Smitherman takes office
Posted on Nov 03, 2009 in News
In a unanimous decision by the jury, Larry Langford was found guilty Oct. 28. The verdict brought an immediate end to his reign as the mayor of Birmingham. Langford was convicted of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and money laundering by a court jury in Tuscaloosa. The trial lasted only eight days.
Langford plans to appeal the verdict before his sentencing in the next 120 days. James Slack, UAB government professor, said the best thing we can hope for from this conviction is that it will have a “chilling effect” on the behavior of elected officials.
“If Langford is sentenced to many years, then the chilling effect might be substantial. If he is out in less than five years, then I fear it will be business as usual,” said Slack.
A mayoral election will be held to replace Langford in the next 30 to 45 days. In the meantime Council President Carole Smitherman is the acting mayor. She began her first day in office with a thorough examination of the financial books.
“I don’t want the city of Birmingham to be attached in any kind of way to Jefferson County and their financial struggles,” she said.
Smitherman has run for the office of mayor three times.
“I suspect that, for better or worse, Birmingham will not change much. The county will suffer bankruptcy, a situation not changed by the conviction of former Mayor Langford,” said Slack. “The political leadership of the city and region will continue to be, at best, overly cautious and, at worst, secretly corrupt.
“Until Jefferson County and the City of Birmingham embrace professional governance and embrace a new constitution, not much will change in the region.”
It is unclear if the conviction of Larry Langford will have any effect at all on the relationship between UAB and the city of Birmingham.
“It is my understanding that the relationship between the former mayor and UAB was at best strained. In retrospect, perhaps such a strained relationship was a good thing,” said Slack.
Email: news@insideuab.com
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