Council members say mayor playing politics with appointment
Election-year politics reared its bitter head at the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council on March 14.
Members failed to pass an item submitted by Mayor William Bell to pay about $43,000 to the Birmingham Board of Education to provide a full-time staff person from the board to work with the city’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, a youth mentoring program.
The money was part of the city’s budget for fiscal year 2017, according to the text of the resolution.
The problem with the item, as expressed by Council President Johnathan Austin and Council President Pro Tem Steven Hoyt, is that the person at the board designated to take a leave of absence from their regular duties and fill the position is Robert Benton, who is said to be a close friend of Bell and rumored to be working with his campaign to win reelection in the August municipal elections.
“Word on the street is that (Benton) is the mayor’s campaign manager,” Austin said.
“I know what Bob Benton does for the mayor,” Hoyt said. “We need to stay away from politics as much as possible.”
“I will not support (the item) today or any other day,” Austin said.
April Odom – director of the Mayor’s Office of Public Information – said that Benton is not Bell’s campaign manager.
“The campaign is still organizing and has not announced the campaign chairperson, but my understanding is that they will in the next 2-3 weeks,” Odom said in an email to Iron City Ink and other outlets.
Mayor Bell was out of town attending a conference.
Councilor Jay Roberson made a motion to delay the item for two weeks so that Bell and his staff could address the council’s concerns.
The motion to delay failed. The vote was 3-2 in favor, but it failed to gain a majority of the nine-member council. Roberson, Valerie Abbott and Marcus Lundy were the yes votes; Hoyt and Austin voted no.
Then the item itself failed. The vote was 2-2-1, with Lundy and Roberson voting for the item, Hoyt and Austin voting against it and Abbott abstaining.
Councilor William Parker was not present, due to attendance at a conference. Three other members were absent, as well – Kim Rafferty, Lashunda Scales and Sheila Tyson. Some members were ill, according to Austin.
The council also voted to delay consideration of two substantial spending measures.
The council voted 4-1 in favor of a two-week delay in considering an agreement with the Birmingham Urban League in which the city would pay the organization up to $220,000 for one year to assist in facilitating various economic development projects, including economic revitalization, business growth, industrial development and job growth.
The council also voted 5-0 to delay for one week consideration of a resolution authorizing Bell to submit the city's application to the World Trade Centers Association for a license for “World Trade Center” designation status. The resolution would also authorize the city, should its application be approved, to pay the WTCA a one-time license fee of $250,000 plus an annual fee of $12,500.
The council voted 5-0, with no discussion, to pass a resolution supporting Alabama House Bill 34 to create a Jefferson County Cemetery Board.
The resolution was submitted by Councilor William Parker, whose district includes Zion Memorial Gardens Cemetery, a private cemetery that has become notorious in recent months for its poor condition and allegedly poor customer service.