Birmingham-Southern College: A solid investment for Alabama

By Mark Rupright Guest Op-ed

For more than 160 years, Birmingham-Southern College has been a leader in Alabama higher education. With help, we will continue to do so for generations to come.

one truck. It was not our job to pick up debris.”

Scott said the city determined it would cost approximately $600,000 per year to run a debris pick-up program.

“So we, at that point, tried to do an ad valorem tax,” he said. “That failed. So our next step was to try to offer something.”

Scott estimated the cost per household for the ad valorem tax would be $7 per month.

“You’re not obligated to pay the city to pick-up debris. You can have anybody you want come through and grab that debris,” Scott said. “We came up with the $50 as a way to recoup some of our funding.”

Scott said the city has had many calls from citizens wanting to use the debris service. He added the city is increasing efforts to enforce city codes requiring yards to be kept free of debris.

In other business, the Council reviewed a report on the 2021 audit report from the firm of Banks, Finley & White. The Council voted to accept the audit as presented.

Tremayne Thompson spoke via Zoom with a proposal for the Perfect Note gospel music festival on September 24. The Council is reviewing the proposal and did not take further action at this time.

The Center Point City Council meets on the first and third Thursdays of the month at City Hall at 2209 Center Point Parkway.

As the only nationally ranked liberal arts college in the state, BSC has supplied Alabama with private and public sector leaders for generations.

A Birmingham-Southern degree is a symbol of excellence and a source of pride for alumni and their families. It is a mark of a person who has chosen to lead a life of significance.

BSC serves a diverse student body, nearly a third of whom are ethnic minorities and about that same number who are first-generation college students. BSC currently enrolls dozens of students from the Trussville, Clay, and Pinson area, which is home to hundreds of its alumni.

BSC and its students are inseparable from our community. Its alumni are our doctors, teachers, accountants, coaches, ministers, and lawyers. Its students serve people in need, work to save our watersheds, educate our children, and entertain us with sports, musical performances, and theatrical shows. The College supplies Alabama, Auburn, UAB, and other state universities with their most talented graduate and professional students.

As a BSC physics professor and Trussville resident for the past 16 years, I have seen what the College has done for our students. We have taken students with modest mathematics backgrounds and turned them into engineers and data scientists. I have seen an English major become a physician, a football player become a drug-development team leader, and a physics major become a pastor. BSC is a place where students deeply study subjects that interest them while developing skills that aid them in fields far outside of their majors.

Unfortunately, BSC finds itself in a financial crisis. Decisions that are questionable in hindsight, coupled with a major recession and later a pandemic, have drained the College’s endowment.

Fortunately, BSC President Daniel Coleman, an internationally recognized expert in finance, has a sound plan for creating financial resilience for the College through a new endowment with rigid oversight. We have already secured commitments of $45 million toward a May 2026 goal of $200 million. President Coleman’s plan will rebuild in a few years a financial structure that took many years to collapse.

To meet this goal, the College needs operational support in the form of a one-time investment from the State of Alabama, Jefferson County, and the City of Birmingham. Much of this money comes from federal funds related to the global pandemic. Based

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on guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury, BSC already qualifies for $12.5 million of those funds, which must be distributed by the state. The balance of $17.5 million could come from the Alabama Education Trust Fund, which has a projected surplus of $2.5 billion this year. ETF funds are allocated to private entities, including colleges and universities, every year. With that surplus, bridge funding for BSC in 2023 will not diminish funding to any other institution, public or private.

Combined with smaller asks to Jefferson County and the City of Birmingham, this investment will keep the College operating while the endowment raise is completed.

How can such an investment be justified? A study by an independent economist found that the College has a direct economic impact of $97.2 million each year on Alabama’s economy. When the economic contribution of BSC alumni is added, the impact is even greater. The study, conducted by M. Keivan Deravi, Ph.D. of Economic Research Services, Inc., found that in addition to the College itself,

BSC alumni “… are responsible for a value-added social benefit of approximately $211.5 million in 2022. That is their annual contribution to the state’s economy,” the study found. With a one-time allocation of $17.5 million, the College will continue to benefit Alabama with $97.2 million in direct economic impact — year after year. By any measure, that represents a solid return on investment. BSC has touched countless lives inside Alabama and beyond. We have a president and a board dedicated to implementing a clear, attainable financial plan. All we need is time.

