Shelia Smoot made sure the Birmingham Downtown Democrats knew she is the candidate "On your side" at their meeting last Friday. "Don't send a rookie to Congress," she said. Not coincidentally, Smoot hosts a daily radio show on WAGG 610 in Birmingham called "Smoot on Your Side"
All the Democratic candidates for the 7th congressional district spoke at the Downtown Democrats meeting on March 5th. It was a great opportunity to hear from the entire field and I have to say that all six candidates made good points. I'm not sure who I would vote for if I lived in AL-07. For the rest of the week we'll be posting video of each of the six Democrats in this race, in this order:
Fourth in our series is Shelia Smoot, Jefferson County Commissioner, consumer advocate, radio talk show host and businesswoman. Smoot is currently serving her second term on the Jefferson County Commission. She's the best public speaker in the field, has a lot of charm on the stump and is running on her experience and accomplishments. One nit - she should have taken more notice of the "time's up" alarm. The Downtown Democrats performed a near-miracle in shoehorning all six congressional candidates into one lunch meeting -- and Smoot was the only one to seriously exceed her time limit. She's a super-energetic candidate, though.
Selected quotes in italics:
"I'm Shelia Smoot and I'm on your side, your side, and your side. And I've been on your side a long time."
"I fought hard for those who couldn't fight for themselves. For those who couldn't hire a lawyer at expensive rates. "
"I'm the person that's been fighting a long time, see? Before I got elected, before I was on television, I was fighting in college ... See, I've been fighting a long time. You don't just start fighting when you want to run for Congress ... you fight before you get there."
"See, it really doesn't matter who you elect, what matters is what they're going to do. What really matters is what have they been doing before they get there."
"Folks, when you send somebody to Congress, don't send a neophyte, don't send a rookie. Congress is a tough job and it needs somebody that's going to be tough on the policies there and someone that's going to bring things home to this community."
Smoot listed some of her accomplishments in Jefferson County:
29 new schools
Supported a 1 cent school tax
Senior citizens complex
New walking tracks
New roads.
"Go look at all the things that have been done and you don't need a rookie going to Congress. You need someone who understands the dynamic."
"In Panola, Alabama, Sumter County where my family is from... when they brought the waste treatment plant. ... The guy told me, "we already cut the deal." On the backs of poor people. That plant is still in my community, where my family grew up. We've got coal ash in Perry County. The EPA says it's safe. They didn't even have a public hearing."
"We've got some issues folks, and they are big issues. You need to send somebody who cares and gets it done.I'm that person. I'm committed to work for you."
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure the 7th congressional district gets its fair share. But first I'm going to make sure that people are treated fairly. That's my job. I've been doing it a long time."
"In Wilcox county, they don't have technology, they don't have broadband. I have 2 cell phones and can't get a signal. ... Is there a reason they don't have a bridge?"
"Let's talk about education and jobs. .... We need infrastructure, we need roads and bridges, we need broadband, another superhighway. Folks we do need healthcare."
"I'm for labor, but you know it would be nice if the female candidates in this race, got an opportunity to be interviewed by ALFA. We did not. It would be very intriguing if the women in this race would be allowed to be interviewed by all the unions. We were not given that opportunity. So no, some of us don't have those endorsements. But you are talking to Shelia Smoot, UAW proud and UAW strong."
"I don't need an endorsement for a union; I am union."
"As we see people flip and flop as Democrats ... See, I'm telling you I am a Democrat, I don't have it on my flyer. I am a Democrat. ... I've been a Democrat a long, long time. We don't need another pretend Democrat -- can we say Parker Griffith?"
"We must stop playing games with the lives that we serve, we must stop playing games with the economy and health care. ... You can help send the right person to Congress. Because right now we have the 7 congressional districts and as far as I'm concerned, 6 of them are Republican."
"I'm a journalist first, and an elected official, not a politician. Because my job is to work for you. And I can do that."
"I'm prepared, I'm ready. I'm strong. I'm smart, I'll do my homework. And when it's time to take the hit, I won't tuck my tail and run away from the tough decisions."
"I will vote for health care, I will vote for hate crimes. I will stand strong for the people who cannot stand for themselves. And for the rest of you, I'll stand strong for you , too. My door is always open."
"Make sure you send the right person to Congress at the right time and the time is now."
"I want to make a difference in somebody else's life, other than my own."
