BRADENTON, Fla. — A new county commission in Jefferson County, Ala., will be seated Wednesday and is entrusted with resolving the continuing saga of how to deal with nearly $3.2 billion of variable- and auction-rate sewer warrants.
Voters on Tuesday elected two Democrats and three Republican to the five-member County Commission, the same party makeup that has existed the past four years. Four of the five are complete newcomers.
The Democrats are former Birmingham City Council member and businesswoman Sandra Little Brown, a newcomer to the board, and George Bowman, who was re-elected but had only served four months. The new Republicans are David Carrington, a businessman and Vestavia Hills Council member; Jimmie Stephens, a businessman and Bessemer City Council member; and Joe Knight, an attorney and member of the Jefferson County GOP executive committee.
The new commission expects to elect officers Nov. 16. Carrington is believed to be the front-runner for president. In the past, the president headed the county's finance committee and oversaw budget and legal issues.
"A majority of the power in our new organization structure will not rest in the presidency," Carrington said Thursday. "We have designed a much flatter organizational structure that equitably distributes the workload and responsibilities among all five commissioners."
Carrington opposes raising taxes, using general fund revenues, reallocating education sales tax dollars, or adding special fees to deal with the sewer debt problem. He supports a settlement with bondholders that "includes a significant reduction in the amount of debt owed, a fixed interest rate, and reasonable sewer rates going forward" with a bankruptcy filing being a "last resort."
His position is similar to the one held by most of the outgoing commissioners. But Carrington said he would take a different approach to move things forward.
"The current president of the Jefferson County Commission allowed lawyers and business leaders to negotiate with the bondholders on the county's behalf," he said. "The new commissioners will be actively engaged and involved in the negotiation process with all concerned parties."
As soon as the new commission is sworn into office, Carrington said the board would begin a detailed budget review and recruiting a county manager. The Legislature has ordered the county to hire a manager by April.
