Montgomery mayor moves city forward

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright oversees a staff of about 3,000 people and an operating budget of more than $190 million.

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright is in his second term. He was recently interviewed at his second-floor office at City Hall by Central Alabama Business Journal Editor David Zaslawsky

Central Alabama Business Journal: Governors give an annual state of the state address. What is the state of the city?

Bright: I think we're doing very well. We are financially strong at this point in time. We balance our budget every year. We base our budget and I'm not sure why the state doesn't do the same, on the previous year's revenues. We know for a fact how much revenue we had last year and we always stick with that number. We don't budget over that. I think that would be a good pattern for the state to adopt. With this technique we all would be much more secure.

CABJ: Does the city of Montgomery have a surplus?

Bright: We have the first time that I know of a cash reserve of between $8 million-$12 million. We never had that opportunity before, but we have that as a result of my great finance director Lloyd Faulkner and the growth of the city. Fifty-one percent of our revenues are sales tax revenues. Sales taxes to me are the most regressive tax you can have and they are the most insecure revenue that a city bases its budget on. The City Council makes the decision whether to raise or lower the sales tax. They have in years gone by raised our city sales tax. People voting in the past have not raised the ad valorem tax (property tax). The other source is an occupational tax. You saw what happened when the county tried to do that a year or two ago. The city can do it and in the past our City Council has not done it. Our occupational tax is zero. We have the lowest ad valorem tax in the nation yet we have a very high sales tax.

CABJ: Isn't the sales tax 10 percent?

Bright: Ten percent. You have to take the good with the bad. The good is you have no occupational tax and you have the lowest ad valorem tax in the nation. The ideal situation and I wish I had the authority to wave a magic wand, is to divide that revenue among the three. That is a healthy system.

CABJ: Because if one source was down, the other sources could make up the difference instead of relying so heavily on a single source.

Bright: Absolutely. The most unstable is the sales tax. If the economy is in the pits, people tend to save their money instead of spending it. When that happens 50 percent of our revenue is affected. When you ask me how is the state of the city, you have to factor in a lot of things. If I had my desire, we would balance that 50 percent revenue source among the three basic ways you can generate revenue to provide city services. We have depended too heavily on sales tax and not enough on ad valorem and occupational taxes.

Bright stands next to the Pergola that overlooks Spash Park on the riverfront.

CABJ: What are other sources of revenue for the city?

Bright: There are other sources out there that we tap in to that gives up 49 percent of our revenue such as ad valorem taxes that gives us 23-25 percent; we have business licenses and professional licenses; we have other miscellaneous items and grants. We have the zoo and other sources of income.

CABJ: The Montgomery Biscuits are a revenue source.

Bright: The Biscuits are about a three-quarter of a million dollars asset. Their debt obligation is about a half million so we're making money off of them. The bottom line is the financial security of the city of Montgomery is solid compared to other cities. Our growth this year in sales tax will be 6 percent. That's the highest growth we had since I've been mayor. When I took over in '99, we were on the slippery slope down on the economy and our growth the first year here was 0.9 percent. We've gone from 0.9 percent growth to 6 percent in five years.

CABJ: What is the operating budget?

Bright: Last year's operating budget was $182 million and this year will be somewhere around $190 million-$192 million.

CABJ: What is the size staff you oversee?

Bright: About 3,000 people.

CABJ: Let's talk about the downtown/riverfront region where so much development has been going on. What's the latest on the region?

Bright: When I came on board I established the Downtown Riverfront Foundation and I appointed a number of key individuals who I felt had a desire like I did to stabilize, revitalize and grow our downtown. I pretty much sit here on the peripheral and watch them as they work, guide and counsel them on what I think we need to do with our city. I listen to what they advise me to do.

CABJ: How important is the downtown region to a city?

Bright: It is my philosophy that any strong and healthy city has to have a core - a strong, healthy nucleus. The core of the city of Montgomery is our downtown. It's Dexter Avenue and Commerce Street and stretching down to the riverfront. If you let that core weaken, if you neglect that core, then your overall growth of the city weakens. You can support and still have a lot of urban sprawl, but it weakens and thins out your city services - eventually to the point where your city services are not strong, they are not reliable, they are not dependable and your city dies. It has happened to a lot of urban areas in the United States. What people are recognizing is that in order for them to be strong and vibrant they have to make sure that the core is strong. There's another reason. Your core is your area of the city that everybody can buy into. Everybody has a connection to our downtown, whether it be black, white, rich, poor, young or old. If you are doing something to strengthen your core you are doing two things: you're doing small city growth and secondly you have more buy in from all different sections - the diversity - in your community. That's what I think my success comes from if I have any, is that we keyed in on what needs to be done to strengthen and support our core and they bought into strengthening our downtown, which everybody understands is our historic city. We have to protect those historic sites. We have to upgrade our downtown. We have to make our downtown attractive so people will want to come back into the downtown area and not continue to go out into the urban sprawl. You are always going to have urban sprawl. Every city in the nation experiences what we experience right here - people leaving Montgomery to go out in the country and buy bigger houses and more land for less money and more privacy. You can't stop that. What we can do is make those folks when they go out there want to come back in to work, come back in to town when they have people visit their home.