Shelia Smoot is running on her experience and her accomplishments. Of this field, she is probably the candidate who best understands just how the legislative sausage making process really works -- and there is some benefit in having a representative with no illusions about how Congress works. It's not pretty.
We are having some real interesting discussions about AL-07. Great diaries about what the Hilliard and Sewell campaigns have been doing. As a Smoot for Congress supporter I would like to share a couple of links about this campaign.
Shelia at this point may be in third in monetary support but she has certainly been visible in the ground throughout the district. Here a couple links about her visits to Demopolis.
"We have built senior citizens centers under my leadership, community centers, new housing. We brought jobs. We've got our third data operations center going in at one of our parks, and we just got Home Depot."
Smoot said that this region of Alabama should focus on bringing in jobs that fit its area, dealing with agriculture and the waterways.
"First, we've got to have an action plan, not a piecemeal plan," she said. "Secondly, we have got to explore those jobs that we think are not attainable: 'green' jobs, technology, biotech, agribusiness and aquabusiness. You've got all the water, you've got all the trees, the soil. You can create a model that brings in jobs around those very resources."
Last week it was the Congressional Black Caucus, this week the Postal Workers -- Earl Hilliard, Jr. is actively seeking and finding support for his congressional campaign. From the campaign:
The Birmingham Area American Postal Workers Union, Local 303 and the International Office of the American Postal Workers Union have officially endorsed State Representative Earl Hilliard, Jr. in his campaign to fill the open seat in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.
Sara Witherspoon, State President of the A.P.W.U. commented, “after working for over 34 years as a labor leader and postal worker, I am confident that Representative Earl Hilliard, Jr.’s experiences, and strong record of achievement will help him to provide true leadership in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District. and look forward to working with him in the years ahead.”
According to Local 303 president, Edgar Wallace, the Birmingham Area A.P.W.U. represents nearly 1,000 men and women from over sixty-five post office branches throughout the Birmingham metro area. It is the largest of the A.P.W.U. locals in the state and casts an influential endorsement this early in the campaign season.
Union endorsements frequently bring money to a candidate but, more importantly, they bring foot soldiers -- a very valuable commodity at Get Out The Vote time. The only other endorsements I'm aware of in the AL-07 race are the ones Terri Sewell has picked up from NOW and the Women's Campaign Forum.
Sheila Smoot held the lead in an August poll released by the Hilliard campaign, while Sewell has a wide lead in fundraising over all competitors. As of last report, she had $318K cash on hand compared to about $40K for Smoot and $30K for Hilliard.
Candidate for the Democratic nomination for Alabama's 7th congressional district, Shelia Smoot, addressed the DFA gathering in Homewood Saturday, July 19th.
This is a woman with campaign experience: even the loud, dark, and less-than-optimal speaking environment didn't faze her. But still, she was speaking in a noisy hotel lobby, so the video isn't great.
I did a partial transcript of her speech (the video is on the flip). Some of it was just inaudible to me, but you can get the gist:
When someone asks for your support, you need to look that candidate square in the eye and ask them: "What are you going to do with my support and my vote?"
Let me tell you what I'm going to do. In this county alone, we've put in 29 schools, new senior citizens homes, we've paved roads, we've built sidewalks, and we've built up the fabric of those who've been left behind.
There's a lot of stories out there, but when someone asks you for your vote, you have to make sure that they know what your family needs, and what the great state of Alabama needs. We need a lot!
You need someone who can get on the ground and who can work hard and not be turned around and that's who I am.
Vote for Shelia Smoot. I'm on your side.
Note: Yesterday, we posted a report on Terri Sewell's speech. Coming in the next few days, we have James Perkins and Martha Bozeman's statements and video.
Last week, the EPA approved a plan for the TVA to move coal ash from a spill in Kingston, Tenn to a landfill in Perry County, Alabama. Despite a number of concerns from residents, environmentalists and public officials a public hearing was never scheduled on this matter. Every two days for approximately a year 85 rail cars, containing coal ash containing heavy metals and other hazardous compounds, will trek from Eastern Tennessee through Birmingham all the way to Perry County, Alabama. This is at a minimum a 350 mile distance. While local officials contend that this will produce jobs and economic development in this poor community, others are not so sure of the long term impacts to the health and safety and even economic stability of this decision. Local residents have begun to weigh in with their concerns about the long term effects. Despite these vast objections the EPA issued this statement
Prior to approving the Arrowhead Landfill as the disposal site for the coal ash, EPA visited the landfill and met with local leaders and members of the surrounding community to review the disposal plan and answer questions.
