Vote 2009: Mayoral town hall wrapup

Birmingham mayoral town hall: from left,
Emory Anthony, William Bell and Scott Douglas.

Five candidates for mayor of Birmingham came to Tuesday’s town hall. The event, sponsored by progressive young professional group Catalyst, took place at WorkPlay before hundreds of attendees.

Topics ranged from the budget to the arts to local food, with questions from audience members and the moderator.

The participants:

• Emory Anthony;
• William Bell;
• Scott Douglas;
• Steven Hoyt;
• Carole Smitherman.

(Organizers invited Patrick Cooper, who did not attend citing previous commitments. At the beginning of the event, T.C. Cannon asked to participate but was denied.)

From left, Steven Hoyt, Carole Smitherman
and moderator Natalie Davis.

Included below are audio clips of the candidates’ responses.

1. Candidate introductions
Order: Anthony, Bell, Douglas, Hoyt, Smitherman.
[15 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Moderator questions

2. Fixing the city’s financial mess
Order: Bell, Douglas, Hoyt, Smitherman, Anthony.
[9 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

3. Where to cut city budget
Order: Douglas, Hoyt, Smitherman, Anthony, Bell.
[4 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

4. What do you want to be your biggest accomplishment in 2 years as mayor?
Order: Hoyt, Smitherman, Anthony, Bell, Douglas.
[5 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audience questions

5. How can the mayor facilitate partnerships among families, schools and communities?
Order: Smitherman, Hoyt, Douglas, Bell, Anthony.
[7 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

6. Air pollution
Order: Hoyt, Douglas, Bell, Anthony, Smitherman.
[7 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

7. Supporting local food initiatives / community gardens
Order: Douglas, Bell, Anthony, Smitherman, Hoyt.
[6 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

8. Arts funding
Order: Bell, Anthony, Smitherman, Hoyt, Douglas.
[5 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

9. Making it a “Magic City” / attracting young people
Order: Anthony, Bell, Douglas, Hoyt, Smitherman.
[6 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

10. If you don’t win, how will you make Birmingham better during the next 2 years?
Order: Bell, Douglas, Hoyt, Smitherman, Anthony.
[6 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

11. Closing statements
Order: Douglas, Hoyt, Smitherman, Anthony, Bell.
[9 min.]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Also: a town hall report from the Birmingham News.

The election takes place Dec. 8.

• • •

More Vote 2009 coverage.

Sphere: Related Content

Also see:

Vote 2009: Meet the candidates at these forums

Vote 2009: Time to elect another mayor

Wade on December 2009

Vote 2009: Up close with William Bell

Vote 2009: Mayoral candidate forum on economic development

Posted: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 7:00 am, in B'ham, Commerce, Culture.
For this entry: E-mail | comments feed | trackback.