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JeffCo Headed for Bankruptcy

Bama Reb

Bama Reb

Suspended
Nov 2, 2005
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On the lake and in the woods, AL
As many here are aware, Jefferson County AL is unable to pay it's debt of Billions of dollars to it's many bondholders and creditors. Their municipal bonds, which the county government sold mainly to raise money for a massive sewer project, have been downgraded to junk status, and are at this point virtually worthless. The sewer project itself abounded in graft and corruption and has since been abandoned. Several of the county officials associated with the project have been convicted of criminal acts and are now in prison. The county is already millions of dollars behind on missed payments on their bond debt. The day looms closer on which the county must make it's final decision on bankruptcy. If it chooses this path that would then become the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history.
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1207729027115501.xml&coll=2
This is not a time for each county commissioner to point a blaming finger at someone else or to economic conditions. While it is true that many of these troubles started before any of them were in office, they must accept the fact that their own actions are at least partially to blame and as such they must accept full responsibility for those actions. It's time for every one of them to stand up and admit to their constituents that they failed in the duties for which they were elected. I think that on the day that the bankruptcy is filed that every single elected county official should officially resign their office effective immediately.
I'd like to hear what others have to say on this matter.
 
Are you including Larry Langford in that group that is to stand up? I sure hope so since much of the bond swapping happened when he became president of the county commission. He bankrupted Jeff. County and is working on bankrupting the city of Birmingham. Just my .02 though :) :BigA:
 
ohhhhh hellzzzz yea!!!!! i can't wait for the auction on the county library. i figure for a cool $100 I can buy the deed and convert it into the biggeest indoor slip n slide emporium.
 
dennychimes76 said:
Are you including Larry Langford in that group that is to stand up? I sure hope so since much of the bond swapping happened when he became president of the county commission. He bankrupted Jeff. County and is working on bankrupting the city of Birmingham. Just my .02 though :) :BigA:
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Even though he has moved on to become mayor of Birmingham, I would certainly call for him to step up to the plate as well and admit his part in this fiasco. (Not that he would be man enough to do that!) But I too believe he is one of the biggest players of this gigantic swindle.
Even today, he is still perpetrating even more swindles, but this time concentrating his efforts on the citizens of Birmingham proper. He's already convinced the city council members, who already know that Birmingham isn't in the best of financial conditions itself, to put up $42 Million of an "estimated" $55 Million needed to "refurbish" the Birmingham Fair Grounds over on the poor west side of town.
I think what he's actually doing is putting up a huge front to show the Security & Exchange Commission, when they come calling on him, all these projects that he's been getting started. This is mainly just smoke and mirrors to hide his real culpability in using municipal funds for his own self enrichment. Of course you have to understand that he has been a silent partner of Richard Scrushy's for a very long time.
In reality Larry Langford is the antithesis of King Midas. He could turn a bag of gold bullion into a bucket of swine excrement just by looking at it.
 
Surely, not bankruptcy. Even New York City avoided it a few years ago. There has to be another way.

If they continue to default on bond interest and repayment, the security and exchange commission should step in and force change. It sounds as if there needs to be a complete house cleaning.

I recall discussions on here within the past few months about the possibility of building a domed stadium. That was a waste of time, wishful thinking.

Birmingham has been in a downward spiral for more than 30 years now. Good people with leadership skills have excaped to suburbs, just to get away from the mess.
 
What makes it doubly worse for the muni investors is they can't rely on the insurers to step in and make good on the insured paper in the case of default at this point. A big municipality like Jefferson going bankrupt just might be the nail in the coffin for AMBAC, MBIA, and the others that are in trouble right now. Although I gotta believe the Feds will bail them out just like they bailed out Bear Stearns. It is going to be intersting to watch, that is for sure.

Side note: As someone who makes his living in the financial services industry, I used to be able to get a good nights sleep knowing I had my client in insured munis. No more. Some of these bonds have to be avoided like the plague.
 
Bama Reb said:
Even though he has moved on to become mayor of Birmingham, I would certainly call for him to step up to the plate as well and admit his part in this fiasco. (Not that he would be man enough to do that!) But I too believe he is one of the biggest players of this gigantic swindle.
Even today, he is still perpetrating even more swindles, but this time concentrating his efforts on the citizens of Birmingham proper. He's already convinced the city council members, who already know that Birmingham isn't in the best of financial conditions itself, to put up $42 Million of an "estimated" $55 Million needed to "refurbish" the Birmingham Fair Grounds over on the poor west side of town.
I think what he's actually doing is putting up a huge front to show the Security & Exchange Commission, when they come calling on him, all these projects that he's been getting started. This is mainly just smoke and mirrors to hide his real culpability in using municipal funds for his own self enrichment. Of course you have to understand that he has been a silent partner of Richard Scrushy's for a very long time.
In reality Larry Langford is the antithesis of King Midas. He could turn a bag of gold bullion into a bucket of swine excrement just by looking at it.
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LOL at your last statement - so true so true! And why the City Council is buying into everything he proposes is beyond my understanding. I agree with you, if Jefferson Co. goes bankrupt, every one of them should resign. I live within in the Bham city limits and take back everything bad I ever said about Benard Kincaid :eek2:

And Displaced Bama Fan, Larry Langford and his cohorts make Lambert Mims look like a choirboy! I'm a native of Mobile - never have I seen such corruption as in Bham/Jefferson County. Mims (and I'll throw in A.J. Cooper, former mayor of Prichard) is a saint compared to these folks :biggrin: :BigA:
 
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rizolltizide said:
What makes it doubly worse for the muni investors is they can't rely on the insurers to step in and make good on the insured paper in the case of default at this point. A big municipality like Jefferson going bankrupt just might be the nail in the coffin for AMBAC, MBIA, and the others that are in trouble right now. Although I gotta believe the Feds will bail them out just like they bailed out Bear Stearns. It is going to be intersting to watch, that is for sure.

