Sessions: The American People Will Not Be Silenced

February 12, 2015

“Arrogantly, the President refuses to listen to the legitimate concerns of hurting Americans. He dismisses them, and supported by his palace guard in the United States Senate, he pushes on to advance the interests of immigration activists, political consultants lusting after votes for the next election, and big business interests lusting after lower wage labor.
I am going to make a prediction. Their voices will be heard. No longer, in secret, will the legitimate wishes of good and decent Americans be denied. The people’s voice will be heard. The day of the special interest operatives, tone deaf politicians, and those with the loudest voices will end. This time the American people will get what they rightly demand… They will force the self-interested forces out of the seats of power….”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) delivered the following prepared remarks while on the Senate floor regarding Senate Democrats’ decision to protect the executive amnesty many of them campaigned against:

“Mr. President: We have talked at length about the President’s executive action and how he is unlawfully, unconstitutionally making law – when only Congress can make law. We have shown that the law he has created is law that he proposed and Congress specifically rejected. We have shown that, the President himself has, at least 20 times, said he did not have the power to take this action – rightly declaring he is not an “emperor” and that Congress makes the laws.
So now, Senator McConnell has moved to bring up the House passed legislation that fully funds all the lawful aspects of the Department of Homeland Security but simply bars the President from spending any money to execute executive directions that are in violation of law. It stops the Department of Homeland Security from outlaw activity. This is a matter of great constitutional importance.
It is, in addition, a matter of great importance to working Americans. What the President is doing is giving lawful status to over 4 million adults – persons who entered our country against the law or came in on visas and illegally overstayed.
These persons cannot be hired by any business or employer under current law. But the President wants (them) to work any way. Congress considered and rejected this plan. The result is that the President’s plan will be a further kick in the teeth to down and struggling American workers. The facts are clear. I have not seen them disputed:

· Median family income since the recession (2007) has declined almost $5,000. This is a catastrophic event. Such a decline is unprecedented since the Great Depression, over 80 years ago. While some say jobs and wages are recovering and we can stop worrying, the facts show otherwise. In addition to depressed incomes, America has the lowest percentage of the population working in nearly 40 years.

· Consider this. There were huge worker layoffs during the 2009 recession and many more had their hours reduced as a result of Obamacare.

· There are other factors that combine to reveal that job and wage conditions are much worse than the unemployment rate would indicate.

Despite these severe problems, a slow economy, job killing automation, and low wages, the President is carrying out his unlawful plan, rejected by Congress, that would give 5 million persons, unlawfully here, legal status, a Social Security number, a photo ID, and the right to take any job available in America. His policies are in perfect accord with those of his nominee for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch. When I asked her this simple question last week, I got a surprising answer:

Q: Who has more right to a job in this country? A lawful immigrant who’s here, or citizen – or a person who entered the country unlawfully?

A: I believe that the right and the obligation to work is one that’s shared by everyone in this country regardless of how they came here. And certainly, if someone is here, regardless of status, I would prefer that they would be participating in the workplace than not participating in the workplace.

