September 19, 2007
There was a mayoral forum last night at Workplay, and I caught it on CBS after getting home from class. I hope to God every day that anyone in my peer group who lives in Birmingham will vote on October 9th. I pay more in city occupational taxes than some people pay in homeowners taxes in the city of Birmingham, and I can't vote. All I can do is sit around and b*tch about the pathetic city council situation, since I am getting screwed big time.
The mayoral forum sounds on the surface like a real sleeper, but this is Birmingham. There was a diverse (and I am understating that term) group of around ten candidates, including some incumbents - city council members Abbott and Smitherman, the current mayor Bernard Kincaid, the former mayor's little puppet, William Bell, and extreme overspender and county commission member Larry Langford. Chances are good that one of those people will win the upcoming October 9 election.
The format was that the moderator asked a question and each candidate had a minute to answer it. There was one old fart who was totally crazy and couldn't speak an intellegible sentence. He claimed he has worked every type of job that ever existed on the planet (so therefore knows a lot about everything). His answers usually elicited peals of laugher from the audience. Kincaid's answers were indicative of his inability (or unwillingness) to get ANYTHING done during his current term. Langford's answers were indicative that he is going to spend every penny of the city's money on useless, overblown projects and then raise taxes for everyone so that he can spend some more.
I can pretty much assume that the most idiotic candidate (other than the confused old guy) is going to win this election because the voters in the city of Birmingham actually PREFER to vote for idiots. I am baffled, but willing to accept the fact that a lot of people don't want progress in this city.
However, if I could vote (and I could probably pay someone $20 to vote for me, which would be a lot better spent than the occupational taxes that come out of my salary), I would vote for Patrick Cooper. The guy has all of his marbles and seems to understand that laziness, selfishness and corruption do NOT benefit a city.
Posted by megabeth at September 19, 2007 08:07 AM
I'm in the same boat as you. Live outside the city but pay occupational taxes.
There's this same sense of dread that people in Birmingham can't see beyond the "usual suspects" running for office this time around.
Langford's a joke. Me thinks this race is just a way of staying ahead of some impending legal problems. The other shoe's about to drop there soon.
William Bell, for someone who's been in city government he seems to have no grasp of of the problems much less any solutions. His one point program to deal with crime is laughable.
Carol Smitherman? Don't get me started.
As for the old guy running, I guess any major polical race draws his like. Just remember Shorty Price?
Cooper's got appeal but I think most of it is for people who live outside the city.
Posted by: southtrek at September 19, 2007 11:03 AM
OMG! My wife and I watched this last night. I haven't laughed so hard in years. The old guy, Hendrix, was great! I kept thinking he was going to jump up and say, "Well you know I used to work with the Boy Scouts, I was a Theater Producer, I was a farmer, oh, and I am also Superman."
Then, you have Valerie Abbott whose plan to stop crime should be to "Get back her Ruby Slippers from that horrible twit Dorothy Gale."
I could go on, but really why? It doesn't matter who wins...we all lose.
Posted by: shadowhelm at September 19, 2007 03:31 PM
I feel as if I should probably know the answer to this question, but I'll ask it anyway. What are occupational taxes? Do you pay them if you work in a city, but don't live in it?
Thanks
Posted by: Cagey at September 19, 2007 08:19 PM
I have to agree with you: I'd vote for Patrick Cooper if I had a vote. I think if he could somehow be elected, we could turn things around. But I am not optimistic about that. My bet would be that Langford wins, unless somehow a majority of voters within the city limits reject all incumbents who have ever held city or county office.
Casey, you have the concept of occupational taxes right: "taxation without representation".
Posted by: Stan at September 20, 2007 12:53 AM
If Langford wins, my occupational tax percentage will probably be increased from 0.5% to 50%. Which is exactly what some people who live in B'ham want to see happen. Thus, you are right. Langford will win.
Occupational tax is 0.5% of my salary since I work inside city limits. However, everyone has to pay the tax who works inside city limits, except those people who "conveniently" excluded themselves from the tax (some people call them "lawyers"). I suppose this is why the tax hasn't been overturned, since it does appear to be unconstitutional.
In NYC, there was an occupational tax, but Giuliani got rid of it to encourage businesses to move back into the city. Birmingham's occupational tax is effective at keeping businesses out of city limits, and I know some people firsthand who deliberately chose to locate their busineses elsewhere to avoid the tax. They were calling commercial real estate agents for office space on highway 280, asking if it were in the city of B'ham. If the answer was yes, the agent was thanked, and the call was promptly ended.
So if you work inside city limits and live inside city limits, you might as well move over the mountain and work outside city limits. I made the deliberate decision NOT to live inside city limits five years ago, despite that my property taxes are much higher living in the burbs. I decided that because I did not want the circus of city council (at the time, it was a circus, and five years later, it still is one) to have much influence over my property value.
Posted by: megabeth at September 20, 2007 07:57 AM
Exactly. I am looking at opening my own business in about 18-24 months and one thing the I guarantee is that it will not be located in either the city of Birmingham or Jefferson County. I can open a shop in Shelby county, were there is actual growth, and save my customers 1 cent on the dollar. Birmingham is VERY hostile to business.
Posted by: shadowhelm at September 20, 2007 10:21 AM
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