Mayor Randall Woodfin seeks second term

Former Mayor William Bell, Lashunda Scales and Chris Woods are among the 7 challengers.

The adjective “historic” is overused, but in Birmingham, the 2017 mayoral election probably warrants the designation.

Randall Woodfin — an attorney and former president of the Birmingham Board of Education — led a grassroots campaign that garnered about 60% of the vote in an October 2017 runoff and defeated incumbent Birmingham Mayor William A. Bell Sr.

Woodfin’s upset victory attracted national attention, in part because he was only 36 years old.

When he was sworn in at Linn Park on a cold, sunny day in November 2017, he became the city’s youngest mayor since the 1890s.

At his inauguration, Woodfin promised to do things differently at City Hall.

His victory was “a new beginning” for city government, he said.

Woodfin also repeated his primary campaign theme: that all of the city’s 99 neighborhoods need help, not just downtown.

“Birmingham is only as strong as its lowest-quality-of-life neighborhood,” he said.

Now another municipal election looms Aug. 24, and Woodfin is seeking a second term.

This comes after a tumultuous first term in which Woodfin and the city were forced to cope with the devastating health and economic impacts of COVID-19.

Woodfin even survived his own bout with COVID-19 in January.

He now faces seven challengers, including Bell, Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales and contractor Chris Woods.

All of the candidates responded to questionnaires from Iron City Ink.

The following are brief descriptions of the candidates and their key policy positions to help voters make informed choices at the ballot box.

The incumbent

A Central City resident, Woodfin said he’s proud of his administration’s work, especially given the pandemic.

Among other accomplishments, Woodfin cites the creation or retention of about 8,000 jobs with companies like Shipt and Amazon since 2017.

He highlights the launch of Birmingham Promise, a program that helps high school students in the city obtain job training or apprenticeships and pay college tuition.

Woodfin also mentioned his Pardons for Progress initiative. In April, he pardoned 15,000 people with misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions.

The mayor also believes he’s kept his promise to the 99 neighborhoods.

“We’ve paved thousands of miles of roads, filled potholes in every neighborhood, done our best to keep lawns of abandoned properties maintained, demolished thousands of abandoned homes and acquired over 738 parcels through our Land Bank Authority for redevelopment,” he said.

Woodfin said he believes his administration, including Police Chief Patrick Smith, have done a good job overall fighting crime.

But crime remains a hot-button issue in the election, with every one of Woodfin’s opponents attacking his record.

Birmingham had 122 total homicides in 2020 — its most in 25 years — and is on a similar pace in 2021.

And FBI data shows that in 2019 Birmingham ranked No. 3 three in the nation for homicides per capita.

“It is no secret that crime rates have skyrocketed across the country as we hopefully look towards a post-COVID world,” Woodfin said.

“I believe we have done a commendable job of fighting crime,” he said. “We’re making significant investments both in our law enforcement infrastructure as well as our non-law enforcement community safety infrastructure that comprehensively addresses the root causes of crime and brings long-overdue oversight and transparency into how we police in Birmingham.

Among other steps, Woodfin said his administration is completing a high-tech Real-Time Crime Center, investing in community-based violence interruption teams and starting the Gun Violence Task Force.

In terms of the city’s financial management, Woodfin said his administration has “been responsible with our citizens’ tax dollars” and that the city’s general fund, bond and Birmingham Fund reserves have increased during his time in office.

The city’s budget for fiscal year 2020 was $451 million, and the recently approved budget for fiscal year 2022 is $455 million — the largest in Birmingham’s history.

However the fiscal year 2021 budget was much smaller, only $412 million, due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the spring 2020 lockdown.

When submitting that budget, Woodfin said the city was facing a $63 million revenue shortfall due to the pandemic.

This necessitated some tough choices, he said.

For example, the city reduced funding for the Birmingham Public Library by about $2.5 million and furloughed about 7% of city workers.

The fiscal year 2022 budget brings funding for agencies back to pre-COVID levels, the administration said.

The mayor has faced some criticism for the way he’s handled funding for Birmingham City Schools.

For example, Woodfin’s fiscal year 2020 budget cut the city’s funding for Birmingham City Schools from $3.2 million to $1 million and used the other $2 million to launch Birmingham Promise.

However, this approach would allocate money “directly into our students instead of the system,” Woodfin said in 2019.

The challengers

Bell, a College Hills resident who served as mayor from 2010-17, said he’s running again because of the “abnormally high rate of violent crime that is destroying our 99 neighborhoods and because the current mayor has offered no viable solutions and lacks the wherewithal to stop violent crime in our city.”

Bell said when he was mayor, the city was successful in reducing violent crime by — in additional to enforcement — using “various approaches to attack the social ills and educational deficits that lead individuals to enter a life a crime.”

“I was also a part of President Obama’s efforts to develop the 21st Century Policing Program that I will fully implement when I become mayor,” Bell said.

