Council confirms inaugural Land Bank Authority appointments

The Birmingham City Council on July 15 approved a resolution appointing four members to the city’s Land Bank Authority and substituted a corrected version of the resolution before voting.

Councilor Hoyt, presenting the committee’s recommendation, listed the nominees and staggered term expirations: Hegar Hill (Director 1), Adam Snyder (Director 2), Charles Ball (Director 3) and Gwendolyn Bates Calhoun (Director 4). The council accepted minor corrections to the resolution’s wording — including the spelling of "hereby" — and substituted the corrected draft before the vote.

Council members praised the quality of applicants and thanked the committee for its process. "We had seven outstanding people to interview," Councilor Abbott said, noting difficulty in selecting only four candidates from a larger applicant pool. The resolution passed unanimously.

Why it matters: the Land Bank Authority is intended to manage vacant and blighted properties and support neighborhood stabilization; staggered terms are meant to provide continuity for the new board.

Next steps: the appointees will assume their staggered terms as specified in the adopted resolution and the administration will finalize corrected language and spelling in the official document.