This was a moment of inadvertent candor.
Let’s be clear. These 5 million persons, with their new government issued documents, will be able to apply for, and take any of the few jobs now available in the economy. Sadly, the problem in America is not too few workers but too few jobs. Last year, the administration celebrated the creation of over 2 million jobs. The President’s actions would create, from unlawful immigration, over twice that many workers in his one single amnesty act. Millions more Americans who lost jobs during the recession still haven’t found work today.
Is this the right thing to do? I don’t think so and neither do the American people – by a wide margin. But, arrogantly, the President refuses to listen to the legitimate concerns of hurting Americans. He dismisses them, and supported by his palace guard in the United States Senate, he pushes on to advance the interests of immigration activists, political consultants lusting after votes for the next election, and big business interests lusting after lower wage labor. Businesses, who have become so transnational that their interests and those of American workers are often incompatible.
President Obama supports these business interests. Who represents the interests of the dutiful American citizen and the lawful immigrant who followed the rules? Who is speaking out for them? They are the ones that are forgotten.
I am going to make a prediction. Their voices will be heard. No longer, in secret, will the legitimate wishes of good and decent Americans be denied. The people’s voice will be heard. The day of the special interest operatives, tone deaf politicians, and those with the loudest voices will end. This time the American people will get what they rightly demand – the protection of the laws already on the books. They will force the political class to end the massive lawlessness and to produce an immigration system that serves the national interests, not the special interests. They will force the self-interested forces out of the seats of power and demand policies that protects their wages, their jobs, their national security, and their government budgets.
The good people of this country have been pleading for such action for 40 years. Presidents and Congresses have responded with repeated promises for strong action but have never delivered. Always the special interests have won out. Not this time. The demands of the people are right and just. They want what is best for all Americans – lawful immigrants and native born.
They will prevail. Even if the Democrats succeed in their filibuster that would fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, that only blocks the unlawful executive order riders placed on DHS bill by the President – open borders, amnesty, more and more labor, and taking even more risks to national security from terrorism will be defeated. The doom of this agenda is sure.”

Not All Alabama Counties Handing Out Gay Marriage Licenses, Prompting Another Legal Fight

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

By KIM CHANDLER and JAY REEVES, Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. — Same-sex marriage spread farther across Alabama on Tuesday as more courthouses issued licenses to gays and lesbians, yet some counties still defied a federal judge’s order, so couples took their fight back to court.
The dispute and confusion headed toward a showdown in federal court set for Thursday in Mobile, where gay couples have waited for two days in a courthouse after officials quit issuing marriage licenses altogether — even for heterosexual couples — rather than sell them to same-sex couples.
James Strawser, 51, and his partner John Humphrey, 38, who filed a lawsuit for the right to marry in Alabama, sat outside the shuttered marriage license window at the Mobile County courthouse.
“Come on, you’ve got a federal order. Open those windows,” Strawser said, to no avail.
U.S. District Judge Callie Granade’s order overturning Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban took effect Monday. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore on Sunday night ordered the state’s probate judges to not issue the licenses, arguing that probate judges were not bound by Granade’s decision since they were not defendants in the lawsuit that led to the order.
President Barack Obama, in an interview with BuzzFeed News, was asked about Moore’s resistance and the comparisons some have made to Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s efforts to fight integration 50 years ago.
“I won’t say it’s a perfect analogy, but there’s a core principle here that’s at stake, which is we have a supremacy clause in our Constitution,” Obama said.
“My recollection is that Judge Moore had a similar problem with a federal court ruling that you couldn’t put a huge … Ten Commandments statue in the middle of your courthouse and, ultimately, federal law was obeyed and I think that the same thing will end up happening here,” Obama said.
Granade on Jan. 23 ruled that the state’s marriage ban was unconstitutional in a case brought by two women seeking to have their California marriage recognized by Alabama. She struck a second blow to the law on Jan. 26 in the case brought by Humphrey and Strawser, who were seeking to get married.
At least 19 of the state’s 67 counties had issued wedding licenses to same-sex couples or said Tuesday they would do so, compared to just seven on Monday. The exact number of counties refusing to sell licenses wasn’t immediately clear.
Elmore County Probate Judge John E. Enslen said in a statement Tuesday that “the dust has quickly settled” and it was clear same-sex marriages were allowed.
“Whether national or not, it now applies to Alabama,” he said.
Limestone County Probate Judge Charles Woodruff began issuing same-sex licenses Tuesday after seeking legal advice because of the conflicting opinions. “I wasn’t sure what the law was,” Woodruff said. “I have never received an order from the chief justice of the Supreme Court in an email before.”
Robert Povilat, 60, and Milton Persinger, 47, were among the couples waiting in Mobile for a second day on Tuesday. They said they would return every day until they were able to get a marriage license there.
“We sat and waited all day for them to open a window,” Povilat said. “They never did.”
Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis said he closed the marriage-license section of his office because of “conflicting orders” from Moore and Granade. Davis said he will keep the section closed until he gets additional clarification, which could come Thursday.
Granade has scheduled a hearing after Strawser and Humphrey asked the court to force Mobile County to issue same-sex marriage licenses. A second lawsuit filed by other couples against the Mobile County probate judge also names Moore as a defendant.
Strawser said he hoped the Thursday hearing would settle the issue, once and for all.