So despite this plan being approved, it appears that this controversy is far from being over and rightfully so based on some legitimate questions about the process. Here's an interesting video clip of residents asking EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to protect them from the coal ash. Notice the diversity in the residents being interviewed.
(AL-07 is going to be an interesting race next year. - promoted by countrycat)
Elect Women Magazine has a great feature on AL-07 Congressional Candidate Shelia Smoot. According to facts on Elect Women Magazine Website
*Women make up only 17% of the members of Congress * Only 10% of women have ever thought about running for office, compared with 20% of men. Lawless and Fox (2005)
Smoot aims to become the First African American female elected to Congress from Alabama. Alabama currently has no female members of Congress.
Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot is a Democrat running for Congress in 2010 in Alabama's 7th congressional district -- it will be an open seat since incumbent Artur Davis is running for governor.
Friday afternoon I noticed this online article by Eric Velasco of the Birmingham News:
Oh sh*t, another Democrat in trouble, right? Maybe, maybe not. That article is based entirely on a June 19 auditor's report, it leads with information about Smoot having a county-provided vehicle for which the county neglected to withhold taxes and then segues into a discussion of 53 county credit cards and poor reporting practices. The latter issues are unrelated to Smoot (except that she is a member of the commission) but that may not be clear to the average reader -- Smoot's name is at the top and there is a lot of smoke below it.
The reporter appropriately contacted the county attorney's office about the audit and was told "we're looking into it" but didn't wait to see if that office saw any wrongdoing. He also called Smoot's office and reported a terse quote - "The information you have is inaccurate" -- which Smoot says is also inaccurate, per a press release from her office late Saturday:
The story in the Birmingham News on Saturday concerning Commissioner Shelia Smoot contained gross factual inaccuracies that make the story a total misrepresentation of the truth. On Friday, in a telephone interview with the reporter doing the story, Commissioner Smoot told the reporter that the documentation proving the story was inaccurate could be picked up immediately at her office. The reporter said he would pick up the documentation but never showed up.
Full documentation proving that the audit report was in error is available for the news media upon request next week.
The release also provides a point of contact and phone number for anyone interested in the documentation.
Does the B'ham News have something against Smoot? Was the reporter in a hurry to file the story Friday afternoon (Hint: don't roll out a big story late Friday) and just neglected to gather all the info? Smoot's "full documentation" isn't out yet, but it's hard to believe she would tout it in a press release if it doesn't exist. We'll see more on this story in the next few days. In the meantime, the auditor's report that started the whole flap can be downloaded here.
On Saturday, Congressional candidate Shelia Smoot (AL-07) kicked off her campaign in Selma, Alabama with a rally at the vacant Good Samaritan Hospital . The Good Samaritan was used as an effective backdrop to point out the connection between a civil rights era landmark and the current lack of access to health care in poor and rural areas in AL-07. This hospital was Selma's only African American hospital during the segregation era in Alabama. The hospital closed its doors in 1983.
(Father Maurice Ouellet visiting a parishioner at Good Samaritan Hospital)
We knew once Artur Davis announced that he would be a candidate for Governor in 2010 it was simply a matter of time before a number of candidates to replace him in Congress would emerge. Well today one candidate officially launched her campaign. Birmingham Attorney Terri Sewell says she's in the hunt to replace Davis . Sewell also launched her campaign website .
Sewell has important ties that might help her in a crowded field. She was a classmate of first lady Michelle Obama's at Princeton University, where both earned undergraduate degrees, and a classmate of President Barack Obama's at Harvard Law School. In between, Sewell attended Oxford University and was a Rhodes scholar.
Several other names, with more name recognition in the 7th district, have also been mentioned as candidates. Some of those mentioned are Earl Hilliard, Jr., Bobby Singleton, Rodger Smitherman and Shelia Smoot. Supporters of Shelia Smoot are urging her to run for the seat and already have a website up . It is apparent Sewell needed to start early as she has minimal name recognition in the district. While she has an impressive resume on paper, little has been offered as to the extent of Sewell's political experience other than ties to Michelle Obama. Smoot, despite all the recent criticism of the Jefferson County Commission, seems to also be lining up some serious support. That support is touting her experience as an officeholder, investigative journalist and advocate. No word from the other camps mentioned as there seems to be a lot going on in the State Legislature.
Candidate for the Democratic nomination for Alabama's 7th congressional district, 
