Birmingham councilor says mayor withholds resources for her dist

The ongoing feud between Birmingham Mayor William Bell and Councilwoman LaShunda Scales was evident at today's city council meeting.

Despite what both will tell you in front of the cameras, Mayor Bell and Councilor Scales aren't very big fans of each other, and now Councilor Scales says that personal dislike is hurting the people who live in her district.

Scales showed a video at council today which shows what she says are city resources like police officers, firefighters, and public works employees working at gatherings in Linn Park and Avondale Park within the last month.

Why does that bother her? Because she says she's been asking the mayor for a month to provide the same support for a movie and music festival she's hosting in her district coming up this weekend, and she says she's heard nothing in response.

She says she's being singled out.

"Every time we ask for something as a council staff or council member, we continue to be rejected," Scales said. "And those things we do happen to receive is kind of minimal. And we're just at a point now where we're saying listen, we are a part of the city of Birmingham, we're taxpaying citizens, we're not a stepchild, and we do want city support for anything."

To illustrate how deeply this dislike runs, Bell didn't look up during the video, didn't look at Scales or any other council members when they voiced support for her, and his office had no comment today other than to say he'll be making a decision soon about whether to provide resources for the festival this weekend.

Copyright 2012 WBRC. All rights reserved.