Homicide Investigation Update

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

The Birmingham Police Department reports that detectives have arrested and charged a suspect in connection with a homicide investigation. The incident occurred Friday, February 6, 2015 in the 6500 block of Interlaken Ave South (Marks Village Housing Community).
On Friday, February 6, 2015 around 2:37 p.m. East Precinct officers were dispatched to the listed location on a person shot. Upon arrival, officers found the victim lying on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest area. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue.
Our investigation revealed that the victim had an argument with his girlfriend earlier during the day. The girlfriend’s brother drove to the location and both the victim and brother started arguing. The brother (suspect) pulled out a handgun and shot the victim in the chest. Apparently, there were several witnesses in the area as the incident was developing but no one attempted to intervene. The brother (suspect) was taken into custody pending formal charges.

The victim has been identified as:
Raphael Roman, B/M, 29, of Birmingham, Alabama

The suspect has been identified as:
Ronald Austin, B/M, 21, of Gardendale, Alabama. A Murder warrant with a $60,000 bond has been obtained against the suspect. The suspect is in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail.

If there is anyone who has additional information pertaining to this case, they are encouraged to contact the B.P.D. Homicide Unit at 254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 254-7777.

Alabama Senator Hank Sanders Pens Open Letter to Faith and Politics Institute Concerning 50th Anniversary of “BLOODY SUNDAY” and SELMA-TO-MONTGOMERY MARCH

