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Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper; Mayoral candidate Cooper reaches out to voters

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 in News

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Patrick Cooper hopes the second time is the charm as he enters his third week of campaigning since announcing his candidacy for mayor of Birmingham.

One week and a day after Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford was convicted on 60 counts of fraud, bribery, and corruption, Cooper announced his candidacy for mayor in a press conference outside of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Since that day Cooper has campaigned nonstop, appearing on radio talk shows, television, in newspapers and speaking to potential voters, including students at local colleges. He has even utilized social media including Twitter, YouTube and Facebook in an effort to reach voters.

Cooper came in second to Larry Langford in the 2007 mayoral race and now just has four weeks to campaign before the special election is held on Dec. 8. Cooper said losing to Langford two years ago was actually beneficial for him and has made him better prepared in this election.

“When you lose, sometimes that is actually good for you. It really toughens you up. After losing the election some folks might have put their tail between their legs and sort of disappeared, but that’s just not the way I am,” said Cooper.

“If anything it just emboldened me to stay involved in the community,” he added.

Cooper believes for the past two years the priorities of city government “have been totally backwards.” He said issues such as electronic bingo, accounting software and the domed stadium have consumed the city council’s time when there are more pressing problems affecting Birmingham citizens.

“A few weeks back I was watching the videotapes from the 1979 mayoral election and the issues back then are the same issues that confront Birmingham now — no jobs, rising crime, declining schools — except now they are even worse,” said Cooper.

“I am just not interested in seeing another 30 years go by and still be dealing with the same issues,” he added.
Cooper said he aims to tackle three main problems first.

“There is the core issue of joblessness and what I would say are the symptoms of that — dysfunctional schools and crime,” said Cooper.

According to the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, Birmingham’s unemployment rate for September 2009 was 12.7 percent, almost double the unemployment rate of 6.5 percent from one year ago.

“When you have unemployment in a community, you are always going to have rising crime and dysfunctional schools,” said Cooper.

Cooper’s plan for decreasing unemployment in Birmingham includes hiring unemployed citizens to do a variety of public works jobs that will eventually allow the workers to transition back into the private workforce.

“You hire folks to pick up trash, clean up neighborhoods, rebuild neighborhoods, build and maintain parks, among other things. It is about getting folks out there working to rebuild the infrastructure of Birmingham,” said Cooper.

“The jobs aren’t intended to be permanent jobs. The point is to get people engaged in the community in Birmingham, teach them valuable skills, and help them transition into a job in the private sector,” added Cooper.

Cooper also wants to decrease the drop-out rate in Birmingham schools by starting voluntary pre-kindergarten programs and offering after school enrichment programs in art, music and language with adult supervision.

“The drop-out rate in Birmingham schools is 60 percent, and that is an unacceptable number,” said Cooper.

To achieve the third part of Cooper’s plan, a reduction in crime, he hopes to hire more police officers, have officers walk their beat and get to know the neighborhoods, and increase police substations in the most violent areas of Birmingham.

“Police officers in Birmingham often go to other municipalities where they make more money, and it is less dangerous. We have to hire more officers and pay them more so we keep them,” said Cooper.

If elected, Cooper hopes to shift some of the city budget to help fund his plans.

“I am a reasonable person, and I haven’t decided totally one way or the other but I just think there are more pressing issues than a domed stadium. There are just so many things the city has funded over the past couple of years that don’t make any sense,” said Cooper.

“It is all about setting your priorities. The money is going to get spent, the question is what are you going to spend it on?” he added.

Cooper hopes his plan will bring the community together and he said that also starts with improving the working relationship with UAB.

“UAB is an economic engine for the city and in order to bring more businesses to Birmingham it takes a joint effort with UAB and with the state of Alabama,” said Cooper.

Cooper believes he stands apart from other candidates, including Carole Smitherman, William Bell and Emory Anthony, because he is “not a career politician.”

“I have accomplished things in the private sector but life is more meaningful than that and what I would like to do is leave my mark and make a difference in people’s lives,” said Cooper.

“Particularly, I want to make a difference for those who haven’t had a voice. I want to be an advocate for the poor and working poor. Almost one third of people living in the city live at or below poverty and that is unacceptable.

“If I am so lucky as to get elected, I want city hall to reflect the wonderful diversity in this community. I also want to bring in young folks with lots of ideas and ambitions who want to improve Birmingham,” he said.

Chris Russell, a Birmingham citizen who voted for Cooper in the 2007 election said he is still considering all of the candidates before making a decision but believes in what Cooper represents.

“I am tired of the same politicians and the same broken down city government. I want someone who isn’t tainted by the corruption that has plagued this city and that might just be Cooper,” said Russell.

Whatever the results of the election on Dec. 8, Cooper said he is in Birmingham to stay.

“I made up my mind that win, lose, or draw, I am going to have a voice and make some change. Hopefully I can do it as an elected official, but if not, I will continue to be a community activist,” said Cooper.
 

Email: hncaygle@uab.edu 




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