If you agree that Alabama’s premier undergraduate institution is a worthy investment, please contact your state and county representatives and ask them to support the College’s request for bridge funding. Trussville resident Dr. Mark Rupright is an associate professor of physics at Birmingham-Southern College. He holds a B.S. in physics and mathematics from the University of Tennessee and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of North Carolina.

Sealed proposals will be received by Jefferson County Board of Education, 2100 18th Street South, Birmingham, Alabama 35209, until 2:00 p.m. CST April 13, 2023 for JEFCO 2023 Re-Roofs for AES, BES, BC, CES, CMS, GES, JCLC, MHS, MMS, PGIB, WJES at which time and place they will be publicly opened and read. All proposals must contain Jefferson County Bid # 26-21 on the outside of the proposal.

The work includes removal of existing roof material (membrane, insulation, associated metal flashings and trim, etc.) and installing a new roofing system (membrane, cover board, insulation, associated metal flashings and trim, etc.).

A cashier’s check or bid bond payable to Jefferson County Board of Education in an amount not less than five (5) percent of the amount of the bid, but in no event more than $10,000, must accompany thebidder’s proposal. Performance and Payment Bonds and evidence of insurance required in the bid documents will be required at the signing of the Contract.

The Owner intends to award multiple or single contracts for this work to pre-qualified General Contractor(s). The Owner will accept proposals only from firms which demonstrate their experience and ability to perform the work necessary for this project. Interested General Contractors must submit a Contractor’s Qualification Statement, AIA A305. Minimum qualifications to be certified by prospective bidders include: 1) statutory licensor requirements, 2) bonding capacity in excess of $5,000,000 dollars, 3) minimum of five (5) years successful history as an approved, authorized or licensed General Contractor, 4) successful current experience in construction of a size and scope similar to this Project, and 5) submit list of proposed contractor’s team including subcontractors.

Joint venture arrangements must qualify solely on the strength of the principal firm’s qualifications. Notarized Contractor’s Qualification Certificates must be submitted to the Architect along with any request to obtain Bid Documents by a General Contractor by Monday, March 24, 2023. The required Form of Certificate is AIA Document A305 Contractor’s Qualification Statement 1986 Edition and may be obtained from the Architect.

Drawings and specifications may be purchased from Alabama Graphics, 2801 5th Ave, South, Birmingham, AL 35233, 205-252-850.5 Contractors must purchase sets at their own expense - no deposits or refunds will be allowed. Drawings may be examined at the offices of TURNERBATSON, 1950 Stonegate Drive, Suite 200, Birmingham, Alabama 35242, the office of Birmingham Construction Industry Authority (BCIA), andF.W. Dodge Birmingham (a.k.a. McGraw Hill), Associated General Contractors, Construction Market Data on Friday, March 17, 2023.Bids must be submitted on proposal forms furnished by the Architect (Engineer) or copies thereof. All bidders bidding in amounts exceeding that established by the State Licensing Board for General Contractors must be licensed under the provisions of Title 34, Chapter 8, Code of Alabama, 1975, and must show evidence of license before bidding or bid will not be received or considered by the Architect (Engineer); the bidder shall show such evidence by clearly displaying his or her current license number on the outside of the sealed envelope in which the proposal is delivered. The Owner reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive technical errors if, in the Owner’s judgment, the best interests of the Owner will thereby be promoted.

A Pre-Bid Conference will be held at Jefferson County Board of Education – Executive Conference Room at 2:00 pm,CST, Thursday, March 29 2023. Attendance at Pre-Bid Conference as well as in-person observation to all location prior to the bid opening by Prequalified Contractor Bidders is Mandatory.

Awarding Authority: Jefferson County Board of Education Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, Superintendent

From front page confiscated funds to pay for new police equipment and the mayor announced a community cleanup effort in April.

The meeting was very brief on Monday and council members Eric Turner and Angie Latta were absent. In his report, Mayor David Miller said that a community-wide cleanup is planned for April 22, at 9 a.m.

Volunteers will meet at the lot across from the Windstream building on 8373 First Avenue to pick up trash, debris and litter.

“So, please help us,” Miller said. “We’ve gone quite a while now without doing a city-wide cleanup, so this is an opportunity for people to do something rather than just look at trash when we can actually pick up that trash and make our city look better.”

Those interested in volunteering can call 205-6990943, email development@ leedsalabama.gov, or visit the city website.

Afterwards, the council heard a department report from Police Chief Paul Irwin. He reported that the Grand River area has seen a number of shoplifting arrests.

