Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford is upset again with city councilors, who he claims are leaking information to the media. In his regularly scheduled comments at the beginning of the council meeting Tuesday, the mayor said he would not tolerate councilors requesting information from the mayor’s office and then giving that information to the media.
Langford acknowledged that Alabama has an open records law, but then after a long pause, he blasted the council for giving information to the press. He claimed that one councilor had requested a copy of Birmingham capital projects to-do list and then gave that list immediately to The Birmingham News.
This isn’t the first such accusation or outburst from the mayor. Last December, Langford said in a committee of a whole meeting that he would fire the city employee who was telling the media about renovation and redecoration of the mayor’s office.
“As soon as I find out who they are, they won’t work here anymore,” Langford said then.
The Birmingham News had put in a public information request for the renovation work orders and invoices after the repairs had become apparent to anyone visiting city hall — mainly because of the smell of wet paint and carpet glue wafting from the mayor’s office, new lighting in the halls and additional audio visual equipment in the council chambers.
Nor does the mayor have the best record with the open records law. In fact, the biggest news out of this morning’s council meeting might be that Langford knows the Alabama Open Records Law exists.
Shortly after being elected to office, the mayor distributed to the council copies of his Birmingham Economic and Community Revitalization Ordinance. The mayor’s office did not give copies to the media or the public, and the mayor’s office had written on the envelopes: “Personal and Confidential. Not for Distribution. Only Mayor May Comment on Contents.”
The mayor’s secrecy was a blatant violation of the Alabama Open Records Law, but the city council leaked the document before media lawsuits became necessary. The media leaks that Langford blasted this morning, at least once saved the city an expensive legal battle it could not possibly win.
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February 12th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Who are the idiots he has working for him? Don’t THEY know there is an Open Records Law? I have worked in politics most of my professional career and let me tell you, not since I moved to Alabama have I encountered the most egotistical politicians one can imagine. Staff is there to protect the politicians from themselves. No wonder there are so many politicians in trouble here.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Wow! It’s a good thing Larry’s ambitions have never carried him farther than the mayor’s office. He sounds like he and Dick Cheney would get along great when it comes to denying the public access to public information.
February 13th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
LOL! Reminds me of Dick Cheney and his self-created confidential stamp that doesn’t really exist. Langford would LOVE to have one of those, I’d imagine.
It sucks for him, I suppose. As mayor of Birmingham, he’ll have more attention that ever before– which means he’ll have more attention than ever before. He may do the same stupid stuff, but at least now, folks will know every detail of how it’s going to go down.
As for the renovations to his office…
Kyle, you hang around City Hall more than I do, so I’m sure you’re more than familiar with how it goes. I didn’t have to ask anyone at all what was going on to figure it out. It was common knowledge among ALL city employees by the end of the first day. I found out about it over a casual lunch with someone not even associated with the city and confirmed it through other conversations. According to them, the initial leak came from Langford himself. He’s not exactly discreet, and he loves to brag if he thinks you’re one of his adoring fans. Frank Matthews and John Katapodis are hardly a secretive pair, themselves. By all means, I’m sure that the mainstream press is LOVING Frank Matthews right now.