More than 100 residents from Birmingham City Council District 1 attended a town hall meeting tonight at the Parkway Christian Fellowship church, but the council representative, Joel Montgomery, was a no-show. The District 1 councilor has been wholly absent from city politics since he was arrested April 7 for public intoxication and injured in a fall.

The city council scheduled the town hall meeting after residents complained that they were not being represented during the most crucial time of year at City Hall — when the council and mayor negotiate the city budget. Additionally, the council and mayor are working on the second phase of a city bond issue for capital projects and infrastructure improvements.

As the town hall meeting began, Council President Carole Smitherman read a statement she received from Montgomery by email. In the statement, Montgomery decried what he called propaganda from his enemies and insisted that he was still in charge.

“District one is still being represented by me, contrary to the false propaganda that has been put out,” Montgomery said in the statement. “However, I cannot go against my physician’s orders. I will return to the dais as soon as my physician releases me. I am not, underlined not, the first councilman to have missed an extended time from the dais due to illness or injury.”

Montgomery has claimed that he was injured in a fall, not from a drunken stumble in the Five Points South parking lot where he was found and arrested by Birmingham police. Since the arrest, Montgomery has not attended any council meetings or committee meetings. Montgomery serves as chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee.

Councilor Smitherman and Mayor Bernard Kincaid used the meeting to answer questions about the budget and the upcoming bond issue. Residents asked questions about local projects such as road improvements, and sought help with crime issues in the area.

One resident asked how much time most city employees get for sick leave, but Smitherman and Kincaid insisted they could only answer questions about the budget and bond issue.

The council is set to vote Tuesday, May 8, on the second phase of the bond issue. The mayor’s office intends to introduce the budget to the city council on May 15.

— Kyle Whitmire

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