Bright points out one of many historical tiles on a mural that is at the top of the hill at the Riverfront Amphitheatre.

CABJ: What's the status of the downtown projects?

Bright: We did a master plan within a year after I was elected for downtown revitalization and growth. We're implementing certain phases of the master plan: one being the riverfront development. That will always be an ongoing project. One day the riverfront will connect to Maxwell Air Force Base.

CABJ: How long before we will see shops and restaurants on the riverwalk?

Bright: I hope you will start seeing shops and restaurants in the next 18-24 months. It will be the most beautiful sight in Montgomery. You don't see it now, but there's a retaining wall they have been installing the last two years. The retaining wall goes anywhere from 15-20 feet deep in the bank. The riverwalk will be one of the most secure spots in Montgomery because of the infrastructure we had to put in. They have been working there for two years and 90 percent of their work is covered up. You will be able to put 18-wheelers bumper to bumper all along the (riverwalk) and then drive heavy equipment on top of that and it will never, ever give or slide. We are at Part 1, Phase 3 of the riverwalk.

CABJ: What's the next phase?

Bright: Part 1, Phase 4 is already drawn up, already been bid.

CABJ: What is it?

Bright: It's going to be another 1,000 feet toward Maxwell, going down beyond the old train shed and hooking into the tower that is going to be next to the (Montgomery) Advertiser and the Intermodal transportation center.

CABJ: When will construction start on the Intermodal transportation center?

Bright: We had some complications with the Intermodal.

CABJ: Have the disputes been resolved?

Bright: It's going to be built. The lowest bid was a couple of million dollars over what our construction manager thought it should be. Now we are in negotiations with the low bidder. If we can get that price closer to what the project manager predicted, then we will sign the contract and he will construct the facility.

Bright makes a visit to the area near the Montgomery Police Department's Riverfront Substation.

CABJ: What was the project manager's estimate of the Intermodal transportation center?

Bright: He estimated the first phase at $4.5 million. The lowest bid came in at $6.5 million. We should see full-fledged construction on the Intermodal before October-November.

CABJ: What's the cost for the riverwalk?

Bright: So far, the riverwalk has cost $12 million-$15 million.

CABJ: What will be the final price tag for the riverwalk?

Bright: The main footprint I call it - we'll have $15 million-$20 million in it. That's before a developer comes in and builds a retail shopping area and puts another $6 million-$7 million in it.

CABJ: The Montgomery Civic Center is being expanded into a convention center and a hotel is being added. What's the latest on those projects?

Bright: We partnered with ARH, a subsidiary of RSA (Retirement Systems of Alabama). We contracted with them and relied on them to give us all the details. They were projecting the total project would be between $80 million-$85 million. They came back with a bigger budget and it's now going to be about $130 million.

CABJ: The city's share of the project is $29 million. Has that changed?

Bright: No. I have a contract that my cap is $29 million and we have that money available.

CABJ: Why has the overall cost grown from $85 million to $130 million?

Bright: It's going to be a five-star hotel and one of the nicest hotels in this state. It's going to have 350 rooms. It will have a number of meeting rooms and we're expanding the civic center by about 30,000 square feet for exhibitions. But we are also adding another 20,000 square feet for meetings.

CABJ: A performing arts center is also being constructed.

Bright: This is another item that caused the cost to go up. We have a contract with ARH and RSA to build a performing arts theater and they had initially thought it would be a temporary-type of facility that you could break it down and use it for an exhibit hall. They determined not to do that and make it a permanent, fixed performing arts theater.

CABJ: How many people will it seat?

Bright: Between 1,800-2,000 people. There's also the parking deck that is part of the $29 million the city is spending. The parking deck will have room for 650-700 cars.

CABJ: Is the downtown/riverfront development patterned after another city?

Bright: I did very little traveling before I became mayor. I've always been able to see what we could have in our riverfront area because we have that beautiful riverfront. It doesn't take a genius or a visionary to see what we have here, how we can stabilize it, revitalize it, grow it and develop it. I am not patterning Montgomery after any city, but I am very conscious of people's desire to be near water. I am very aware of Montgomery's history and that people come from all over the world to walk in the footsteps of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Jefferson Davis, and even George Wallace and Hank Williams and Nat King Cole. We had that master plan done by a group out of Atlanta and they are the ones that came up with some of the suggestions and ideas. All I try to do is implement that plan.

CABJ: How are the downtown/riverfront projects going to impact the region? Tourism?

Bright: I see a vibrant, energetic retail/entertainment area downtown. I see people coming from far and wide walking the streets - not only coming here as a pass-through tourist attraction to see our historic sites, but coming here as the destination, staying here and having conventions here and experiencing what we have to offer here rather than coming here to see historic sites.

CABJ: What is the financial impact of the downtown/riverfront development? Is there anyway to gauge that?

Bright: I don't know. It's got to be millions of dollars. That's my hope.

CABJ: When you are helping to recruit companies to Montgomery, how do you promote the city?