The council later passed two items on the agenda, one being the budget amendment at the request of Irwin. This is to purchase a new technology for officers called G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Volt- age Emitter), which is used for handling arrests. The G.L.O.V.E is a compliance tool that fits on the hands exactly like regular gloves and generates a low amount of electricity.

“The main reason I wanted to get it is to protect our officers,” Irwin said. “Because if they’re dealing with someone hands on and they’ve got the ability to deescalate a situation by showing a use of force, it will help.”

During public comments Marche Holt was the only speaker. She brought up the upkeep of the Clairmont Park subdivision, saying that, as construction progresses, the back part of the streets there have been patched up but has not lasted and that there has been weed growth and dirt piles.

Miller said that he will determine what aspect the city has authority to address and what the construction company has responsibility for.

In other business, the council: maps can be found on the city website.

Adopted and ratified the December 2022 city expenditures and payables.

Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at City Hall on 1400 9th Street Northeast. Agenda packets can be seen online at the City of Leeds website. Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@ gmail.com.

“It remains seven single-member districts,” said City Attorney James Hill III, speaking of the proposed changes. “It provides a more consistent number of citizens within each district.”

The proposed districts were created by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPC) based on census block data. In October of 2021, the Council approved a $5,000 contract, plus hourly rates, with RPC to draw up proposals for redistricting the city.

One of the questions presented at that time, and in later discussions, revolved around whether it was possible to preserve the city’s existing majority minority district.

“Remember, we had a lot of discussions at that time about all these different options, many of which included, ‘Is it possible for the city to preserve a majority minority district?’” Hill said. “In reality, this body decided that would be remarkably unlikely, if possible at all, without an unbelievable derivation from your mapping districts.”

In a previous meeting, Hill had explained that the law requires municipalities to seek no greater than a 5% variance. Previously, the city diverged greatly from that rule to maintain the majority minority district in place.

“The law doesn’t actually require a public hearing. However, with items such as this, often times municipalities do entertain public comments,” Hill said.

Brett Isom of the RPC was on hand to field questions during the meeting. He explained one of the goals was for the districts to be relatively the same size with a variation of 5%.

“We tried to keep it as close to plus or minus 5%,”

Isom said. “I think one of the districts may have gotten up to six.”

“It would be my recommendation that you not take action tonight,” Hill said. He suggested allowing a couple of weeks for the city to receive comments from the public and allow people to review the changes.

Police Chief Wayne Walton addressed the Council of concerns about losing officers to other cities.

“In one week, we have lost three police officers,” Walton said. “The reasons for leaving were insurance, sign-on bonus and incentive pay for specialized job classifications within the department.”

Walton cited examples in other cities offering $5,000 sign-on bonuses and college tuition reimbursements among other benefits. The Council is expected to meet to work on budget ideas to help Springville remain competitive in hiring officers for the city.

Several officers were recognized for their work during the meeting. City Attorney Hill read a letter commending four members of the police department for their work on a recent suicide case in the city.

The letter thanked the city saying the officers arrived quickly, consoled the family, and even attended the funeral to pay respects to the family. The letter specifically mentioned Sergeant Maggie Milazzo for her kind words and giving her time to comfort the family and officers Brandon Cain and John Key along with Administrative Assistant Gina Burns for their efforts.

During the meeting, Chief Walton presented promotions to three officers to new ranks.

Officer Kevin Stewart was promoted to Sergeant. Officer Justin Rigby was promoted to Corporal. Officer Steve Wilson was also promoted to the rank of Corporal.

In other business, the Council took the following actions:

• Appointed Drexel Rayford and Alex Bosworth to the park board.

• Approved resolutions to enter into cooperative purchasing agreements for sports equipment with NCPA Cooperative and Buyboard Cooperative.

• Rejected all bids for mobile radio equipment for first responders.

• Approved $11,588 for Computer-Aided Dispatch software for Springville police. The next meeting of the Springville City Council will be held at 6 p.m. on March 20 with a work session at 5:30 p.m.

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By David R. Guttery, RFC, RFS, CAM President, Keystone Financial Group-Trussville Al

Over the last few months, I’ve written about how inflation, and Federal Reserve policy has impacted both the markets and the economy, and today I have some reasons for optimism to share with our viewers. Call them, “green shoots” if you will.

