have been rubbed wrong by quite a few of his supporters who were also very vocal Bham bashers. For some reason I associate him with being the Republican candidate, and I am concerned about the amount of money that he is able to raise. However, his commercial was interesting in that he talked of using city funds to hire the unemployed as part of his anti-crime bill (which strikes me as New Deal-ish.) If he would take it one step further and commit to putting this money into green jobs then I may change my opinion (assuming I actually believe him.)
Carole Smitherman has done a decent job of taking advantage of her time as mayor to clean up some of the most obvious problems left behind by Langford. What is not so clear are what her plans are for moving Bham forward.
November 12th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
You keep up with things as well as any of my former NewsBreak customers, Si, so I would be interested your thoughts on some issues, at some point over a beer or in the comments.
You know my love-hate relationship with this place to some extent, so you know I have little hope for Birmingham achieving much as a “major city,” ever.
It is of a size, however, that it could possibly be turned into a livable little city, but I don’t see that happening considering history and development patterns. White-flight screwed Birmingham, and unlike Atlanta, the so-called bedroom suburbs are mostly municipalities of their own. They don’t vote or pay taxes in Birmingham, so they are separate and have no stake in it…
At the same time, all the press and TeeVee media attention focuses on Birmingham, people in Hoover say they are from Birmingham, and thus there is a schizoid personality endemic to the place. Add massive religious baggage, a famous racial strife, a police state bunker mentality — and exploiting monopoly corporations from the beginning — and you just want to move to Portland, or better yet, Humboldt County.
Even if you found a decent mayor the Birmingham News would leave alone, and you started a concerted, well-led effort right now, it would take 10 solid years to fix this place. You have to be in it for the long-haul. That might be worth it if there were enough of an economy here for what you do, if you could actually make a living here.
In any event, we’ll see if the story even gets interesting. Looks to me like the election is too hastily called to expect a real vetting process for the candidates, so the one’s with money and name recognition who have run before will dominate.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
This election can be a bit unpredictable because it is so rushed. Cooper has the money, Bell has an organization and deep roots in the community, Smitherman gets her name out with every action she takes as mayor. I don’t know what to expect from Douglas, he seems to walk around in my circle so he intrigues me. However if he is going to depend on Bham’s environmental movement to bolster his election chances…. I am not sure if they are organized enough to be of much help.
As I see it, Cooper has the advantage as I think Langford’s supporters will split amongst the other candidates…. however, his supporters could kill some of his momentum if they are similar to the ones I have met/read.
Cooper may emerge as a good leader as he appears to be intelligent with good communication skills. Birmingham needs a massive investment into its infrastructure and if they were smart about it, they would aggressively create regulations and investment in greening Bham… then create plans that are “shovel ready” with an eye on emerging stimulus funds II. The important part is “aggressively”. A deeps south city attempting to go green can generate quite a bit of attention and momentum to bring in assistance.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:38 am
The problem with that strategy becoming a reality is the conservative, anti-intellectual press. If there was a real progressive press willing to drive the debate, something might happen. But as long as the press has to cater to the churches, the GOP and the suburbs to survive, there’s not much hope…