MLK Breakfast, other events, an economic boost, say Birmingham council members

The Birmingham City Council, at their regular meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 19, voted to approve an expenditure of about $28,000 to provide up to 100 tables to city officers, employees and volunteers to attend the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast in the city in January.

Several council members extolled the positive economic impact of the breakfast, as well as other events in the Magic City over the weekend leading up to the official Monday holiday celebrating the birthday of the civil rights icon.

“You have busloads of people who come in,” said Councilor Sheila Tyson, mentioning the visitors who go to various sites in the Civil Rights District downtown.

At night, many of those visitors also spend money in the Uptown entertainment district near the BJCC and other locations, according to Tyson.

“It is a economic impact,” Councilor Steven Hoyt said, citing what he said are the many people who come from all over the county to “make a pilgrimage” to such key sites s Kelly Ingram Park.

“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” Hoyt said.

Council President Pro Tem Jay Roberson said the MLK festivities “are a huge economic impact” and that they attract “numerous visitors” to Birmingham.

Roberson said he expected that the number of visitors to the city would increase now that a portion of the Civil Rights District has received a federal designation as the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.

Council President Valerie Abbott initially stated her desire to refer the item back to committee in order to get a fuller explanation of the economic impact of the breakfast.

However, she relented and withdrew her motion after hearing from the other councilors, as well as a law department staffer who also spoke to the event’s impact.

“Hundreds of people attend each year,” said Attorney Yolanda Lawson, who added that these attendees are not all city employees and that many of them come from out of town.

The event “attracts visitors to the area because of the impact (Birmingham has) in the civil rights area,” she said.

The expenditure is part of a agreement with the Community Affairs Committee of Birmingham, according to the text of the resolution.