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

NATIONWIDE (BlackNews.com) — Congressman John Lewis shocked the organizers of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee that commemorates “Bloody Sunday” and the Selma to Montgomery march, when he told media outlets on February 8th that this year’s 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march should reflect the dignity of the original event, which is why he arranged for President Barack Obama to visit the day before the sacred Bloody Sunday march reenactment.
In response to this, Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders, wrote the following open letter:
An Open Letter to Faith and Politics Institute Concerning “Bloody Sunday”
Dear Faith and Politics:
I appreciate your bringing a group of congresspersons and other dignitaries each year to Selma and other places in Alabama for Bloody Sunday and related events. Every person in a leadership position ought to have this experience so that they may better understand how the right to vote was forged with blood and lost lives and suffering and sacrifice and struggle. Thank you for exposing these dignitaries to this historic and sacred struggle. We welcome you and all. We are especially glad that President Barack Obama is coming, for we also invited him and the First Family.
Faith and Politics, I am extremely concerned. I considered writing you on several occasions but held back. However, after Representative John Lewis talked to a reporter, who then contacted me, I had to write. Other leaders of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee have written you in years past, but you never answered a single letter. I do not expect an answer to this letter, so I am making it an open letter.
The Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It should be a time of great unity, but you have shattered that possibility. The great challenges to the right to vote also demand unity. These challenges include the gutting of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; the wave of voter photo ID laws, which are modern-day poll taxes; the proof of citizenship laws, which are modern-day literacy tests; and the many and varied other schemes that suppress and deny the right to vote. We should be united, but your actions divide us.
This Commemoration must be more than a celebration. Many workshops and other activities were scheduled for Saturday, March 7th, to forge a more effective effort to restore the Voting Rights Act and expand voting rights generally.Your actions disrupted these critical work sessions.
The reporter I mentioned, Mary Orndorff Troyan, said one of the reasons you wanted a march on Saturday was to ensure that it was a dignified march. Faith and Politics, the Bloody Sunday March has been reenacted each year since the seventies. No one has ever said that it was not dignified. Was the Bloody Sunday March not dignified when President Bill Clinton came to Selma in 2000, as a sitting president, for the 35th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday? Was the March not dignified when President Barack Obama came as Senator Obama to Selma on Bloody Sunday in 2007? Was the March not dignified when Vice President Joe Biden came in 2013?
Over the years, many leaders have come to Selma on their own to participate in this sacred pilgrimage, not seeking glory or status. These include members of the Kennedy family, other prominent political and social leaders, and many more. Were the Marches not dignified when these leaders made the pilgrimage to participate in the Bloody Sunday March? Your actions cannot be about the dignity of Bloody Sunday, for if they were, you would not be having another march on a day other than Bloody Sunday.
I recall that some years ago Faith and Politics asked representatives of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee to come to Washington, D.C. to meet. You paid for their tickets, hotel rooms and other expenses, and they came. You proposed taking over the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. In response, we proposed that Faith and Politics co-sponsor the Bridge Crossing Jubilee along with the National Voting Rights Museum, SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and other organizations. You said that you would only be a sponsor if you could be the sole sponsor. You conveyed the impression that we were not competent, and that is why you had to do it by yourself. This was not about faith or service or competence. It was about power and politics and control.
Even though we are volunteers, those of us who have led the Commemoration of Bloody Sunday for 40-plus years have been competent enough not only to accomplish the event each year, but to grow it into the largest Civil Rights Event in the country and, according to a national publication, one of the 100 greatest national tourist events. Your actions do not seem to be about competence but about control, power and politics.
The reporter told me that Congressman John Lewis said that certain unnamed national leaders tried to get into the front lines last year. One of those leaders was SCLC National President Charles Steele. I want to remind you that SCLC was the sole sponsor of the original Bloody Sunday March in 1965 and has been a co-sponsor of the Bloody Sunday March Reenactments since the seventies. The President of this organization certainly has a right to be among those on the front lines. SCLC President Steele told me that last year Faith and Politics tried to stop him and his wife Annette from getting on the front lines. When they entered the lines anyway, Congressman Lewis pointed his finger and said, This will not happen again. I will get another venue next year. Now we see what that venue is.
I am sorry to say that the issue of who will be among those on the front lines has recently become a bone of contention. Faith and Politics has insisted that only members of the Faith and Politics delegation be on the front lines. We have insisted that some of the nearly 600 other individuals who were also on the Bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965 be included. In 2013 when Vice President Biden was here, Faith and Politics wanted to allot only 30 places for survivors of Bloody Sunday with 270 places for members of their delegation, including congressional staff members. When an agreement was worked out that it would be half and half, Faith and Politics then had the Secret Service give virtually every place to members of the Faith and Politics delegation. It seems that you value status, power and money far more than you value blood, sacrifice, struggle and history.
Commemoration of Bloody Sunday is big enough for everyone. It has grown from a few of us crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the afternoon of Bloody Sunday in the seventies to about fifty events over five days each year. Your actions do not seem to be about dignity or competence but about power and politics and control.
In the 17 or so years that Faith and Politics has been coming to the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, not once have you organized a March or contributed in any way. You raise millions of dollars by claiming to sponsor the Bloody Sunday March but never paid for even a chair, a porto-toilet, water or anything else. You never organized other people to come if they were not in your delegation. You just show up and insist on privilege even though you refused to be a co-sponsor because you could not be the sole sponsor. This is about your privilege and power. Bloody Sunday is about sacredness, sacrifice and struggle.
It appears to me that Faith and Politics has set out to not only diminish but to destroy Bloody Sunday. You not only scheduled another march on Saturday in Selma but you scheduled a march and rally in Montgomery on Sunday during the afternoon when the sacred Bloody Sunday March takes place in Selma. It would have been so simple to hold your events in Montgomery on Saturday and join the events in Selma on Sunday. However, the arrogance of power has caused you to try to diminish the sacred Bloody Sunday March and Commemoration and change history.
Faith and Politics, you are not even representative of the struggle. From viewing your web page earlier this year, the makeup of your Board appears to be 14 whites and two African Americans, including the Chief of Staff of Congressman John Lewis, who is a member emeritus. This is the organization that insisted on being the sole sponsor of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and the Bloody Sunday events. This is the organization that is insisting on moving Bloody Sunday to Saturday after 40-plus years of commemoration on Sunday. This is the organization that has not contributed anything to organizing these events over the years. Sadly, I do not see the exercise of faith in your actions but only the force of power and politics.
I hope that you will reflect on the facts I have shared in this open letter and on the history of Bloody Sunday from 1965 to the present. It took great faith and courage for all of those nearly 600 people to face the great dangers that awaited them at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in order to fight for the right to vote. It will require great faith and courage today to restore these same rights that were won in 1965 only to be lost in 2013.
Sincerely,
Hank Sanders Alabama State Senator

