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Opinion One Man's Opinion One Man's Opinion
| One Man's Opinion |
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| One Man's Opinion | ||||
| Written by Dr. Jesse Lewis, Sr. | ||||
| Thursday, 12 July 2012 10:16 | ||||
 Will it be Jay Roberson or Jonathan Austin on the BJCC Board?No one really knows but the Republican members of the Alabama Jefferson County delegation. By law, the House and Senate appoint the members to the Birmingham Jefferson County Civic Center Board; in this instance appointed by the Senate. The law stipulates that someone from the Western and Eastern sections of the City must serve, and the Mayor and the President of the Jefferson County Commission, are automatically members. A couple of years ago, Carole Smitherman started a campaign to make sure that a member of the Birmingham City Council was appointed to the Board. Her rationale was that the City of Birmingham makes more financial commitment to the BJCC than any other city in Jefferson County. This is accurate. The City of Birmingham was responsible for building the Sheraton Hotel. They are responsible for building a new hotel which will be finished in 2012. They also are responsible for building an entertainment district. I personally believe that someone from the City Council will be appointed to serve on that Board, but the Delegation does not necessarily have to. They could reappoint Erskine Brown, presently Chairman of the Board, whose term expires in the month of August, or they could appoint anyone else they so desire. There has been a lot of campaigning going on for both Councilmen – Roberson and Austin. I don’t know all those involved in the campaigning but what I do know, the Executive Director, Tad Snider, has stated, to all parties concerned, that he does not campaign for or against any board member, for that is the decision of the appointing authority and he will work with whomever they send. I have not spoken to anyone on the BJCC Board, but I’m confident they take the same position as the Executive Director. I have not spoken with the Mayor on his position, and can not speak for him. I would assume that he would relish the idea of a Councilor on the Board and he would be comfortable with either Austin of Roberson. The record clearly states that both of them have been staunchly supportive of the Mayor and the BJCC. The City Council did take a vote and recommended that the person who serves should represent Economic Development (Lashunda Scales) and live in the District (Jonathan Austin). All the members voted for this with the exception of Jay Roberson. Jonathan Austin stated his case that he represents the District and if anyone is appointed from the City Council, it should be him. He even went so far as to say, if he is not chosen, the Jefferson County Civic Center would not have his support moving forward. Can Barack Obama win re-election? If you enter a race, you have a chance to win. But when you have people giving millions to the Chambers of Commerce to defeat Obama and millions to PAC groups calling it ‘educating the public,’ it’s going to be difficult. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee combined raised $106.1 million in July and $100 million in June. The Romney campaign and the RNC, which began joint fund-raising in April, when the former Massachusetts governor became the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, brought in $77 million in May. Obama’s re-election team has yet to announce their June figures, but last month senior Obama campaign official predicted that Romney would bring in $100 million in June, that they would be out-raised and that Obama would be the first incumbent president up for re-election who would be out-raised by his opponent. “This month’s fund-raising is a statement from voters that they want a change of direction in Washington. Voters of all stripes, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats – have made it clear that President Obama has not lived up to the promises of his last campaign,” said Romney’s Finance Chairman Spencer Zwick. “Our June fund-raising is a sign that voters are fed up with President Obama’s failure to fix our economy and want a change of direction,” added Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. “While President Obama thinks that the private sector is ‘doing fine,’ millions of Americans are struggling to find work, pay their bills, and stay in their homes. President Obama is clearly in over his head and Americans deserve better.” Fund-raising figures are considered a barometer of a campaign’s strength, and much of the money goes toward paying for TV ads, get-out-the-vote efforts, and travel to allow a candidate to meet with voters. I have stated over and over again, that the Republican Party is making a real effort to suppress the Hispanic, Black, older and younger voters who normally vote Democratic. It would seem to me that both the Democrats and Republicans would be trying to get everybody to vote. The more people who vote the better government we will get. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if Obama can convincingly make the case that America was not for sale yesterday, is not for sale today and will not be for sale tomorrow, he can win. e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
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