NCAAbbs

Color me shocked. Three commissioners on the Jefferson County Commission think it's finally time to get a regional transit system going and are willing to call for a tax referendum. Which three are they? Did you count Larry Langford and Sheila Smoot among them? NO! Think again. The REPUBLICANS on the commission are calling for this. Maybe this will actually get moving. I never thought I'd see Jim Cairns actually calling for a tax vote.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/in...xml&coll=2

Quote: "I think that's the only way to go," Carns, a former state representative, said of a regional tax referendum. "We don't have the money, and neither does the city of Birmingham, to do what it takes to go to the next level."

Humphryes, a former state representative, said he would support a tax referendum for transit and the arts on a regional basis.

"When you talk regional, I'm talking about Shelby, Jefferson, Walker, Blount, all the way down to Chilton and Tuscaloosa," he said. "We could easily get seven counties in here close enough where we can work on this together."

Holy crap. That came from a Jefferson County Commissioner after a field trip with Carol Garrison (who is the president of the chamber of commerce) to Denver. I am nominating Carol Garrison for the Nobel Peace Prize.