Manna Food Outreach

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

Robin Y. Greenlee Named Chairwoman of BBA’s Women’s Business Council

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Robin Y. Greenlee, Vice President and Credit Risk Officer in Aliant Bank’s corporate office in Birmingham, was named Chairwoman of the Birmingham Business Alliance’s (BBA) Women’s Business Council. The Women’s Business Council provides and fosters educational, professional and volunteer support to women in the Birmingham region. Its mission is to aid women in their goals, while helping the business community prosper.
“The business women of Birmingham contribute so much to the economic growth of our community, and it is exciting to see how the BBA’s Women’s Business Council is working to support their career growth through education and networking opportunities,” said Greenlee. “I look forward to the new faces that will be encouraged and equipped through the Women’s Business Council in 2015.”
Greenlee has been with Aliant Bank for more than 17 years, working in lending, credit administration and credit risk. Greenlee is very active in the community, serving with the BBA’s Women’s Business Council since its inception; teaching financial literacy in the community; being an active choir member and Sunday school teacher with her church; and mentoring other women.
“Robin has been a huge asset to the Women’s Business Council, and we are very excited about her new leadership role,” said Loren Traylor, Vice President of Investor Relations for the BBA.

Birmingham Business Alliance is a dynamic advocate, unifying voice and constant catalyst for economic development and business prosperity for the Birmingham region. For more information about the BBA visit its website at
www.birminghambusinessalliance.com.

BSC College to host several speakers this week

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

    •   Priscilla Cooper, interim president of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, will present “Black Lives DO Matter: Lessons from our History” on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 11 a.m. in the Norton Theatre as part of the college’s Black History Month celebration.
•   Dr. Mark Suto, vice president of drug discovery at Southern Research Institute, will speak about “The Business of Drug Discovery” on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 9:30 a.m. in room 336 of the Stephens Science Center.
•   Organist and former Fulbright Scholar Rhonda Edgington will present a lecture-recital entitled “To Study in Europe – What I Learned, Why I Went, and Why I Think You Should Go” on Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. in the Hill Recital Hall. The presentation, sponsored by BSC’s Music Department, will include live musical examples, pictures, and recordings of what she experienced in Europe as well as a brief narrative explaining her story.
•   Dr. Frans De Waal, Emory University’s renowned primatologist and acclaimed author of The Age of Empathy, will speak about “Morality Without Religion: Empathy, Fairness, and Prosocial Primates” on Feb. 12 at 3:30 p.m. in the Norton Theatre as part of BSC’s Darwin Day observance.

Whittington performance, benefit concert scheduled for Sunday
The annual Dorsey and Frances Whittington Music Competition performance will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. in Bruno Great Hall. This year’s student winners – baritone Nicholas DeCastro, violinist Rachel Christmas, and sopranos Hope Strawn and Zoe Wirt –will perform with the Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra. Also, the Music Department’s Alabama Sings! concert benefiting Children’s of Alabama will take place that same day at 7:30 p.m. at the Alys Stephens Center.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell to Receive A.G. Gaston Award