I see signs that are encouraging to me, that suggest economic conditions may be stabilizing, and that market segments are demonstrating encouraging patterns of behavior. In about six weeks, some of us will begin planting our gardens. For me, that involves a lot of tomatoes. At some point early in the season, you begin to notice the yellow blooms giving way to tiny green balls. It’s exciting to see that fruit is beginning to emerge, but it’s still not time yet to make salsa.

I would suggest to anyone reading this article, that right now, I believe we have several of these tiny green balls that hopefully will turn into ripe tomatoes over the course of the year. It’s encouraging to see, but the quality of the fruit depends on weather conditions ahead that we aren’t able to predict. Economically and financially speaking, I believe that future policy decisions of the Federal Reserve, and its messaging, are critical weather elements that must be favorable for these promising green shoots to produce a fruitful harvest.

First, let’s take a look at the leading economic indicators. There are 10 of them, and collectively we refer to this as the index of leading economic indicators. It is designed to give you an idea of where we are heading. Many economic indicators, such as gross domestic product for example, are backward looking in nature and they tell you where we have been. Within several of my last videos, I suggested that markets were shocked last year when the Federal Reserve unveiled what turned out to be the most aggressive schedule of tightening in 35 years.

Over the course of last year, I believe that market participants assumed that the potential recession would be very deep, and very long. Reminiscent of the great recession in 2008. Throughout last year however I suggested that I believed any future recession would be shallow in frequency, and long in duration. I did not believe that another great recession style event would evolve. Indeed, looking at the leading economic indicators today, that seems to be developing. I believe that markets anticipated something much worse than what we are actually experiencing.

If this continues, and indeed the economy is only slightly recessed, I believe that market participants will be compelled to reprice risk in a positive way, if previously made assumptions prove to be incorrect as they pertain to the economy.

The financial conditions index, from the Chicago Federal Reserve, indicates that conditions continue to improve. If that line is going down, it’s a good thing. You can see on the far left of the chart the period of time when COVID significantly impacted financial conditions. Interestingly, to- day that line seems to be in the same vicinity as it was in March of last year when the Fed began this aggressive schedule of tightening. With regard to inflation, it does appear that at a headline level, it is moving in the right direction. It is still significantly higher than what we would consider to be an average rate, and still higher than the target of the Federal Reserve, but the good news is that it does indeed seem to be moving lower.

In November of last year, the Federal Reserve told us that future policy decisions will be driven by observations of current data, and likely to reflect a less hawkish posture. They never indi- cated that tightening would cease, but they suggested it could possibly slow down. Since that time, we have had multiple meetings of the Federal Reserve Board itself, as well as the Federal Open Market Committee, and they have reiterated this message since that time.

Inflation is moving in the right direction, but I believe markets have assumed that the Federal Reserve would take a scripted approach to monetary policy without regard for evidence of economic declination. This does not seem to be the case however, and over time, it is my hope that market participants will be inclined to find comfort in the thought that there will be no significant departure from this less hawkish stance. Shelter is a major component of the consumer price index, and is something that has stubbornly driven elevated levels over previous months. Another green shoot appears to be that “rent equivalents”, which is a proxy for the shelter component in the CPI index, is also moving down in a noticeable way. If this continues, then it should translate into future, increasingly favorable inflation readings.

As far as tangible goods are concerned, it would appear that inflationary forces in this area of the economy are

See FINANCE, Page 9 also trending in the right direction. As I discussed within our last article, according to the Institute for Supply Management, commodities that were reported to be short in supply, and up in price, were both declining significantly.

Unfortunately, the majority of inflationary pressures remain at the food, fuel, energy, and healthcare level. These are beyond the ability of the Federal Reserve to control with a simple rate hike. There is more work to be done with regard to controlling inflation, but we definitely see positive signs that it is trending in the right direction, and because of that, I believe that the Fed will remain committed to the posture they described in November of last year.

I believe they will continue to seek an environment where we have fewer dollars chasing as many goods, while they continue to unwind their balance sheet, and drain lendable reserves from the system, but just at a slower pace than they did last year, and more importantly, at a slower pace than I believe the markets anticipate.

I believe that volatility in the equity and fixed income markets is beginning to subside, however I would caution that this trend will develop over time. Again, markets were shocked last year when the Fed unveiled the most aggressive schedule of tightening that we had seen over the previous 35 years, while simultaneously describing inflation as being short-term, and transient. Rather than discounting the coming years into current valuations, I believe that markets became very shortsighted, and not looking beyond the next 30 days until the subsequent meeting of the Federal Reserve Board.

