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Another good one from John Archibald. Lord knows we call him out for the bad ones, give him credit for the good ones.

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014..._most-read

"But Atlanta came up with that nickname, remember? She called herself "The City Too Busy to Hate." I was so full of myself. I just said ... "I ain't that busy."

Sounds like the same old self loathing to me

(05-27-2014 09:14 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  Sounds like the same old self loathing to me

I am dumber for having read that.

"When my people, my children started to abandon me, you held your family together. There are now 35 cities in my county, a dozen school systems and more on the way. You kept your identity as mine splintered. Your county school system is the biggest in the state."

That's not self loathing, that's admitting the problem. The biggest thing hurting B'ham/Jeffco is fragmented government that does not pull together to build the whole area.

(05-27-2014 11:04 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  "When my people, my children started to abandon me, you held your family together. There are now 35 cities in my county, a dozen school systems and more on the way. You kept your identity as mine splintered. Your county school system is the biggest in the state."

That's not self loathing, that's admitting the problem. The biggest thing hurting B'ham/Jeffco is fragmented government that does not pull together to build the whole area.

+1
At least the downtown revitalization is bringing some folks back into the city (Region's Field, Railroad Park, new apartments, etc.). UAB having a winning football team can be added to that list soon :)

Before this thread turns into a "suburbs are evil" thread, I'll say I don't have a problem with small towns.

I don't disagree with most of the things Archibald pushes in his columns, it's just the tone that gets me. A remorseful letter between two cities personas? Gag

Was the letter sent in care of the Birmingham jail?

(05-27-2014 11:29 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  Before this thread turns into a "suburbs are evil" thread, I'll say I don't have a problem with small towns.

Suburbs are not inherently evil. Neither are they small towns.

On the other hand, exactly how many municipal courts, school boards, fire departments, police departments, sanitation departments, ect. ect. does one county need? And how many duplicate bureaucracies?

Ever hear of economy of scale?

Size of town / city like size of government in general is not of itself good or bad. It is what is done within each to make it a good thing or bad. Alabama has a small government that does small things and is not noted for being "good government". Being good at being petty is not "good" government.

Some of Jeffco's financial problems go back to the state legislature cutting its income by 25% in 1999 by abolishing the .5% occupation tax while not providing any alternative revenue source. The (continuing) withdrawal of the more prosperous cities from the county school system did / is doing to the Jeffco system essentially what upper income movement out of B'ham did to the City system. It is leaving the respective systems with those least able to finance what they need for excellence.

Right now the Jeffco area has or will soon have over one dozen School District Superintendents each making well over $100,000 per year plus their own administrative staffs.

The occupational tax was unconstitutional.

(05-27-2014 02:30 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  The occupational tax was unconstitutional.

The one abolished in 1999 was fine, but the one passed later as a replacement was ruled unconstitutional due to technical errors in having it published a certain number of times in state newspapers before it was put into effect. Who goofed on that count has never been explained. Was it an honest slipup or was it a mechanism for killing it via a backdoor method? The tax as a means of revenue itself has never been ruled unconstitutional.

(05-27-2014 02:30 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  The occupational tax was unconstitutional.

You are enjoying this, aren't you.?

Mobile hasn't been the same since Hurricane Katrina. When a lot of N'Awlins citizens evacuated over, traffic exploded. The city revamped certain areas in order to compensate; trouble is, those areas are log-jammed to hell and back at this point. I was telling my wife that Mobile wasn't designed to be a big city, and it has to be due to the concentration in the downtown area.

Of course, people are now moving to Baldwin County, and I'm gonna need them to not do that.

(05-28-2014 12:07 AM)BlazerJoe Wrote:  Mobile hasn't been the same since Hurricane Katrina. When a lot of N'Awlins citizens evacuated over, traffic exploded. The city revamped certain areas in order to compensate; trouble is, those areas are log-jammed to hell and back at this point. I was telling my wife that Mobile wasn't designed to be a big city, and it has to be due to the concentration in the downtown area.

Of course, people are now moving to Baldwin County, and I'm gonna need them to not do that.

How was Mobile affected by the oil spill in the Gulf?

The movement of Mobile County residents to Baldwin County is sort of like the movement of Jeffco people to Shelby County making both Baldwin and Shelby the fastest growing counties in Alabama from "internal transfers".