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

A.G. Gaston Conference also names winners of its first A.G. Gaston Community Service Awards
By Roy L. Williams, special to the Birmingham Times
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Birmingham Mayor William Bell will receive the 2015 A.G. Gaston Conference’s top award next week, the A.G. Gaston Award, presented to someone who epitomizes the attributes of the late Black millionaire.
Bob Dickerson, co-founder of the conference taking place Feb. 17-18 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, said Bell is being honored for following Gaston’s mantra of “finding a need and filing it,” in this instance for political leadership in our region.
“In his still short stint as mayor, not only have numerous projects that foster economic development been developed and announced, but Mayor Bell has helped instill a ‘can do’ attitude among citizens, corporate leaders and other elected officials,” Dickerson said.
Mayor BeIl set aside city funds to help build the Westin Hotel and Uptown entertainment district adjacent to the BJCC. He also led to the development of the Birmingham Crossplex, a facility which has hosted NCAA and high school indoor sporting events in Five Points West. Two weeks ago, Bell had his biggest victory to date after the announcement that the City will host the 2021 World Games, a sports competition that will pump an estimated $250 million into Birmingham.   On Wednesday, February 18 during its closing luncheon, the A.G. Gaston Conference will present its first Community Service Awards. Conference organizers this year asked citizens to nominate deserving unsung heroes for their contributions to better society. Selected out of 25 nominees were Lisa Riley of Tuscaloosa and David Sadler of Montgomery. Dickerson said Riley’s “advocacy on behalf of autistic children has been laudable” and Sadler “has worked to restore voting rights to felons who had paid their debt to society. “
Register for the A.G. Gaston Conference at www.AGGastonConference.com. The conference is $150 for both days or $75 a day including lunch. On Tuesday February 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the BJCC East Meeting Room, the A.G. Gaston Conference will also host a free town hall meeting in which the public is invited to an in-depth discussion of how to address the wealth gap. Speakers and topics for both days are available on the conference website.

City Council Highlights

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

During the Birmingham City Council meeting on February 10, 2015 Council:
An Ordinance “TO FURTHER AMEND THE ZONING DISTRICT MAP OF THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM” (Case No. ZAC2014-00018) to change zone district boundaries from CB-2, Contingency General Business District, to “Q”M-1 Light Industrial District, filed by Shea Scully, representing the owners, Shea Scully and William Williams Jr., for the properties located at 4814 and 4816 5th Avenue South, situated in the NW . of Section 28, Township 17-S; 2-W, and the hearing of all interested parties. [Second Reading]
Cliff Notes
Did this Item Pass? Approved unanimously
What purpose will this item serve? This is an attempt to rezone the properties located at 4814 and 4816 5th Avenue South. The zoning is only for the subject property. To allow the owner/tenant to utilize the subject property for interior design and custom architectural, including: sandblasting, welding, grinding, cutting, etc.
Funktionart Design Compound is a group of artists with various talents and disciplines. Funktionart offers custom design services as well as fabrication of the artist’s designs. The primary focus at this Design Compound is interior design, custom architecture, sculpture and furniture. Funktionart Design Compound often carries projects from concept and design through fabrication and installation. Their work will also include working on larger sculptural pieces which will require them to be completed in the front yard. Funktionart Design Compound works with all materials, including but not limited to, wood, metal, glass, stone, textiles etc. Some activities that take place on the subject property site are sandblasting, welding, grinding, cutting, etc.
Next Steps: The Planning and Zoning Division of Planning Engineering and Permits will determine the next steps. For more information please contact the Office of Planning and Zoning at 205.254.2479.
Status of other items approved by the Council at today’s meeting include the following:
1. A Resolution relative to the application of Magic City Recycling LLC for a Scrap Metal Processors License to be used at 3135 Daniel Payne Drive, Birmingham, and the hearing of all interested parties.

