PARTING OF THE WAYS
For a while it seemed like Birminghamites Clinton Baller, who was elected to the Birmingham City Commission in 2019, and perennial city gadfly David Bloom, were friends for life. They had a shared antipathy for former mayor Patty Bordman, working to unseat her and even filing a federal lawsuit in 2019 on First Amendment grounds when she erroneously prevented them from speaking during public comment. They jointly worked to defeat the reconstruction of the N. Old Woodward parking deck – perhaps now regretted by some in the community considering the immense maintenance costs the old parking structure requires, negating the ability to replace it in the future. But it appears their bromance is now finis – and Bloom isn’t taking it well. See, Bloom is running for one of three open commission seats in November, and Baller is NOT endorsing him, accurately noting in a newsletter he has emailed out to followers that Bloom “has a history of going off the rails.” Bloom has a history of screaming “corruption” anytime people don’t agree with him, and even “flipped the bird” at a resident who was not copacetic at a commission meeting in 2007. When Baller took the time to give Bloom advance notice of the other candidates he was endorsing, Bloom responded in a text: “That implies to me that things are being offered to you to get on board with the other team. Pretty nasty stuff Clinton. It implies corruption….If the other candidates need your endorsement and help to win, they must be really scared of …me. And now they should be because I am totally pissed off and I will shout corruption from the rooftops if I have to. I don’t give a shit anymore.” Baller’s response: “…crazy comments like that is why I can’t support your candidacy.”
