Bernard Kincaid
Bernard Kincaid (born June 5, 1945) was elected Mayor of Birmingham in 1999 and served two full terms before losing the office to Larry Langford in the 2007 Birmingham mayoral election.
Kincaid was born in the Birmingham neighborhood of Pratt City to a coal-miner. He began his political career early, being elected president of his fifth-grade class at South Pratt Elementary School. He was also president of the Miles College Student Government Association during his senior year of college. He graduated from Western-Olin High School in 1962 and received his undergraduate degree from Miles College in 1970. He went on to earn an M.A. from Miami University in Ohio (1971), a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama (1980), and a J.D from the Birmingham School of Law (1994). He served in the U. S. Air Force between 1962-65 and was given an honorable discharge.
He has served as a youth counselor for the Social Security Administration (1970-71), as an educational consultant, assistant professor and as assitant to the Dean of the School of Health Related Professions at UAB from 1971 to 1995 and Contract Director of Development at Miles College from 1996-97. He was also chairman of the Metro Area Express bus system during a period of especially strained relations with the city of Birmingham.
Kincaid was also vice-president and later president of the Ensley HIghlands Neighborhood Association and vice-president of the Five Points West community. In 1993, Kincaid lost a special Democratic Party election for Alabama House District 60, trailing by 15 votes against John Hilliard, whom he called a "puppet" of Richard Arrington, Jr and Earl Hilliard. He was disallowed as a candidate in the primary because he, according to Hilliard, broke the party's "loyalty oath". He ran again as an independent in the 1994 regular election, losing again to Hilliard.
In 1997 he was elected to represent District 8 in the Birmingham City Council and two years later defeated interim-Mayor William Bell in a runoff to become Mayor. Kincaid was also member of the Alabama delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 2000.
He is a member of the Metropolitan C.M.E. Church, Ensley and sings in the W. A. Baskerville Gospel Chorus. He is a member of American Legion, Post 1165 and of the Alabama Education Association and UAB Retired Employees Association.
He has sat on the boards of various groups, including the Birmingham Sister City Commission, the Miles College Alumni Association and Booster Club, Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, the Jefferson County Progressive Democratic Council, Sigma Kappa Delta law association, Glenwood Mental Health Services, the Birmingham Urban League, the Pratt-Ensley Kiwanis Club, and the Birmingham Partnership.
By virtue of his position, he also holds positions on the boards of the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, the Birmingham Racing Commission, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Jefferson County Mayors Association, Alabama Conference of Black Mayors, and U.S. Conference of Black Mayors
Kincaid makes his home in Ensley. He is married to the former Alfreda Harris since New Year's Eve 1972 and has one daughter, Amy. Since July 2006 Kincaid has promoted the Get Healthy Birmingham campaign, co-sponsored by the UAB Minority Health & Research Center. Serving as an example to others he lost 30 pounds in the first year of the program.
The Mayor's office is on the third floor of Birmingham City Hall and Kincaid hosts an "Open Door" meeting for citizens who can sign up on a first-come, first-served basis for a brief appointment on the third Thursday of each month after 5:00.
During the 2007 Birmingham Mayoral election Kincaid campaigned with the slogan "Moving forward honestly," which touted his administration's lack of scandals and suggested that Kincaid's term of office saw the city progress. He touted downtown's resurgence as the first step toward comprehensive revitalization across the city. Kincaid's early campaign funding came overwhelmingly from one source, a political action committee backed by Donald Watkins and headed locally by Emory Anthony, both close associates of former mayor Richard Arrington, Jr.
In the election, Kincaid placed a distant third with 4,234 of the 52,111 votes case (8.12%).
See also
| Preceded by: William Bell (interim) |
Mayor of Birmingham 1999 - present |
Succeeded by: (incumbent) |
References
- Mayor's biography at informationbirmingham.com - Accessed March 30, 2006
- Oliver-Miles, Zelda (May 23, 1993) "District 60 runoff endures last skirmishes." Birmingham News.
- Plott, Bill (July 15, 2007) "Hundreds WALK at Legion Field in city health event." Birmingham News.
- Bryant, Joseph D. (September 2, 2007) "Hopefuls have just weeks to win votes." Birmingham News.