The Birmingham City Council voted unanimously today to approve a $142 million package of bonds and warrants proposed by Mayor Bernard Kincaid. The authorization means the city will move forward with Phase II of a bond issue approved by voters in 2002. The vote ended a stalemate between the two sides at City Hall that began two weeks ago, after San Francisco-based bond underwriter Calvin Grigsby solicited the council for a piece of the deal. Several councilors, particularly Roderick Royal and Steven Hoyt, lobbied long and hard for Grigsby, but ultimately they backed down, approving of the bond team put together by Kincaid.

This morning, The Birmingham News reported that Kincaid did not have the votes he needed to pass the bond issue, but by noon all of the councilors voted to approve Kincaid’s plan. The vote followed about an hour of squabbling among the councilors over the city’s minority contracting policies and minority hiring practices among the proposed members of the city’s bond team.

Across Linn Park, the Jefferson County Commission voted to end a $10 million float loan program for businesses moving into the city center. The latest slash in the budget follows several others by the Republican majority on the commission. The county faces a substantial financial shortfall this year and might have to borrow money to meet its budget, Commission President Bettye Fine Collins has said recently. Furthermore, if the Alabama Legislature does not act to renew the county’s occupational tax, the county might be forced into bankruptcy, all five of the commissioners have agreed.

— Kyle Whitmire