22 birmingham business journal FROM PAGE ONE www.birminghambusinessjournal.com | july3,2009
as general counsel and public policy vice
president.
Dalton Smith, the new group's CEO, has
not finalized the entity's personnel struc-
ture, according to the organization's new
spokesman David Rickey. Rickey said Choy
will "charter public policy" for the new
organization.
Hallmark said the Birmingham chamber
has been actively involved with the national
chamber's federal initiatives. He said hav-
ing a voice at the state capitol is equally
important.
"When legislators are at the state capitol,
they don't get home as much as they would
like to," Hallmark said. "Constituents don't
get to the state capital at all. It's important
to remind the legislators you are there and
are holding them accountable."
In recent years, Birmingham's chamber
lobbied state and federal government offi-
cials for transportation and research fund-
ing.This year, it helped gain legislative con-
sent for a Jefferson County
manager position.
Birmingham-Southern
College political science
professor Natalie Davis
said initiatives that address
a specific local need might
warrant the services of a
lobbyist. However, she said
chambersrepresentabroad
spectrumofbusinessesandmembers�and
championing one bill over another could
create tension within the organization.
"If issues come up, it is hard for a cham-
ber to speak with one mind," Davis said.
Afull-timelobbyistprobablyisn'tworththe
expense,shesaid,andchamberscouldpiggy-
backontheeffortsofindividualmembers.
Mobile's chamber doesn't have the same
federal investments as Huntsville does, so it
works through the U.S. chamber's govern-
ment affairs office on national issues, spokes-
woman Leigh Perry-Herndon said. Mobile's
chamber develops a business community
agenda each year based on feedback from
chamber,businessandindustrymembers.
"We monitor legislation that impacts
local business and promote the business
community agenda to state, local and fed-
eral officials," Perry-Herndon said.
While Birmingham's new organization
might not have full-time in-house lob-
byists, its leader has strong Montgomery
and Washington, D.C., ties. Smith, who left
Region 2020 to take the leadership post of
the new entity, was Gov. Bob Riley's poli-
cy director during the 2002 gubernatorial
campaignthenservedasRiley'ssenioradvi-
sor for 18 months.
Prior to working with Riley, Smith served
as a policy analyst a Congressional liaison
for Washington-based conservative think
tankEmpowerAmerica.Inthatrole,hepro-
moted welfare reform and tax reform.
Smith'stenureinWashingtonalsoincludes
working as a legislative assistant to former
Sen. Howell Heflin. He worked with the
Senate's banking, small business, finance
and ethics committee during that time.
jdebutts@bizjournals.com | (205) 443-5628
ect would receive 100 percent funding if
selected, the TIGER application must pro-
vide specific details about who will operate
the system, he said.
"While its 100 percent, you look better
on paper if you have more skin in the game
and by that I mean funds," said Howard,
who says no formal application process to
operate the system has been adopted. "The
federal government is looking for commit-
ment...We need to know how we want to
operate it."
BJCTA Chairman Chris Lewis said the
transit authority is fully capable of taking on
the task.
"A part of our comprehensive transit plan
has been the In-Town Transit Partnership
and we will continue to make plans that will
include it," Lewis said. "Therefore, it makes
no sense that it should be managed in any
other hands."
Under his regime, the board has reworked
relationships that had been tarnished in the
past, he said.
"We're working very hard to acquire fund-
ing and we have established relationships
with others in the community," said Lewis,
who became chairman of the board in
October 2008."Because of things in the past,
the organization has lost some confidence
and we are working to rebuild that confi-
dence."
Also, the transit authority has proposed
super stop bus hubs in neighborhoods that
will connect to the new system, he said. As it
is today, the new system uses 18th Street as a
spine and would branch out to those hubs.
"We have to take people out of their cars
and our plan does that," Lewis said. "One
without the other doesn't address the issues
we are facing."
However, he understands the logistics of
the decision to open the process to others.
"We have a wonderful relationship with
the RPC and we understand that they have
to go through a process," Lewis said.
Meanwhile, Carol Duncan, chairwoman
of the transportation and information com-
mittee of the Birmingham City Council, said
there is no ordinance or law that says all
transit projects are to be operated by the
transit authority.
"We give them $14.5 million in operating
capital each year," Duncan said. "But the
plan will use electric buses to get people
around the city center and work on a plan
to integrate to the neighborhood hubs so
there will have to be a partnership with the
BJCTA."
Duncan said she's been unable to get
answers about what the plan will be to
choose an operator.
"There's been no dialog about that, but it's
going to come down to funding," Duncan
said. "But as a councilor that took over a
dysfunctional board in 2005, I can tell you,
wenowhaveanextremelycompetenttransit
authority."
amcmillan@bizjournals.com | (205) 443-5625
tRANsit:LackofconfidenceinBJCTAmaykeepnewrapidbusplanoutofauthority'shands
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chAMbER:Newgeneralcounselwillheaduppublicpolicy;full-timelobbyistunlikely
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