Cliff Notes
Did this Item Pass? Approved Unanimously
What purpose will this item serve? The permit will allow the owner to open a recycling facility once they receive a license from the city.
Next Steps: Once the license is given and all City requirements are met, Magic City Recycling LLC will begin operations. For more information please contact the Office of Councilor Steven Hoyt at 205.254.2363.
2. A Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an Advisory and Assistance Agreement with Birmingham Business Resource Center in the total amount of $10,000.00, not to exceed $5,000.0 per year, to sponsor the 2015 and 2016 AG Gaston Conferences and for the promotion of economic and industrial development and stimulation of the local economy through the sponsorship of Enterprise Development Conferences for the purpose of encouraging and facilitating business formation and growth, especially with regard to Historically Underutilized Business Enterprises, and encouraging these businesses to locate in the City of Birmingham, inuring to the economic health and benefit of the City. Required notices for consideration of this Resolution at the Council meeting on February 10, 2015 were published in the Birmingham News on February 1, 2015.

Cliff Notes
Did this Item Pass? Approved on Consent
What purpose will this item serve? This resolution will allow the Mayor to execute an agreement that will assist with funding for 2015 and 2016 A.G. Conferences and for the promotion of economic and industrial development and stimulation of the local economy through the sponsorship of Enterprise Development Conferences.
Next Steps: For more information please contact the Office of Economic Development at 205.254.2657.
3. A Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement among the City, The Public Athletic, Cultural and Entertainment Facilities Board of the City of Birmingham (“PACE”), B&G – CRD Joint Venture LLC, and Robins & Morton/A.G. Gaston Construction, under which the City will pay PACE and PACE will pay to Robins & Morton/A.G. Gaston Construction, the design builder for the Regions Field Stadium Project, on account of B&G – CRD Joint Venture LLC, the developer of the Project, the sum of $4,100,000.00, payable as an initial payment of $1,500,000.00, and six annual payments of $371,430.00 each, beginning on October 15,

2015, and one final payment of $371,420.00 and as full and final payment of any and all amounts owed to or claimed by Robins & Morton/A.G. Gaston Construction with respect to the Regions Field Stadium Project.

Cliff Notes
Did this Item Pass? This item was withdrawn at the request of the Mayor
NOTE: This agenda item may be edited in the near future and placed back on the Birmingham City Council agenda for consideration.
Next Steps: For more information please contact the City of Birmingham Law Department 205.254.7701.
4. A Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into an Amended and Restated Right of Way Encroachment License Agreement whereby Pizitz, LLC is allowed to install concrete utility vaults, i.e., Alabama Power Company, Alabama Gas Corporation and Birmingham Water Works utility vaults, for the City Center Development of the former Pizitz Department Store, located at 1821 Second Avenue North, which will encroach over and upon the City of Birmingham right of way of Second Avenue North and 19th Street North, as shown on Exhibit “A” attached to said agreement, for a term of forty (40) years.

Cliff Notes
Did this Item Pass? Approved 7-1
What purpose will this item serve? This resolution will allow the developer to begin development at the former Pizitz Department Store, located at 1821 2nd Avenue North.
Next Steps: For more information please contact the Department of Planning Engineering and Permits at 205.254.2342.
1. The Planning and Zoning Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday February 10, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in the 5th Floor Engineering Conference Room.

2. There will be a Special Called Transportation and Communications Committee Meeting on Wednesday February 11, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. in Conference Rooms D&E.

3. The Public Improvements and Beautification Committee Meeting will be held Wednesday February 11, 2015 in Conference Rooms D&E.

4. The Public Safety Committee Meeting will be held Monday February 16, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.

5. There are vacancies on the Industrial Development Board and the Commercial Development Authority. All persons interested in serving one these boards are asked to submit their resume to the Office of Councilor Marcus Lundy.

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Salem

Birmingham Times

February 12, 2015

Selma_1 — Tamara Harris Johnson family photo includes: Grandmother, Roberta Carson Gardner is pictured in the inset; my Grandfather, Billy Gardner, is seated on the far left middle row; my Mother, Dixie Gardner Harris, is far left bottom row; and my Uncle Robert Gardner is next to my mother, middle bottom row.

