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Tomorrow at 10 am, Scott Douglas, Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, will announce his candidacy to be mayor of Birmingham tomorrow at Kelly Ingram Park at the statue of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Interim mayor Carole Smitherman will run. Patrick Cooper, runner-up in the last election, is fast out of the gate with TV ads airing already. Emory Anthony, Stephannie Hue, Edith Mayomi, and Jimmy Snow are in the race according to BhamWiki. I can find no indication that William Bell has officially announced, though you can find what look like new “Bell for Mayor” signs popping up around Birmingham.
I think we have to figure that Smitherman and Cooper have election odds that are some better than the rest of the field, to the disappointment of the Patrick Cooper of patrickcooper.com whose Google page rank suffers when Birmingham’s Patrick Cooper runs for mayor.
The election is December 8.
Update: Douglas’s announcement is in Kelly Ingram Park, not at Linn Park as originally indicated here.
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The nice side effect has been learning so much about the politics of city I’ve never visited (but absolutely should go to someday). Should be a good race!
FYI – the announcement will take place in Kelly Ingram Park, not Linn Park.
It’s definitely going to get interesting, and just in time for Christmas :)
You are correct! Kelly Ingram Park, not Linn Park. I have corrected the post. Thank you!
The Smitherman dynasty will rival that of the Kennedy’s one day. The selfless, not to mention brilliant, leadership of Carol and Roger is unmatched in Alabama.
The Bell for Mayor signs are real. I saw several of them on 3rd Avenue North today.
Saw Cooper’s commercial last night on TV.
Birmingham needs lots of prayers to get rid of this curse it seems has been put on it.
Remember, Bell ran in 2007 and received a grand total of five percent of the vote. Smitherman also ran in 2007 and received only 3% of the vote. The day for Bell or Smitherman has passed.
Don’t sell Emory Anthony short! Emory has high positives, strong name recognition, and low negatives.
As I sit and read the comments about what Emory Anthony would like to do. I cannot help but think about the same kind of promise offered by Patrick Cooper. So let’s think analytically, let’s find the spin, and let’s play hardball. Who is being original with their ideas, who is making all of these promises, and where are these (talking points coming from).
Emory Anthony is using an idea that has been around for a long time. This idea was also used by former Mayor Larry Langford, but due to budget constraints. The idea was put on the shelf by the city council due to the fact the city could not find the revenue to support the plan. As for now, this is only one plan sponsored by Mr. Anthony.
So let’s look at Patrick Cooper. Mr. Cooper in his own words, on from his campaign web site says “We’re going to put people back to work and get them re-engaged in the American dream.” In addition, he says “I will put unemployed residents to work building and renovating parks, cleaning up neighborhoods, building or enhancing infrastructure, and rehabilitating the abandoned houses or clearing the abandoned lots”. Now where did I hear this? I know, President Barack Obama. It seems to me that Patrick Cooper is going to come up with a Birmingham Recovery and Reinvestment Act, even with a 21 million dollar budget shortfall. As evidence, he even says this on his web site “Therefore, as Mayor, I will immediately implement a Birmingham Economic Stimulus Plan”. Sounds like more spending and bigger government. Which begs the question, how do you plan on doing all of this, even with a 21 million dollar budget shortfall? Where is the money going to come from? I do hope Mr. Cooper understands that he is only one person and he will not, if elected, go into city-hall and become king of Birmingham.
To both of these candidates, in fact to them all, let’s be realistic. (Stop using talking points), and formulate real solutions to real problems. For whoever is elected mayor, they must have a vision and a plan to bring events that boost tax revenue, set appropriate tax rates, adequately fund the city departments and support non-profits. The next Mayor will have to develop a plan to support the Birmingham board of education. Which operates independently from city-hall but with the city’s support, just ask LL how trying to tell them what to do turned out. They will also have many more projects and issues facing Birmingham. So to all the candidates running for mayor, (stop the talking points) what is your real plan for Birmingham?
Where was Carol Smitherman when Larry Langford was collecting reasons for his downfall?
Smitherman has done nothing to clean up crime, abandoned homes, litter, or drugs in the Westend district. It is still the worst place to live in Birmingham. Mayor Langford was the one who began doing something about the abandoned homes and overgrown lots. Smiterman should not even be on the mayoral candidate list. She has been and still is merely collecting a paycheck.