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Larry Langford ( 1948 - )  Category ( Politicians ) [suggest a correction]
 

Although Larry Langford's participation in the political life of Birmingham, AL was short-lived, it will be long remembered.

Langford's two years as mayor included a series of grand proposals, controversial pronouncements, two investigations, a lawsuit, an indictment and, ultimately, his ouster.

Born in Birmingham, Langford graduated from the University of Alabama-Birmingham after a stint in the Air Force. After working as a news reporter for Birmingham TV station WBRC, he became the public relations director for a local Budweiser distributor.

Langford's first foray into politics was his election as mayor of Fairfield, AL, a Birmingham suburb. He then served as a county commissioner, and was elected president of that body in 2006. The following year, when the balance on council tipped to the Republican side, he was voted out. Soon afterward, he announced his intention to run for mayor of Birmingham, the state's largest city.

In 2007, Langford topped the list of 10 mayoral candidates with 26,277 votes out of more than 52,000 cast, barely avoiding a runoff with Patrick Cooper.

The new mayor was already carrying extra baggage when he took office, however. There was, first of all, the Visionland Theme Park project that Langford had enthusiastically backed as a comission member. The park wound up going bankrupt and was sold to Southland Entertainment at a loss.

Also, the Securities & Exchange Commission began an investigation of Langford in 2007. The next year, a lawsuit was filed against him, accusing him of taking $156,000 in cash and benefits to which he was not legally entitled.

But an even darker cloud moved over Langford on Dec. 1, 2008, when he and two others -- William B. Blount and Al LaPierre -- were arrested and charged with conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns. Langford was convicted of 60 counts in October of 2009 and forced to resign as mayor.

Curiously, given the nature of these accusations, Langford was known for his Christian beliefs. On April 22, 2008, according to an article in the Birmingham Weekly, Langford issued a proclamation on city letterhead proclaiming the following Friday to be "It's Time to Pray" in the City of Birmingham. He called upon "all bishops, priests, pastors, ministers and all of our citizens of various denominations and creeds" to join him in donning burlap sacks and having their heads smeared with ashes during a prayer rally at Boutwell Auditorium.  The display, part of his "Plan 10/30" series of anti-crime rallies, was intended to show humility and restore God's favor to a city wracked with violence. Anticipating complaints from defenders of the First Amendment, Langford stated that "the Constitution of the United States calls for a separation of church and state - it never said anything about a separation of church from state.”

Langford also aroused some controversy by proposing the distribution of a DVD that focused on black-on-black crime, but also contained images of slavery and the civil rights movement. And he refused to sign a proclamation for the annual Central Alabama Gay Pride Parade, noting: "My policy is don't ask, because it's not my business, and don't put me in the position to make it my business."

Throughout his time in public life, Langford pushed for the construction of a domed football stadium to replace crumbling old Legion Park. More fanatastic was his idea to dig a canal so that cruise ships could dock at his city, despite the fact that Birmingham is considerably inland from the Gulf of Mexico.


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