by Hollis Wormsby, Jr.
Veteran’s Day is Coming, Thank a Veteran for Their Service
On November 11, the nation will pause for a day to honor the services provided by our many Veterans in defense of this great nation. It is important to remember the hardships that come with military service.  We all understand the grief encountered when a military member makes the ultimate sacrifice, but it is also important to remember the daily sacrifices made by service members and their families.
In today’s military I have talked with soldiers who say they have been deployed and away from their families for as much as three out of the last five years. What an incredible sacrifice to make. This means missing birthdays, missing Christmases, wedding anniversaries and maybe most importantly milestones in their children’s lives. This is a tremendous sacrifice they make on behalf of our freedom.
There is an old war movie where Clint Eastwood plays the top Sargent for an Airborne Squadron. Over the course of the movie someone asks Eastwood’s character if he thinks he is crazy and Eastwood’s answer is simple, he tells the person, “You have to be crazy to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.”  And yet our military members do these kinds of crazy things on behalf of our democracy on an almost daily basis. I have a very good friend who is a former Air Force fighter pilot and when I asked him what he thought made him most uniquely qualified to do a job that few could do, he said it was that he was dumb enough to fly into stuff most folks would have the sense to fly away from.
In recent years we have engaged in conflicts in Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, officially. We are currently engaged in air strikes over parts of Syria and Iraq. All of these actions involve the sacrifices of members of our military.
The Veteran’s Day Holiday was originally set up to celebrate Armistice Day, in celebration of the ending of World War II, but was eventually expanded to be a holiday celebrating all military contributions to this nation. How sad that as we anticipate this Veteran’s Day that there are reports of VA hospitals so severely underfunded that they are unable to provide our Veterans with the medical care they so richly deserve. Should not our most humble expression of appreciation as a nation be our assurances that on behalf of their sacrifices we will ensure that their needs are cared for, for life?  Should we not be ashamed that a man or woman has served our nation with distinction and yet now when they have a service disability related need we tell them to wait? What if they had told us to wait when we needed their service?
What sense of shame should we feel when we discover that there are men and women who honorably served this nation who are now homeless on the streets because they did not receive the support they needed to successfully transition back to civilian life. How can those of us who have never had to endure the misery and the supposed hell of combat look down on someone who has and is now having difficulty handling the aftermath, and not feel a sense of shame. To me the existence of even a single homeless Veteran is a national act of shame.
So this Veteran’s Day, don’t just go to the parade and marvel at the big guns. Don’t just view it as a day to relax or get set some extra work done around your home. Challenge yourself to find something to do for even one Veteran who may be struggling to find a way to cope with transitioning from hells we probably cannot even imagine. Remember if not for Veterans just like the ones whose needs so many of us choose to ignore, the rest of us might have a lot less to enjoy as well.
Or at least that is the way I see it.
(Do you have a question or comment on this column? Look me up on Facebook/HollisWormsby or email me at hjwormsby@aol.com.)

All in favor of a 1,397 percent increase to your monthly sewer bill in Jefferson County say yes!  Well, that’s exactly what is about to happen, unless, those that oppose stand up to fight for their rights.  The county has been besieged by corruption and greed.  This corrupt debt has been saddled on the backs on the poorest residents of the county, most of whom live in districts 1 and 2. But the battle continues with a ruling issued by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Blackburn on Tuesday, September 30, 2014.
This major milestone was achieved in favor of the ratepayers when Judge Blackburn allowed the ratepayers the right to be heard in court. If the ratepayers and those who oppose all the increases don’t join themselves together and fight, then they have no one to blame but themselves!
“We, the ratepayers have a shining knight in Attorney Calvin Grigsby.  He came riding in town to save us, when no attorney in Jefferson County would file a lawsuit on behalf of the sewer ratepayers”, said Andrew Bennett, Assistant Tax Assessor.    “I can’t count the numerous trips Mr. Grigsby has made from California to help us.  And all his travel and other expenses have been paid from his own pocket. We’ve got to rally together in support of this man who is fighting for us. All this corruption doesn’t affect his bill, it affects ours. And guess what, when he comes to town for us, planes don’t fly free.  We need to contribute to Mr. Grigsby’s expenses.  He’s doing this for us and we need to support him”, continued Andrew Bennett.
Since 1997 Jefferson County Ratepayers have already seen more than a 300 percent increase to their sewer bills. A monthly sewer bill that was $50.32 in November of 2012 is projected to rise over the years to at least $698.50 each month or more by October of 2053. The debt that started at $1.6 billion will increase to over $14 billion. Attorneys for the county and investment companies, like JP Morgan, have been paid more than $100 million and the sewer ratepayers are paying them to fight against themselves.
“I can remember the days when sewer usage was just a small portion of my monthly expenses”, add Bennett. “But those days are long gone! But with this latest ruling from Judge Blackburn, we stand a chance.  Every leader whether elected or not should be at the forefront of this lawsuit. Districts 1 and 2 which are primarily in the city limits of Birmingham will be largely affected by this rate increase. Therefore, I am challenging Mayor Bell and the entire Birmingham City Council to join in on this fight!! We need the help of all leaders within Jefferson County, including our state senators and state representatives, mayors and council members and the churches. Don’t wait until the people are in jeopardy of losing their homes because that can’t pay their sewer bill to get involved.  Every $5 or $500 donation will help”, said Bennett. He went on to say, “Over 40 attorneys were present for the county and the big banks to only ‘1’ Mr. Grigsby fighting for sewer ratepayers.”
Calvin Grigsby said, “The plaintiffs of the Bennett lawsuit and I are thrilled by the District Court’s decision to hear our appeal on the merits.  All this debt is based on illegal gain and for the poorest of ratepayers to bear the burden of repayment is unthinkable. The county has poured millions of public money into attorney fees to fight against the ratepayers. So in essence, the ratepayers are paying for their own demise. They just added three new attorneys so it is truly a ‘David and Goliath’ battle.”
“By the end of the county’s plan in 2053 a monthly sewer bill will easily be over $600. We can stop that but it has got to happen now. The county officials are not telling the whole story. But we need folks to know what is going on. So I invite everybody out to the Watermark Place in Bessemer on Nov 6th where I’ll show them how all this debt accumulated and what we can do about it”, continued Grigsby.
The ratepayers and their counsel will continue the fight to roll back sewer rates to levels pre-existing the corruption and illegality that caused the implementation of the $14 billion in future rate increases. They claim they are indeed the revenue source for payment of the new sewer warrants and have a huge vested interested in this case.  A defense fund has been set up with Jefferson Credit Union as, Sewer Defense Fund. The committee has confirmed an informative evening at The Watermark Place on November 6th, at 5:30 p.m., where donations will be accepted.

