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Dear Santa,
I hope you get this message in time (you know I'm always late!!). But, considering that this is the day Birmingham voters are supposed to go to the polls to elect a new mayor, please give my wish list for today some serious consideration:
For the Voters
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Please Santa, help our voters not feel apathetic about going to the polls today. Every vote, every voice counts, and this is especially important now, when voter turnout has been so low.
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Remind some that brave men, women and children fought and died so many of us would have this right to vote, and that failing to vote dishonors their sacrifice.
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While many voters feel powerless in the face of the corruption and incompetence that have flowed from our local governments lately, help them remember that they really DO have the power to do something about it.
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Also help them cut through the political clutter and choose a candidate not by popularity or money, but by the candidates' platforms and their ability to do what they say they will do for the city (voters can get some help here from the videos and links on our Mayor's Election 2009 page).
For the Mayor
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Please help our voters elect a mayor who is visionary, dynamic, administratively competent, fiscally responsible, honest, ethical, and personally likeable (they have to be able to touch the hearts of the people).
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Please help us pick a mayor who is really in office to serve the people of this city, not just his or her own selfish ambitions.
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Oh, and please give him or her some ideas on how to revitalize Ensley and other communities in the city that have the potential to be energized and bring needed jobs and social vitality to overlooked neighborhoods.
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And, Santa, please remind the mayor that he or she doesn't have to re-invent the wheel, that there are good ideas and plans gathering dust on shelves that could be used to grow our city, and that there are people willing and ready to help them do so.
- Yes, most importantly, help the next mayor come up with good, creative ways to stabilize and even grow the city's finances, even in these tough economic times.
One suggestion is to focus on civil rights and cultural tourism (a natural for a city known worldwide for its role in the American civil rights struggle, and that was once known as "the Pittsburgh of the South"). My other suggestions are to revive the commercial usefulness of Birmingport and the Ensley Works browns field. And, please, help him or her think progressively and figure out a way to fund the multi-use facility (a.k.a. "domed stadium") to bring more cash-generating events to the area, before we fall behind little 'ole Chattanooga (Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and other cities that used to be comparable to Birmingham have left us in the dust!).
For Birmingham View Television
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First of all, Santa, thank you for the 21,000+ viewers who watch our television show each week. But please, could you help me get more?
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Please give me more ideas on how to make this show better, for the sake of informing and entertaining our viewers on the best that the Magic City has to offer.
- Remind them that they can watch one of the shows tomorrow on My 68 and every Wednesday morning at 6:30 - 7 a.m.; and if they can't watch, they can always record it.
Thanks Santa!
vickii |
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