The City of Birmingham today filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Kay Ivey and the State of Alabama, seeking a temporary restraining order to stop Ivey from signing a bill into law that would change the make-up of the Birmingham Water Works Board.

The bill, awaiting Ivey’s signature to become law, regionalizes the Birmingham Water Works Board and would give more power to suburban areas.

“This is a very political bill,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “It doesn’t make things better.”

The new law would change the structure of the Birmingham Water Works Board, creating a seven-member authority dominated by appointees from outside the city of Birmingham and reducing city’s seats to two.

New board members will be appointed within 20 days of Ivey signing the bill into law.

Birmingham’s lawsuit, with Woodfin and the City Council as plaintiffs, seeks to stop it.

Woodfin, flanked by City Council members, announced the lawsuit this morning before the weekly City Council meeting.

“It speaks to the fact that the passage of SB (Senate Bill) 330 will result in disproportionate representation of the ratio of customers served by the proposed regional board,” said City Attorney Nicole King.

The city is asking Ivey not to sign it, and for it to be returned to the legislature for changes.

“We would like for the governor to not sign this bill,” King said.

“Birmingham built the water utility and is more invested than any other community in its success,” the city argues in its lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division.

“Water is a critical component of economic development, and Birmingham is the economic engine of the state, contributing about 30 percent of our entire state’s gross domestic product. SB330, however, will result in disproportionate representation of customers served by the Board, in that a county with only 592 customers (Blount), will have significantly greater representation per capita than Jefferson County, with 202,316 customers, or the City of Birmingham, with 90,411 customers.”

The city argues in the lawsuit that the legislation is motivated by racial discrimination.

“The implication that any perceived problems with the Water Works Board’s management are due to the majority of Board members being appointed by Birmingham is wholly unsupported, is based strictly on the racial makeup of Birmingham being more than 50 percent black, presents issues of constitutionality and fundamental fairness, constitutes blatant racial discrimination, and is an affront to Birmingham’s elected leadership and its citizens,” the lawsuit says. “There is no legitimate basis for the apparent assumption that management of the Water Works Board will be improved if Birmingham has fewer appointments.”