2011 State of the City address
Birmingham Mayor William Bell's 2011 State of the City address was delivered to the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham on Tuesday January 25, 2011, at the end of his 1st year in office.
Bell characterized the past year as one in which Birmingham emerged from a "dark cloud", primarily from projections that the 2011 Birmingham budget would face a $77 million shortfall. He credited his administration with tackling the budget deficit with immediate cost-cutting measures. At the same time, he touted a list of capital projects recently completed, currently underway, and in the planning stages. He favors such projects as ways of building up the city's tax base by attracting businesses and visitors, especially to the downtown area, which gives the city the means to tackle issues in other neighborhoods.
He highlighted the Marketplace hotel and entertainment district now under construction. In addition to providing critically-needed dining options in the immediate vicinity of the BJCC, he predicts that it will anchor revitalization of neighboring communities north of downtown.
A flier handed out at the meeting listed a number of the city's recently-completed projects and accomplishments divided into the categories of "Live", "Work", and "Play".
Though he did not specifically address transit in his speech, he responded to a follow-up question by saying the city would help the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority in its efforts to seek funding from the state and pursue federal funding for specific projects such as a possible east-west light rail corridor.
References
- Bryant, Joseph D. (January 25, 2011) "Mayor William Bell delivers first State of the City address." Birmingham News
- Piper, Ben (January 25, 2011) "Bell calls for unity in state of the city address." Birmingham Business Journal
- "Birmingham Mayor William Bell presents his plans for living, working and playing in the city." (January 25, 2011) Birmingham News
- "State of the city shows Birmingham Mayor William Bell has many successes of which to be proud, but there's still a whole lot of work to do." editorial (January 27, 2011) Birmingham News