I was warned by my friends about the commenters on al.com when I first began publishing ComebackTown.
They suggested I not read the comments and certainly not to take them personally. I was told, “They are a bunch of crazies who have nothing better to do than spout nonsense to make themselves feel important.” Continue reading A proposal for pishier
Comebacktown published by David Sher & Phyllis Neill to begin a discussion on creating better government for our region.
Today’s guest blogger is V.J Graffeo, a young professional.
I’m a Birmingham homer. I drink the Magic City Kool-Aid in such excess that I am often blind to our blemishes, dreaming that perhaps that just one day, we will transform into an “it” city. Continue reading VJ Graffeo dreams of Birmingham being an “it” city
Birmingham’s always been called the “city of potential promise,” but our metro area continues to struggle.
Our children are leaving. Our largest companies are abandoning us. And we’re experiencing little or no growth.
Birmingham is beautiful; we have smart and generous people; and we’re located in the heart of the South.
How can we fail? Continue reading Judge Scott Vowell tells it like it is
“We’re going to fix it where they can’t get permission to go to the bathroom.”
This is State Representative John Roger’s warning to Jefferson County Commissioners in retaliation for their decision to discontinue in patient services at Cooper Green.
I’ve published 66 blogs this past year to begin a discussion about our dysfunctional government structure, but this trumps them all. Continue reading Is John Rogers a nut?
I hear it everywhere, “Metro Birmingham’s doing fine; it’s the City of Birmingham that has problems. Life is great in the suburbs; if the City implodes, that’s not my problem.”
If we’re all doing so great, how do you explain that the Milken Institute just named metro Birmingham one of the worst performing large cities in America? Continue reading Metro Birmingham ranked 197th out of 200
We started publishing the ComebackTown blog nearly a year ago to begin a discussion on improving government for metro Birmingham.
We had become completely frustrated because no community leader was willing to discuss better government. The response was always, “That’s impossible…so let’s concentrate on something that’s doable.” Of course, it’s impossible to achieve anything meaningful because of poor government structure.
I was beginning to think we were all alone when this editorial appeared in the Birmingham Business Journal. Continue reading I did a back flip when the BBJ ran this piece
“Let’s take one incredibly hard issue and prove we can solve it“
Giant headline front page,–The Birmingham News February 28, 2012, “Let’s take one incredibly hard issue and prove we can solve it.”
The article then quotes Johnny Johns, the then Chairman of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA)…
“Johnny Johns, the Protective Life Corp. Chairman, president and CEO, gave a call of arms of sorts when he said this to 28 political, business and civic leaders who had gathered at The Birmingham News to discuss how to tackle metro Birmingham’s most pressing problems.”
“…So we all stand off and we talk, talk, talk… Continue reading A challenge for the Birmingham Business Alliance
When I was growing up, Birmingham was black and white.
Blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus; there were separate restrooms and water fountains for colored and white; and the schools were segregated.
As a child I had a sense that something wasn’t quite right because one day while riding on a public bus with my mom I asked if it was okay to offer my seat to a black woman. Her response still rings in my ear. “David, you can’t do that–someone might hurt us.” Continue reading 50 Shades of grey–successful book–maybe it will work for Birmingham
CAVE stands for Citizens Against Virtually Everything.
Look at this 1963 picture of a Nashville policeman.
He was one of the CAVE men who were against Nashville having a unified metro-government.
Continue reading Why do we allow CAVE men to push us around?
Comebacktown published by David Sher & Phyllis Neill to begin a discussion on creating a better government for our region.
Today’s guest blogger is Willie Chriesman.
The city of Birmingham has come up with a name for its observations of the landmark events of the Civil Rights Movement that took place here in 1963. But you have to wonder if “50 Years Forward” is more descriptive of the last half-century or more aspirational for the decades to come. Continue reading Should we celebrate Birmingham’s 50th civil rights anniversary?