Willis “Mickey Mouse” Hendrix got the biggest laugh from the WorkPlay audience at Tuesday night’s mayoral forum when he said Birmingham’s citizens needed to stop running to City Hall, begging elected officials to fix the city for us.
In the Constitution, he pointed out, any powers not granted to the federal, state or local governments reside with the people. Instead of begging, he said, they should demand what they want from their elected leaders, “Look here, dammit, we want it done!”
(Mr. Hendrix went on to lose ground when, upon being asked what he would do to promote racial harmony, mentioned that he has some “colored” acquaintances.)
{mosimage} However, I took Mr. Hendrix’s rambling point to heart. It is time for the people of Birmingham to let elected officials know what we want, and if they want our vote, they need to pay attention and be held accountable for doing what we want.
And what we want, based on the questions raised at the forum (organized by the League of Women Voters, Catalyst, Rotoract and the Birmingham Association of Black Journalists) includes reducing the city’s ridiculous crime rate, tackling inner city education woes, forging partnerships to create a viable transit system, and attracting new businesses and jobs to Birmingham. The candidate with the vision, passion, strategic planning and political savvy to achieve these ends is exactly what Birmingham needs in its next mayor.
This mayoral election is crucially important to the people of this city, based on what I am hearing and what I saw last night. Young, old, black and white, higher-income and lower income folks, neighborhood leaders, young professionals, business owners — all concerned citizens — leaned forward in their chairs, weighing the candidates’ comments. You could almost hear their mental gears turning as they took careful mental note of every word the candidates uttered from WorkPlay’s stage.{mospagebreak}
There was more laughter at the forum, some of it not good. Some people openly snickered when Mayor Bernard Kincaid said that crime is low compared to other years, and when he said he couldn’t directly prevent the declining student enrollment at Birmingham City Schools because he had to stay in his lane (i.e. not interfere with the elected school board), or face a wreck.
Council President Carole Smitherman countered that the city’s education system is already a wreck and more direct intervention is needed from the mayor. She suggested re-introducing trade skills back into the schools for kids who don’t go to college.
Some clapped with approval and others frowned when Commissioner Larry Langford said parents should “knock out” misbehaving kids so that teachers don’t have to fight undisciplined students in school.
When attorney Patrick Cooper called himself the fresh face on the scene compared to the career-politician opponents, some responded favorably; others felt he was still too fresh and inexperienced.
Leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police — which recently endorsed William Bell — had that “Oh, please!” look on their faces as some of the candidates talked about their plans to reduce crime.
Whatever the responses to the candidates, though, last night’s attendees were intently searching among the 10 candidates for the man or woman to be Birmingham’s CEO for the next four years, the person who can move the City forward.
I propose that we take Mr. Hendrix’s observation to heart. If the mayor is the CEO, then we, the citizens of Birmingham, are the board of directors. We need a leader who can move our company to prosperity and prestige we know it deserves.
It’s up to us to hire the right person for the job. Keep going to the forums and meetings, check out their websites (our friend Andra Natta at The Terminalhas some good links) and make the best decision. And let our next mayor know, “Look here, dammit, we want it done!”
