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2007 Municipal Elections


kayman

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Langford for mayor? It's possible from the Birmingham News

I would be for it. He has the guts to do somethings that Kincaid acts like a little b***h and wouldn't do. Kincaid acts like he is intimidated by the City Council particular William Bell (I wouldn't surprise me if it was true :rolleyes:).

Langford is very proactive on the Jefferson County Commission. He may have ruffled a few feathers along the way, but he always seems to get the job done. I also have a feeling the main reason why these incoming Republican county commissioners are threatened by him is possible latent racism and political bias. However, it would be funny to have a mayor of Birmingham that is also a county commissioner still.

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  • 6 months later...

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Langford vs. Kincaid? Langford hands down. Kincaid has done NOTHING. He is a joke of a mayor and above all, I hope at the very least that he's ousted. Langford is a true visionary in a place that seems to have lost its way. Granted, Langford has some grandiose ideas that aren't always feasible, but you know... I'd rather that than someone like Kincaid who sits back and does nothing to advance the city and its image.

I hope the people in this city are fed up with Kincaid, but I'm not so sure. After all, he was already re-elected once.

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Langford vs. Kincaid? Langford hands down. Kincaid has done NOTHING. He is a joke of a mayor and above all, I hope at the very least that he's ousted. Langford is a true visionary in a place that seems to have lost its way. Granted, Langford has some grandiose ideas that aren't always feasible, but you know... I'd rather that than someone like Kincaid who sits back and does nothing to advance the city and its image.

I hope the people in this city are fed up with Kincaid, but I'm not so sure. After all, he was already re-elected once.

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I like this idea. ALDOT should do this. But that's another thread. :)

"I would tell you right off the bat that I would draw a line right down the city of Birmingham and dissect it into four quadrants. Over a four-year period in the four dissected quadrants, north, south, east and west, I'll go in and completely redo those streets, the lighting, the sidewalks, repave those roads."

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Langford is also saying that he would push for Birmingham to improve the BJCTA service within all of the region and to fund BJCC expansion (with a dome). I don't how he is going to do it, but if he got Visionland together then you know he could embark and do these challenges

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Langford is also saying that he would push for Birmingham to improve the BJCTA service within all of the region and to fund BJCC expansion (with a dome). I don't how he is going to do it, but if he got Visionland together then you know he could embark and do these challenges
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I don't know what to think about this. I've always admired Langford's vision, but is he really someone who can unite the leaders of this area? What we need is a competent and charismatic individual who can get everyone on the same page and working together to make the entire Birmingham region prosper. Throughout his political career, Langford hasn't shown me anything to suggest that he is capable of doing that. People tout things like Visionland, but seriously, from a financial stand point Visionland was a massive failure. This place was built in a horrible location and it sold for pennies on the dollar. I don't know, Langford may be all talk but at least he shows some promise, unlike our current mayor.

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I don't know what to think about this. I've always admired Langford's vision, but is he really someone who can unite the leaders of this area? What we need is a competent and charismatic individual who can get everyone on the same page and working together to make the entire Birmingham region prosper. Throughout his political career, Langford hasn't shown me anything to suggest that he is capable of doing that. People tout things like Visionland, but seriously, from a financial stand point Visionland was a massive failure. This place was built in a horrible location and it sold for pennies on the dollar. I don't know, Langford may be all talk but at least he shows some promise, unlike our current mayor.
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Langford may not be the uniter, but the guy is very ambitious and fights for whatever he believes to be fought for like a regional mass transit system, the BJCC expansion, and turn around the city school system. However, I believe he is willing to cooperate with others if others are willing to work with him. Cooperation is a two-way street and suburban leaders have to be just as willing to work with whomever is the mayor of Birmingham if they want something to get done. Langford did wonders for Fairfield under his tenure and will likely to the same for Birmingham. Visionland is an example of why governments should not be involved in the creation of things such as theme/amusement parks. However, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have the park in the first place which is now a major success.
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Langford has my vote. Even if Kincaid ran unopposed I would still write-in my name on the ballot using crayon (or maybe blood so the vote counters would know how serious I am). Langford, is by no means, an answer to all of our civic woes but he, in my honest opinion, would be a step in the right direction.

No one can deny it - the man has vision. As pointed out earlier, there wouldn't even be a Visionland if it wasn't for him. His mistake was having government attempt to manage it. Langford, from what I can tell, is well received by those in the business community -- something Kincaid has never experienced.

If Langford runs, I expect him to win. However, if Kincaid is re-elected I will watch the city burn while playing the fiddle atop the neon 'WBRC' sign.