By Randall Woodfin

When we took office a year ago as Birmingham school board members, we made a pledge to the community, to our employees and, most importantly, to the schoolchildren and their parents that we would do things different from the way things were done in the past.
We adopted a code of ethics to govern how we interact with each other, the superintendent and the public. We pledged not to micromanage, that our behavior would be ethically and morally sound, and that whatever actions we take will always be in the best interests of the students we are entrusted to educate.
A year later, I believe we have made good on that pledge. We have also seen the school system make considerable progress.
This school board inherited a school system that had been taken over by the state and whose accreditation was at risk. Birmingham City Schools were routinely criticized for being top heavy in administrators and for running up legal fees that were the highest in the state.
Now, the school system is no longer on accreditation probation and soon will be out from under state oversight. Spending on lawyers has been sliced to a fraction of the amount in past years. And – this might surprise many people – Birmingham City Schools’ administrative overhead has been reduced to 3.4 percent of budget, well below the state’s recommended 5 percent.
With our capital building program nearly complete, our schools are in great shape and provide our students the technology they need in today’s world.
Academically, graduation rates are up, and dropout rates are down. More students are taking Advanced Placement classes, career academies have been expanded, and we offer prekindergarten at more schools.
And, where before the school system virtually had no reserve funds, we now have an operating surplus of about $20 million.
I don’t say all this to take credit for the improvements. The real credit goes to Superintendent Craig Witherspoon and his staff, to the state intervention team that came in and made tough decisions, and to the 2,600 teachers, administrators and other employees who work hard on a daily basis to make the school system the best it can be.
My point is Birmingham schools are moving in the right direction, and this school board is committed to doing everything it possibly can to continue that momentum.
The recent resignation of Superintendent Witherspoon was viewed by some as a setback to the progress made. Certainly, the superintendent has been an important reason why the school system has made the strides it has, and this board has worked well with him. We thank Dr. Witherspoon for his fine work during a tumultuous time.
Rather than seeing Dr. Witherspoon’s departure at the end of this school semester as a reminder of the struggles of the past we collectively have worked so hard to overcome, the members of the Birmingham Board of Education see the search for a new superintendent as an opportunity to lay the foundation for an even stronger school system by fully engaging the public throughout the process.
For a school system to work, the superintendent must be a strong leader. He or she must motivate and provide direction to principals, teachers and other school employees. In the community, the superintendent must inspire a belief in our schools and champion a vision for the future that everyone can embrace. And he or she must communicate effectively with all the stakeholders: employees, students, parents, community leaders, businesses, churches and elected officials.
To get the best superintendent, we will conduct an open and thorough national search. This process will take up to six months from the time Dr. Witherspoon announced his resignation, and we pledge it will be open and transparent so every parent, every citizen will see and understand every step.
The community will have direct input. We want citizens to give us their “wish list” of job skills, talents, background and other characteristics they believe the new superintendent should possess.
The search will be competitive. We will work with the best search firm possible to lead this nationwide search, while actively encouraging the best candidates to apply, including current system employees.
This process – open, engaging and thorough – will help ensure that when school opens in the fall of 2015, Birmingham City Schools will be under the leadership of a strong, capable, visionary superintendent whom the community will proudly welcome with open arms.

Randall Woodfin is president of the Birmingham Board of Education. Email: rwoodfin@bhm.k12.al.us.