David Sher’s ComebackTown for a better greater Birmingham

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Today’s guest columnist is Jeffrey Bayer.

Last week, after a successful annexation vote, Mayor Sandy Stimson of Mobile proudly proclaimed, “We’re bigger than Birmingham!”

Up until recently Birmingham was concerned about falling behind Huntsville.

Now we’ve fallen behind, not only Huntsville, but also Montgomery and Mobile.

It’s important to note that Metropolitan Birmingham’s population is more than twice Metropolitan Huntsville and the gross domestic product of Metropolitan Birmingham is greater than the gross national product of Metropolitan Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile combined.

On Jan.1, 1974 the city of Lexington and Fayette County became the first Kentucky communities to consolidate city and county governments into a single system and by the early 2000′s Lexington was on the verge of passing Louisville as the largest city in Kentucky.

Louisville, however, was not about to be passed by Lexington, so in 2003 Louisville created its own metro government with Jefferson County to remain the largest city in Kentucky. Louisville has been celebrating the benefits of that merger ever since.

You may say it doesn’t matter that we’re not the largest city in the state because everyone knows the City of Birmingham’s population does not include 34 other cities in Jefferson County, but any out-of-state company or individual researching Birmingham doesn’t know that. To them we are the Alabama city that fell from first to fourth in the first three years of this decade.

Exactly ten years ago I wrote a column for ComebackTown titled, “An idea that will fix Birmingham.”

I thought it was the right idea then and I believe it’s the right idea now.

Here’ what I wrote on July 30, 2013…

“Haven’t we had enough?

Aren’t we tired of falling behind our peer cities?

Cities such as Charlotte, Nashville, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Louisville have created their opportunities for growth because they have consolidated municipal services–not just collaborated, but changed their method of governance.

We say it can’t be done here because the cities of Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover and Mountain Brook, to name a few, could never agree to come together–much less with the City of Birmingham. What is not said out loud is the affluent suburban communities were created for racial separation and continue today for the same reason. No one’s willing to put their self-interest behind the greater good for a dynamic metro movement.

I would suggest 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.

Two separate governments, divided by a park, providing the same services, makes NO sense with Birmingham saddled with providing the majority of financial support for our critical metro services (airport, museums, new hotel and entertainment district, transportation system… to name a few) and it has the poorest overall population. Where is the logic?

Combine the two governments, leave the others out, and bring together the majority of residents in our metro area into one powerful operational unit.

We are surrounded by many examples of successful models in the aforementioned metros; however, we scream we are so unique that it can’t happen here. Why is that? We know why!

Trying to convince the affluent suburban communities is a waste of time and will keep us last in the region for decades to come. Let’s be pragmatic. The coming together of the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County is natural and can be done NOW.

Our citizens should demand it…NOW!”

Jeffrey A. Bayer is past President and CEO of Bayer Properties. Bayer Properties, under his leadership, developed our very successful Summit Shopping Center, and grew from a local property management company to a national commercial real estate firm. Jeffrey’s a Birmingham native and a true Birmingham supporter.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

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