By Ariel Worthy
The Birmingham Times
Dozens of city leaders from around the country were in Birmingham this week for the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO) annual convention to discuss many of the challenges they face.
“We have concerns about some of the budget cuts that may be coming out of Washington that would impact our infrastructure needs and our transportation needs,” said Birmingham Mayor William Bell said.
Bell said the elected officials are looking at how to work with their legislative delegations in Washington D.C. to have them understand the funds needed to deal with some of the infrastructure work. “The collaboration we have here is to work towards that goal,” he said.
Matt Zone, president of the National League of Cities and a Cleveland (Ohio) councilmember, said the convention is important because of the social challenges prevalent in the country and Birmingham is a good place to have that discussion.
“This region really was at the forefront of the whole Civil Rights Movement,” he said. “[We need to talk about] what we’re dealing with today, about how to build more equitable and inclusive communities, how do we make sure we are intentional when we create policies, that no one is left behind.”
One of the more pressing issuing today is the relationship between minorities and law enforcement, he said.
“How do we rebuild confidence between our communities and police departments?” he said. “Right now, there is a real mistrust, so having this conference here at this time is relevant for the work that we’re doing nationally.”
Melodee Colbert-Kean, a Joplin, Missouri city councilmember and former mayor, said the conference gives elected officials an opportunity to network and share best practices.
She spoke of how Joplin and Tuscaloosa faced challenges after devastating tornadoes.
“We spoke a lot with [Tuscaloosa] Mayor Walt Maddox . . . and sharing of the best practices, and what maybe worked better for them or what worked better for us,” she said.
One take away in the aftermath of natural disasters is to share information, she said.
“A lot of time your residents are looking for information, and you need one central point to get that information out, you don’t need a bunch of people saying this is what’s going on, you need one spokesperson to do that, and to partner with local, state and federal,” she said.
The convention continues through today and ends with a noon luncheon where Alabama State Senator Quinton Ross will deliver the keynote address.