Bright: It has a small-town atmosphere. We have tremendous diversity. I consider our diversity as a positive, an advantage we have. We have a military base here that helps our diversity and helps our economics. Our state government, being the state capital is unique because there are only 50 of us in the United States. To me being in the state capital is a privilege and honor and it helps stabilize our economy. We had a void that I hope we're closing quickly. That was manufacturing jobs. We have service jobs, military and government jobs. We were losing manufacturing jobs in Alabama, but because of the automobile industry we have recaptured many of those jobs. And Montgomery specifically, not only did we recapture those jobs, but I think we've grown significantly. We have Hyundai and we got 10 of their tier one suppliers - 10 of the 40.

CABJ: How many jobs have those 10 suppliers created for Montgomery?

Bright: Between 4,000-5,000 jobs. We have one supplier, Mobis, which has 800 people and they are already talking about expanding to 1,200 people. There are hopes and expectations of Hyundai expanding. When they get in full production they will have between 2,600-2,800 people employed under their roof.

CABJ: That is considerably more than the 2,000 employees Hyundai has earlier talked about.

Bright: They initially told me 1,800 and they came back and said they would have between 2,600-2,800 at full capacity. You can see that they have already expanded from what they promised. I have been very pleased with Hyundai. They have done more things than they contracted to. If you look at the contract it said 1,871 jobs. They have already modified that in certified mail sent to me for 2,600-2,800 people at full production.

CABJ: With all the downtown/riverfront projects, the $1 billion Hyundai manufacturing and 10 suppliers and the growth in the east, could things be any better for Montgomery?

Bright: East Montgomery's growth is being driven by private dollars. The city is not having to do one thing to do that. A lot of folks are under a misconception that Montgomery has abandoned sections of its city for the growth in the east.

CABJ: I was going to ask you about that.

Bright: I haven't put one red cent in other than infrastructure such as streets. And I'm not even doing much of that because the developers will do that at their own cost. The west side in my opinion is one of the fastest growing areas in the state of Alabama. What our census showed that between 1990 and 2000 we grew by 14,800 people. How much did Prattville, Wetumpka and Millbrook grow? They all three grew by about 10,000 people. We grew faster than them in that 10-year period all three put together and we're going to do the same thing this census report.

CABJ: What is your grand vision of Montgomery?

Bright: My grand vision is to have people in Montgomery of all races, of all economic status working together to make our community a stronger, more attractive community. And all these material things and material projects that we see happening in our city are happening primarily because we've got more people working together, more people around the table voicing their opinions, having their input and at some point in time I would like to see people discussing what we can do and not what we can't do. I'm not out there as mayor trying to put these projects together - this is bricks and mortar to me. What I see is what they create. When we get through with our downtown, riverfront, civic center, baseball stadium, maybe even a light rail going through our city again some day, I look at that as projects we have built relationships with each other. We will quit being known as the polarized community of the United States; we will quit being looked at as a racist section of our nation where blacks and whites cannot work, communicate or socialize together. Even go to church together. After we get these projects done people will see that we all do it together, that there is value in working together, communicating and socializing together. If we recognize that one day, there is no limit of what Montgomery, Ala., can be to the world. That's my vision right there. These projects are just sticks and stones.

CABJ: Are there other projects under way or in the planning stages?

Bright: We have Gateway Park on the west side. We have a little over half the money we need to complete that project. We will have a grocer's alley - New Orleans-style. We will also have two parking decks. A Municipal Court complex is my next big project.

CABJ: What are your political aspirations?

Bright: If the people so choose, I would serve. I love Montgomery. I love representing the people here in spite of some difficulties we have here and some issues that surface from time-to-time. I don't like politics and I despise politicians who are there just for their own personal gratification. I butt heads with the Legislature all the time because I know they are not there for the right reasons on a lot of issues. If the people so choose I would consider it an honor to step not up because as far as I'm concerned being mayor of a capital city has been a great job. But I would step into another area, broadening my abilities to represent the people in the area.

CABJ: It sounds like you are not looking at a third term as mayor. Could your job as mayor be finished after your second term?

Bright: It could be if the people lead me to believe they want me to move on to something else or move out.

CABJ: If people asked you to run for a higher office, would you consider that?

Bright: I would definitely consider that. It's not something I go out and solicit. My dream is to represent Alabama or a segment of Alabama in Washington, D.C. I don't care about being governor; I don't care about being lieutenant governor or a state senator.

CABJ: I heard that you were driving a Hyundai XG350. Didn't you end up with one of the first 2006 Sonatas made at the plant in Montgomery?

Bright: I bought the very first one. I went to Korea this summer and when I was there, I spoke to (Hyundai) Chairman Chung. I told him I wanted to get a commitment from him to sell me the first one. I didn't want him to give me one. Everybody said why didn't you get him to give you one. I said no you don't do that. He graciously agreed to sell me the very first one. I bought it for my wife. I sold my XG, bought the Sonata and gave it to my wife and I drive a city car.

CABJ: Did you pay full sticker price?

Bright: I made sure I did. I paid $24,000 and it's really a car that you could buy for less than $20,000, but I had all the extras put on it.

CABJ: Which model was it? The GLS or LX?

Bright: The GLS.