I couldn’t believe my eyes. The words jumped off the page.
Why my excitement?
I attended Leadership Birmingham in 1992.
At our final session, the last speaker, a corporate leader, concluded his speech and asked if there were any questions.
Category Archives: David Sher posts
Good-bye Birmingham Schools?
You’ve seen the headline, Retaining accreditation will be difficult for Birmingham city” schools.
“Birmingham City Schools will have a hard time remaining accredited if board members don’t…start thinking of the system as a whole, said the president of the accrediting agency that recently announced it was placing the district on probation…
… A review team from AdvancEd who was in Birmingham for several days in May found
…that individual board members were not looking out for the best interests of the system as a whole…
“The ramifications are dire Continue reading Good-bye Birmingham Schools?
Unexpected response: Combine Jefferson County with City of Birmingham
We were totally surprised to the response to Jeffrey Bayer’s idea to combine Jefferson County with the City of Birmingham.
Jeffrey Bayer, President and CEO of Bayer Properties, suggested in a recent guest blog that…
“We forget about these surrounding pristine municipalities, and focus on an initial step to bring together the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County. They are the two largest governments, have the most in common, could generate the most in operational economic savings, and could probably eliminate the need for occupational taxes due to operational efficiencies–thereby ridding an economic model that impedes the very growth they both covet… Continue reading Unexpected response: Combine Jefferson County with City of Birmingham
Birmingham powerless again
Let’s talk about the Alabama Department of Transportation’s controversial plan for expanding and reconfiguring Interstate 20/59 through downtown Birmingham.
My understanding is the plan calls for limited access to our downtown and for the continuation of 20/59 to cut through the heart of our city.
This controversy is a case study on why our metro area is powerless
Continue reading Birmingham powerless again
Birmingham screwed up–Will we get a 2nd chance?
The objective of ComebackTown is to create a conversation on a “better Birmingham.” We focus on what’s great about our region, but it’s important to identify our shortcomings.
Many are quick to blame our politicians or corporate leadership, but the root cause of our frailties is poor government structure.
How badly is the Univ. of Ala. hurting Birmingham?
I graduated from U of A, love Bama football, and wish I could be paid a dollar every time I yell, “Roll Tide!”
Many of my friends are just like me; except the ones that do that “War Eagle” thing. Living in Birmingham is all about the Tide and the Tigers.
I believe it’s written in our State Constitution Continue reading How badly is the Univ. of Ala. hurting Birmingham?
Damn it! Birmingham’s not that dangerous
The latest FBI crime statistics will be posted everywhere soon.
Each year, the FBI releases its crime statistics and Birmingham’s portrayed as one of the most dangerous cities in America.
The City of Birmingham, one of 37 municipalities in Jefferson County, is measured against cities Continue reading Damn it! Birmingham’s not that dangerous
Langford and Bell may have saved Birmingham
Sunday, June 9th, I was watching TV when suddenly my cell phone lit up with e-mails from people everywhere.
They couldn’t wait to tell me about the positive story about Birmingham in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Yahoo News, etc. Pretty darn exciting when media everywhere are screaming, “(Birmingham) has a new vibe that’s generating buzz.”
Every major newspaper in the U.S.must have posted the AP piece, “Once dying Birmingham is suddenly hot.”
I certainly loved the article, but was somewhat stunned Continue reading Langford and Bell may have saved Birmingham
Did Mt. Brook blow up Birmingham?
(Editors note: This article is not about Mt. Brook–it’s much broader than that. It’s also not about the City of Birmingham–it’s about our metro. Today we examine the topic no one wants to discuss.)
A young, well-respected business man approached me after a civic club meeting. He wanted to talk about our region’s lack of progress.
Soon the conversation turned to our 37 municipalities in Jefferson County.
He said he understood how competing cities hurt our region, but as a Mt. Brook resident he was not about ready to sacrifice his children’s education for better government. Continue reading Did Mt. Brook blow up Birmingham?
Thousands will move to downtown Birmingham
It’s easy to predict the future of Birmingham.
Birmingham’s usually the last to do just about everything. So if you want to see what’s about to happen, all you have to do is look elsewhere.
When I was Chairman of Operation New Birmingham (ONB) in 1995, CBS42 was desperately trying to build viewership for their newscast. They were practicing “guerilla journalism” to try to shock and surprise people to build audience.
One day at a public ONB function, a news reporter from TV42 unexpectedly thrust a microphone in my face and asked, Continue reading Thousands will move to downtown Birmingham