Government
| District | Representative | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaShunda Scales | |
| 2 | Kim Rafferty | |
| 3 | Valerie A. Abbott | |
| 4 | Maxine Parker | |
| 5 | Johnathan Austin | |
| 6 | Carole Smitherman | |
| 7 | James E. Roberson, Jr. | |
| 8 | Steven Hoyt | President Pro-Tem |
| 9 | Roderick Royal | President |
Birmingham has a strong-mayor variant mayor-council form of government, led by a mayor and a nine-member city council. The current system replaced the previous city commission government in 1962 (primarily as a way to remove Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor from power).
See also: List of Mayors of Birmingham, Alabama and List of Birmingham neighborhoodsBy Alabama law, an issue before a city council must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote (Act No. 452, Ala. Acts 1955, as supplemented by Act No. 294, Ala. Acts 1965.). Executive powers are held entirely by the Mayor's Office. Birmingham's current Mayor is William A. Bell. Mayor Bell, who previously served as interim Mayor in 1999, won a special election on January 19, 2010, to fill the unexpired term of former Mayor Larry Langford. Langford was removed from office after being convicted of federal corruption charges on October 28, 2009.
In 1974 Birmingham established a structured network of neighborhood associations and community advisory committees to insure public participation in governmental issues that affect neighborhoods. Neighborhood associations are routinely consulted on matters related to zoning changes, liquor licenses, economic development, policing and other city services. Neighborhoods are also granted discretionary funds from the city's budget to use for capital improvements. Each neighborhood's officers meet with their peers to form Community Advisory Committees which are granted broader powers over city departments. The presidents of these committees, in turn, form the Citizen's Advisory Board, which meets regularly with the mayor, council, and department heads. Birmingham is divided into a total of 23 communities, and again into a total of 99 individual neighborhoods with individual neighborhood associations.
Read more about this topic: Birmingham, Alabama
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“The Negro revolution is controlled by foxy white liberals, by the Government itself. But the Black Revolution is controlled only by God.”
—Malcolm X (1925–1965)
“[In government] the problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“I have no doubt that soldiers well drilled are, as a class, peculiarly destitute of originality and independence.... It is impossible to give the soldier a good education without making him a deserter. His natural foe is the government that drills him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)