I do believe however this is beginning to change, and we can quantify that by taking a stochastic look at sectors of the market. Again, to me this is a green shoot, but it’s encouraging. Any stocastician will tell you that a series of lower lows, and lower highs, is not a good thing. As we have tested the same static Bollinger band for sixth time however, notice on the top part of this chart that it appears a new trend may be beginning, of higher lows and higher highs. It would also appear that the current trend is about to run into a longer term resistance band. The question is, does this momentum continue, and if it does, will it constitute a meaningful breakthrough of that resistance band?

That remains to be seen, but we can take a look at certain market segments and find what I believe to be encouraging signs that this may be the case.

Looking at the financial sector, it would appear that we are indeed staging a breakout through what has been a reasonably long level of resistance, as rising bond yields are seemingly favorable to diversified financials even while the Fed is draining lendable reserves.

Industrials are also showing encouraging signs of what at least seems to be a pattern reversal. Hopefully, this also results in a break- through of a longer resistance trend, but that remains to be seen.

Taking another look at the broader market, just recently it appears that the S&P 500 crossed both its 50 day moving average, as well as its 200 day moving average, very early into what may be a new trend of higher highs and higher lows. To me, this suggests that markets might be warming up to the thought that it can have faith in the Federal Reserve remaining steadfast in the policy direction given last November. This will take time to unfold, and the key will be consistent messaging and action from the Federal Reserve over the coming months and quarters. But for now, if you’re looking for encouraging signs that market conditions may be changing, I think that we have a few that are worth observation.

Personally, I don’t think that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates anytime soon, and I certainly don’t believe that they will consider a subsequent round of quantitative easing. There is still much work in front of the Fed to unwind the balance sheet that remains historically bloated.

I too have heard opinions from within various business media sources that eventually the Federal Reserve will be inclined to potentially reverse course and began adding to its balance sheet again, and in my opinion, this is just not grounded in reason. The Federal Reserve has only begun to unwind its balance sheet. This unwinding has to be done, or will result in a greater problem than the one they are attempting to solve now.

I do think however this illustrates the gap that remains between market expectations, and reality as it pertains to the future policy of the Federal Reserve. Over time, as economic and financial conditions improve, and the Fed remains steady in pursuing its stated objectives, I believe that these expectations will become more congruent with reality.

Will there be signs or observable evidence that markets are indeed becoming comfortable with the thought that the Federal Reserve won’t shock the markets again as they did last year with an unexpected shift in policy? Yes, I believe so. At a high level, when good news is good news again, that will be a telling sign. Recently, we received a good, but hotter than expected reading from the Labor Department. The good news is that we created many more jobs than the market was expecting to see. The bad news is, that apparently markets anticipat- ed that the Federal Reserve would respond with a significant shift in policy, in an effort to pour cold water on that development.

Again, I don’t think this is rational thought. The Federal Reserve is trying to avoid stagflation. In order to do that, the economy has to be moving forward. In my opinion, as long as the financial conditions index continues to move in the right direction, and, as we previously observed, metrics of inflation continue to improve, then I don’t believe there is reason to assume that the Federal Reserve will significantly change its policy stance over one, or a few hotter than expected economic reports.

At a very high level, my anticipation is that volatility will remain higher than average for the first half of this year, but if these trends continue to unfold, I believe that in the second half of the year we could see volatility, as measured by the VIX index, returning to more normal levels, as markets are increasingly encouraged to reprice risk in a positive way, because assumptions made about the economy last year might have been overly nefarious.

Again, green shoots. It’s encouraging to see that we have them, but we still need to remain vigilant, and ac- tively manage portfolios for risk. Pardon the cliché, but this is indeed a marathon and not a sprint. This will not resolve tomorrow, or next month. This is a long-duration event, and we are a long way from the finish line. However, it does appear that we are moving in the right direction. To quote the late Winston Churchill, this is not the beginning of the end, but it may indeed be the end of the beginning.

(*) David R. Guttery, RFC, RFS, CAM, is a financial advisor, and has been in practice for 31 years, and is the President of Keystone Financial Group in Trussville. David offers products and services using the following business names: Keystone Financial Group – insurance and financial services | Ameritas Investment Company, LLC (AIC), Member FINRA / SIPC – securities and investments | Ameritas Advisory Services – investment advisory services. AIC and AAS are not affiliated with Keystone Financial Group. Information provided is gathered from sources believed to be reliable; however, we cannot guarantee their accuracy. This information should not be interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not an indicator of future results.