Meeting Over Changes to Mayor-Council Act Incites More Debate
At a public meeting Monday night, more than a hundred people huddled into a tight room in the Jefferson County courthouse. Residents poured out into the hallway. They gathered to discuss proposed changes to the Mayor-Council Act, legislation that divides powers between the mayor and city council.
Jefferson County Legislative Delegation also discussed what other changes could be in store. Rep. Oliver Robinson is Vice Chairman of the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation and sponsor of the controversial bill that could change the Mayor-Council Act and seriously shake Birmingham’s balance of power.
The proposed changes would strengthen the mayor’s power. It’d require that the city council get approval from the mayor for any budget changes and that the council must elect a new president every two years. Another bill has already been filed that would give the mayor additional appointments to the Birmingham Water Works Board.
The debate between officials was loud and unruly. Residents pleaded for their legislators to get along. The room was divided over the changes; even legislators were split.
At the end of the meeting, City Council President Jonathan Austin asked that the council be consulted about any new power-restructuring legislation.
“I think that the way to do it is to sit down and have a conversation collectively and decide what we, both the council and the [Jefferson County] Legislature Delegation, see what’s best for the citizens that we are all elected to serve,” Austin explained.
Rep. Robinson says he could propose the bill as early as Wednesday morning. Councillors Austin and Valerie Abbott questioned whether legislators from Jefferson County would support the bill after this meeting.
How many kids go to work instead of school?
They toil in mines, tend crops, scrub floors. An author of a new report on child labor points to great progress in reducing the number of kids who work but says the numbers remain "unacceptable."
The paperwork trap: A sneaky way to cut Medicaid in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’?
Republicans want to add work requirements for Americans to get Medicaid. Is that a necessary step to fight "waste, fraud, and abuse" or a sneaky way of cutting the social safety net?
He sued for marriage equality and won. 10 years later, he fears for LGBTQ+ rights
Jim Obergefell, plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, reflects on the decision 10 years later and the LGBTQ community's current civil rights fight.
‘The Bear’ is back — and leaning into its strengths in Season 4
The new season picks up right where we left off — with a review of the restaurant — and refocuses on the relationships between Carmy, Sydney and Richie.
The Trump administration says it wants to eliminate FEMA. Here’s what we know
Every year, millions of Americans rely on FEMA assistance after hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and other disasters. The president says state governments should do more.
‘Equal dignity’: U.S. map shows the impact of Obergefell v. Hodges decision
"They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law," then-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the June 26, 2015, ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. "The Constitution grants them that right."