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Posts by David Sher:
Go home and get your act together!
June 13th, 2012
Senator's Shelby and Sessions are always telling Birmingham to speak with one voice
Our BBA (Chamber of Commerce) takes a trip to Washington every year to visit our Alabama Senators and Congressmen and to lobby for legislation and money.
The BBA prepares a priority agenda and typically a small group of business leaders, politicians, and staff fly to DC to make their request. Read the rest of this entry “
What’s killing America is killing Birmingham
May 30th, 2012
On August 5, 2011, Standard & Poor lowered the U.S. debt rating saying, “The downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges.”
On November 9, just three months later, our Jefferson County filed the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history after an agreement among elected officials and investors to refinance $3.1 billion in sewer bonds fell apart. Read the rest of this entry “
Look how far we’ve fallen
May 23rd, 2012
Regions Park in Hoover soon to lose the Birmingham Barons
I’m absolutely thrilled we are building a new baseball stadium downtown. When I was a child my dad took me to see the Barons play at Rickwood Field. Watching baseball with my dad created memories I will never forget.
I saw the Barons play teams like the Nashville Vols, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Memphis Chicks, and the Atlanta Crackers. Read the rest of this entry “
Birmingham–like the Roach Motel
May 16th, 2012
The Roach Motel—“the bugs check in but they don’t check out.”
I know you think this is going to be a negative piece about Birmingham, but hang in there.
One of the biggest obstacles Birmingham companies face is recruiting high level employees from out of state. Read the rest of this entry “
Is political corruption rampant here?
May 2nd, 2012
Between 2003-2006 five CFO’s of HealthSouth were convicted of fraud.
Would it be appropriate to assume all CFO’s in the Birmingham area are crooked?
I think we can agree there was something in the corporate culture or structure at HealthSouth that created such blatant fraud. Read the rest of this entry “
Is racism the problem with Birmingham?
April 25th, 2012
Birmingham during the early '60's
I hear it regularly, “The problem with Birmingham is racism.”
One of my first blogs, Let’s move to the suburbs and attack the city, quickly attracted two comments. One was from (I assume) an African American blaming Birmingham’s problems on whites, “The racism is so obvious and so thick you can cut it with a knife.” Read the rest of this entry “
Let’s spend $125 million stealing from one another
April 18th, 2012
Birmingham Steel Mills 1910-1919--Birmingham was known as the Pittsburgh of the South
Birmingham has always been known as a “steel” town. Now we should be known as the “steal” town.
While our peer cities are recruiting companies from other regions, we steal businesses from each another. Read the rest of this entry “
Your local 911 call could kill you
April 11th, 2012
Our government structure puts your life at risk
Will your 911 cell phone call save you in an emergency?
Maybe not if you’re calling from within our region.
I have a friend who witnessed a wreck near Blue Lake Road off of Hwy 280. He immediately dialed 911 but ran into a geographic overlap. Read the rest of this entry “
BBJ Readers support unified metro government–two to one
March 8th, 2012
I was dumbfounded when I saw the results.
The Birmingham Business Journal ran a poll the week of February 29, 2012.
Readers were asked, “Would you be in favor of a unified metro area government for Birmingham?”
The response was more than two to one in favor. Read the rest of this entry “