by Tamara Harris Johnson

Last week, a young lawyer who recently moved to Alabama asked me to go with her to see the movie, Selma. I had not planned to see it, mainly because movies that depict the mistreatment of others, particularly on the basis of race or ethnicity are difficult for me to watch. It is not entertainment for me. I decided to see the movie, because my family’s farm in Lowndes County, referred to as the Robert Gardner Farm, was one of the resting places on March 23, 1965, for the marchers from Selma to Montgomery. I grew up in segregated Alabama. I experienced, first-hand, the atrocities of segregation and hatred for fellow human beings, and my experiences do not come close to many of the experiences of those who were on the front-line fighting for human and civil rights for all people. I have never seen “Roots” to its conclusion; I never saw “12 Years A Slave;” I cannot watch movies about the Holocaust. It seems as if my personal experiences of segregation, even as a child, are too raw. I sat through, with tears, the movie Selma, and yes, this experience awakened emotions and memories that I had suppressed.
After watching Selma, I left the movie extraordinarily depressed. My depression did not result solely from the depiction and reminder of how badly African Americans were treated during this time. My depression stemmed from a vivid reminder of the many sacrifices that were made by Blacks and whites, including the sacrifices of life, to make this country better for all of us. My depression came from the realization that many of us do not know our history, do not care about our history, feel that all is well in America, and lack the understanding and appreciation that, in many instances, we are fairing worse now than before the struggles. Ignorance is not Bliss! The world is told never to forget the Holocaust, yet I constantly hear that our history is in the past and we need to forget it, get over it and move on.
A very painful part of our History took place in my lifetime. In an attempt for many parents to “protect” their children, some things were not discussed. I did not know, for example, the existence of Kiddieland, the Alabama State Fairground, until I was in the eighth or ninth grade because my parents never drove my sisters and me on the street where the fairground sat. They did not want us to ask to attend, because they knew that we could not attend, only because we were Black. Three of my four grandparents were bi-racial, and this remains something that my family rarely discusses as if a stigma were somehow placed on the manner of one’s birth. As a result, many of us never learned our personal history. My sisters and I were taught, however, that education (which, at one time in the not so distant past, it was against the law for Blacks to read or be taught to read) is the key to conquer injustice.
My family was considered affluent by some standards, yet that did not exempt us from the Jim Crow laws that affected all of us of color. Watching Selma, I was proud of the acknowledgment of courage of so many people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Selma touches all of us in some personal way. The image of the marchers from Selma to Montgomery was nothing short of awesome. Selma touched my family and me, personally. I am proud that one of the resting places for the marchers was my family’s farm in Lowndes County on Highway 80. My maternal grandparents, Billy and Roberta (Carson) Gardner, owned the farm. My Uncle Robert remained on the farm until his death, and he reared his family in Lowndes County. His wife and some of his children remain in Lowndes County, and some still live on the farm. At the time of the Selma to Montgomery March, the Gardner farm was owned by my grandparents’ children: Ransom Gardner, Annie Gardner Lowe, Hugh Carson Gardner, Minnie Gardner Gaston, William Gardner, Mary Belle Gardner Cummings, Thomas Gardner, Roberta Gardner Shorte, Helen Gardner Washington, Susie Marie Gardner Wood, Narvel Gardner Lowe, Elizabeth Gardner Jenkins, Clinton Gardner, Robert Gardner and Dixie Gardner Harris. Calls were made to as many of them as could be reached for permission for the marchers to rest on the farm. I recall that permission was given proudly. My Uncle Robert and his family, who lived on the farm, endured threats to their lives and property as a result of allowing the marchers to rest there. The farm remains the Gardner Family Farm; however, with pride, a sign identifies it as Campsite #3: Robert Gardner Farm.
Selma was an extraordinary movie for me, as it awakened so many of my emotions that were dormant, some by choice. I am hopeful that our young people, of all races, will see this movie and that it will educate them on the sacrifices that were made by many to benefit everyone. There remains much work to be done in the State of Civil Rights in America. Maybe this movie will serve as a catalyst to awaken dormant emotions and stimulate a newfound cooperative effort to work with, live with and judge people “by the content of their characters and not the color of their skins.”

Tamara Harris Johnson is the former City Attorney for Birmingham and is currently in private practice in Alabama.

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