This is an opinion column

Slowly yet most assuredly, the stone-cold cronyism of the Birmingham Jefferson Complex Center board of directors is dissipating.

On Tuesday, the Jefferson County House delegation of the Alabama legislature voted to name attorney Kermit L. Kendrick, a partner at Burr Forman LLP, to the Bessemer seat on the 11-member board, which oversees the management of five sports, music, and theater venues; exhibition and meeting halls; the Sheraton and Westin hotels; and the Uptown Entertainment complex.

He replaces Dennis Latham, who currently serves as board chair. Latham was initially appointed in 1998 and served until 2010. He dropped off yet was reappointed in 2011. He was elected chair in 2012.

Rep. Jim Carnes, who chairs the delegation, said Latham “decided not to run [for reapointment]. I was shocked, very chocked. There will be a new equilibrium on the board.”

Kendrick, a former All-American defensive back at Alabama and a member of the Hoover School Board, was nominated by Rep. David Faulkner: “Kendrick is one of the most genuinely good people I know,” Faulkner said. “He’s been in leadership positions all his life.”

Seven members of the BJCC board are appointed by the Jefferson County delegation of state lawmakers (the House and Senate alternate appointments). In June, the Senate voted to appoint ARC Realty Chair and Founder Tommy Brigham to the board.

Two appointees must be Birmingham residents, another must live in Bessemer. Ex-officio seats are designated for the mayor of Birmingham, the other is held by the Jefferson County Commission chair. The other three are “at large”.

With Kendrick the board will have three African members, including Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and Samuetta Drew.

During the 2023 legislative session, a bill sponsored by Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, was passed, expanding what had long been a nine-member board by two seats (one designated to be a board member from the Greater Birmingham & Convention Bureau; in August, it voted Integrated Hospitality Solutions President/Partner Bill Murray to fill the seat).

Most vitally, the bill created term limits, capping service at three consecutive four-year terms.

One current member (Dr. Clyde Echols) was initially appointed in 1988 when Woodfin was seven years old. Echols was re-, re-, re-appointed last December; his term expires in 2026.

The terms for Brigham and Kendrick officially begin on October 1.