Other key issues are neighborhood revitalization and strengthening the city’s schools, he said.

“We must also increase the affordable housing stock to attract families that want the convenience of urban life coupled with the same safety and security that exists in other areas,” Bell said.

The former chief executive calls Woodfin’s performance “lacking and ineffective.”

Bell is critical of Woodfin’s handling of crime, schools and neighborhood revitalization and what he calls the mayor’s “tepid response” to the pandemic.

Scales said she’s running for mayor “because the city’s leadership failed to meet the needs of citizens and stakeholders. Hopelessness and despair are evident and requires immediate action.”

A Huffman resident, Scales represented District 1 on the Birmingham City Council beginning in 2009.

In 2018, she won the District 1 County Commission seat and was elected the commission’s president pro tem.

The candidate said “violent crime and possessing a clean city” are the primary campaign issues.

Part of her approach to crime would include strengthening community policing and building on the city’s partnership with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, she said.

To help clean up the city, she said she would work with the council to invest in the Public Works Department and green initiatives and to develop a citywide neighborhood revitalization plan.

Scales also cites “challenges in the educational system, lack of economic opportunities and a skilled workforce” as important concerns.

The candidate cited what she said are some assets the city can build on.

“Birmingham is uniquely situated to become a commercial, technological and transportation hub,” Scales said. “The diversity of 99 neighborhoods is something that should be embraced and enhanced.”

If elected, Scales said one of her immediate priorities would be to “perform an internal audit to determine existing departmental needs, policies and procedures.”

When she announced her candidacy in February, Scales said everyone “will have a seat at the table” if she’s elected.

“Mechanisms will be put in place to ensure diversity, access and inclusion are represented in city affairs,” she told Iron City Ink.

An Auburn University and NFL football player in the 1980s, Woods is a businessman and owner of C. W. Woods Contracting who also ran for mayor in 2017.

Woods said he’s running because he’s “tired of the crime, dilapidated properties, potholes and the general lack of investment in educating our children.”

He said that his business experience will help him be a good mayor and has given him “the appreciation and understanding of building communities, financial/fiscal responsibility, and customer service.”

Woods has announced a seven-point plan to fight crime, including investments in youth social programs, such as Police Athletic Teams.

“It’s imperative that we reach our children at a young age and give them direction in life,” he said.

Regarding enforcement, Woods said he will reach out to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office regarding “a cohesive partnership and strategy” with the city.

His administration will also work with the Birmingham Police Department to deter gun violence, drugs, human trafficking and gangs, he said.

Regarding education, Woods said he will “invest in education,” including free pre-K and work with Birmingham City Schools, starting job and career training for all students.

"Being a licensed plumber, electrician or welder will give our children the skill set to earn a high livable wage and be entrepreneurs," Woods said.

A resident of South Titusville, E. Philemon Hill — who also ran for mayor in 2017 — said Birmingham’s numerous problems include crime and inadequate public schools.

“And many of those problems are deeply rooted in the corporate control of the city and the corporate control of local elected politicians,” he said. “Corporate control and politics have long prevented this city from seeing growth.

“Birmingham deserves a leader that is unbought and unbossed,” he said.

A mechanical engineer, Hill also has an MBA and runs a sports event and marketing firm in Birmingham.

If elected, Hill said his immediate priorities would be to “initiate a forensic audit, internal investigation and inquiries of City Hall, its departments and boards/agencies.”

He also wants to use modern technology, to “create platforms and procedures for a transparent public information office and digital dashboard.”

Black-owned business inclusion is another of his goals.

He gives Woodfin a grade of D+ and criticizes Woodfin on numerous fronts, including the shift in resources from Birmingham City Schools to Birmingham Promise.

Hill also said that Birmingham should take advantage of its central geographic location in the South.“Expanding the airport, as well as the Port of Birmingham, will create thousands of new jobs,” he said.

Challenger Cerissa Brown is a mental health advocate and downtown resident who is seeking elected office for the first time and believes she can be an effective mayor.

However, she believes she can be a good mayor.

“I’m qualified because I’m an advocate, I’m a fighter, I’m a listener, I give a voice to the voiceless, I work hard and I care, and the changes Birmingham needs can only come from me, a true servant leader,” Brown said.

Brown said there is a need for “repairing trust” between citizens and the mayor's office.

If Brown is elected, she said, “when you call or visit City Hall you will be heard. We will be an ally in solving your problems.”

Regarding crime, Brown recommends a new approach. “We must dismantle our public safety system’s instinct to criminalize and replace it with an instinct to provide care,” she said. "“The safety of our 99 neighborhoods is dependent on our collective ability to create holistic, community-based centers of care and harm reduction.”

Candidate Darryl Williams, an activist and West End resident, said that he wants to clean up the city, support city schools and provide job training for high school students.

Williams said he also wants to “help people of color do better, take care of our homeless and fight for a higher minimum wage.”

Woodfin’s final challenger is Napoleon Gonzalez.