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  • 2 months later...

i haven't seen any confident, well-informed speculation on the mayoral election yet. perhaps it's too early to tell - kincaid eked out a runoff win last time, although the field was anemic compared to what we may see this time around. the thing that baffles many who are interested in the outcome of this race is that so few of those interested are eligible voters - a lot of people who feel affected by this race are metro residents, not city residents. with the voting demographics of the city proper, it's difficult to tell who has the greatest advantage this early, imho. if i were still living in bham, i would probably be interested in listening to valerie abbott's ideas (if it turns out she's actually in the running) - she's an intriguing candidate in the current mix.

the birmingham business journal (and probably a dozen other sources) has a completely unscientific poll on whom its site visitors favor in the mayoral race. the overwhelming leader amongst BBJ types is patrick cooper, about whom i confess i know next to nothing. langford is a distant second, followed by abbott and carole smitherman. kincaid is next to last; he leads only one other name - someone he's already defeated: william bell.

hell, go vote in the damn thing:

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/poll...ml?poll_id=3116

what info can anyone give on cooper's story? i may be the only one to be so clueless about this man.

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i looked cooper up; there isn't a lot out there. here's his campaign page:

http://cooperformayor.com/index.php?option...ge&Itemid=1

interesting candidate. he has a pedigree, but, unlike all the successful bham mayoral candidates of the past several decades, he hasn't served on the city council. getting elected without a measure of prior name recognition would be an accomplishment (which is probably why he announced his intent to run last year).

his site is interesting, but it isn't very deep in delineating concrete plans - lots of broad strokes instead. then again, i don't know if other candidates even have as much to say about specific issues this far ahead of election time as cooper does. imagine kincaid stooping to set forth his goals for the city, instead of harumphing that his record speaks for itself.

apparently charles barkley has talked cooper up as the man to elect. hmmm...that said, though, i can't find any document that lists cooper's party affiliation - though piecing it together doesn't seem difficult.

. . . . . .

and here's kyle whitmire's latest article, which discusses valerie abbott's interest in the race:

http://www.bhamweekly.com/index.php?article_id=119

lol @ kyle: "she does not suffer fools lightly, which is virtually a job requirement at city hall."

edit: ^ thanks, blazer - ya beat me to it!

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I have a close friend whose sister works with Patrick Cooper, and she is not too sure if he is qualified for the job for mayor herself. She said that he means well, but he has too little of an experience run the city.

I am rooting for Langford because his ambitious, go-getter attitude seems to be what the city needs. I will be moving back to the city before the mayoral elections in November, so I will be eligible to vote there. It seems that nobody is doing anything campaign wise because they know the general public isn't paying any mind. Most Birmingham mayoral election campaigns don't start to heat up until 6-8 weeks before the actual election day.

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Cooper has an impressive looking resume, but with no name identification among voters, he'll have a tough time against the heavyweights that are looking at the race. He ought to consider running for a council seat to establish a base for the future.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Birmingham mayoral candidate Patrick Cooper announced today that he's raised more than $220,000 in campaign contributions in 3-4 months.

Also, at least 2 polls conducted indicate that Cooper is the man to beat. One poll had him with about a 7% lead over the nearest candidate. The other poll had him with a significantly larger lead (37%).

If these things are any indicator, it looks as if we'll be seeing the end of Mayor Kincaid's reign as Birmingham's mayor.

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Well, considering Cooper has taken a leave of absence from that law firm my friend's sister works at, I guess he would be able to rise that much money so soon. He had taken that leave of absence back at the first of March. I still don't expect to hear much from this election until July or August when that 6-8 week pre-election window opens.

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Bill may link mayor, council elections

Thank God somebody has thought of this. This would help us kill 2 birds with 1 freakin' stone. We could get rid of both the ringleader and the accompanying circus. I am beyond tired of Kincaid, Witherspoon, Royal, and Hoyt and their foolishness and disservice towards progressing Birmingham. Instead, we have gotten nothing but the race-baiting politics, outlandish claims involving anything in this city that those 4 are always the main perpetrators.

Let's not forget about how Kincaid made the outlandish assumptions about Higginbaum's stepping down from the School Board to support Valerie Abbot because she is white and comments to the Black&White reporter that all white people are Republicans. :blink:

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Birmingham mayoral candidate Patrick Cooper announced today that he's raised more than $220,000 in campaign contributions in 3-4 months.

Also, at least 2 polls conducted indicate that Cooper is the man to beat. One poll had him with about a 7% lead over the nearest candidate. The other poll had him with a significantly larger lead (37%).

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