Jefferson County Commissioner Larry Langford has asked Commission President Bettye Fine Collins for time during Tuesday morning’s commission meeting to formally announce his campaign for the Birmingham mayor’s office. This follows the story in Sunday’s Birmingham News that he would autodial 100,000 Birmingham households Monday with a message about his campaign. We’re not sure that a commission meeting is the appropriate venue for such political theatre, but at least the weekly teasing is over. Maybe he will announce a new slogan, rather than the pithy “Let’s do something.” The question now is if and when the SEC, IRS and other government agencies might drop the other shoe. Those agencies have been poking around the billions of dollars of bond work Langford oversaw when he was commission president, as well as money he directed to several non-profits with which he was affiliated, either directly or through family connections.

Across the park, expect the man who currently holds the office, Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid, to be blistering and blustering over the most recent release of FBI crime stats. Those statistics show that, even though there was a decline in crime in 2006, Birmingham still ranks among the worst in the nation in violent crime and is number four in murders among cities its size. In the past, Kincaid has balked at such figures, being overly sensitive and incredulous to crime stats. Without a marked improvement between now and next fall, his chances of winning reelection could be diminished.

The Alabama Legislature will not be in session Tuesday, but will convene for its 30th and final day of the 2007 Legislative Session on Thursday, June 7.

— Kyle Whitmire