Side note: As someone who makes his living in the financial services industry, I used to be able to get a good nights sleep knowing I had my client in insured munis. No more. Some of these bonds have to be avoided like the plague.
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There are substantial number of conservative investors, especially retirees, who have heavily invested in "safe" investments like tax-free municipal bonds. I hope most of them have diversified enough that they don't have too heavy a stake in Jefferson County, but I fear many have not.
 
I caught on the news last night that LL's solution to the problems in Birmingham is................wait for it.............Burlap Sacks! I have no idea what in the world the point of this idea was, but did catch that he planned to order 150 or so burlap sacks to pass out into the community. I just moved out of Southside and now have a different cable provider, but watching the Tuesday council meeting on tv used to be one of my favorite forms of entertainment. Maybe I still get it through Charter....haven't checked.
 
building "the dome" would've saved all this from happening. B'ham would've gotten the SECCG, SEC basketball tourney, an NFL team, concerts, conventions, hell maybe even a SECOND NFL team. But the scoffers scoffed, the laughers laughed, and now B'ham is going to declare bankruptcy. All because they wouldn't build the dome.........
 
elmwood said:
I caught on the news last night that LL's solution to the problems in Birmingham is................wait for it.............Burlap Sacks! I have no idea what in the world the point of this idea was, but did catch that he planned to order 150 or so burlap sacks to pass out into the community. I just moved out of Southside and now have a different cable provider, but watching the Tuesday council meeting on tv used to be one of my favorite forms of entertainment. Maybe I still get it through Charter....haven't checked.
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I saw that too. Actually, I thought it was 2000 burlap sacks and he's already ordered them. He's going to give them out to all the ministers in the area so they can wear them while they preach. It has some kind of Biblical implication. What an absolute waste of the taxpayers' money. He is a disgrace. I've quit doing any kind of business in the city of Birmingham. I don't even like to drive through it. Instead of buying 2000 burlap sacks, he should've bought 2000 bullet-proof vests for his police officers. The crime rate is out of control. It's totally embarassing to have morons like Larry Langford running the largest city in my state.
 
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bamanut_aj said:
building "the dome" would've saved all this from happening. B'ham would've gotten the SECCG, SEC basketball tourney, an NFL team, concerts, conventions, hell maybe even a SECOND NFL team. But the scoffers scoffed, the laughers laughed, and now B'ham is going to declare bankruptcy. All because they wouldn't build the dome.........
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I can't tell, but I hope this is meant to be interptreted with a sarcastic tone.
 
Captain, you may be right about the number....I was getting ready for bed and was only half listening. My ears perked up a little bit though when I heard it so I tried to pick up the story. Birmingham city decisions remind me of when they used to play Beavis and Butthead episodes all day and referred to it as "a non-stop moronathon."
 
Capt. Jack said:
(snipped) What an absolute waste of the taxpayers' money. He is a disgrace. I've quit doing any kind of business in the city of Birmingham. I don't even like to drive through it. Instead of buying 2000 burlap sacks, he should've bought 2000 bullet-proof vests for his police officers. The crime rate is out of control. It's totally embarassing to have morons like Larry Lankford running the largest city in my state.
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Speaking of wasting taxpayer monies, I forgot about the $30,000 enclosed smoking deck he had built outside his office. It is a treat for me to read John Archibald's columns in the Birmingham News - the column about Langford handing out his "Thinking Outside The Box" awards is funny. :BigA:
 
I lived in fairfield, CT, about 17 years ago, and Bridgeport CT was having similiar problems. for those that do not know, Bridgeport was about the size of Birmingham, and the largest city in CT( larger than Hartford.) Bridgeport filed in federal court for Bankruptcy protection, and the judge in that case ruled that as long as a municipality had citizen and had the means to levy taxes and raise revenues, it cold not be insolvent. basically, he said the debt burden falls on the citizens. look out Jeffco residents!! although, Bridgeport recovered and is prosperous now, it was pretty bleak at the time, the 880 man police force was down to about 380 officers when I left the area in '90.
 
bamaga said:
I lived in fairfield, CT, about 17 years ago, and Bridgeport CT was having similiar problems. for those that do not know, Bridgeport was about the size of Birmingham, and the largest city in CT( larger than Hartford.) Bridgeport filed in federal court for Bankruptcy protection, and the judge in that case ruled that as long as a municipality had citizen and had the means to levy taxes and raise revenues, it cold not be insolvent. basically, he said the debt burden falls on the citizens. look out Jeffco residents!! although, Bridgeport recovered and is prosperous now, it was pretty bleak at the time, the 880 man police force was down to about 380 officers when I left the area in '90.
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380 cops in B'ham? Man, there would be rioting and murders every night.
 
dennychimes76 said:
Speaking of wasting taxpayer monies, I forgot about the $30,000 enclosed smoking deck he had built outside his office. It is a treat for me to read John Archibald's columns in the Birmingham News - the column about Langford handing out his "Thinking Outside The Box" awards is funny. :BigA:
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According to inside sources, these guys make up Langford's "5" so I'm sure he's got a plan.
 
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