Meet your candidates: Mayoral election

Birmingham’s municipal election, scheduled for Aug. 22, comes at an interesting point in the city’s history.

In many ways, the Magic City seems to be enjoying an historic upswing. There are sparkling new amenities like Regions Field, the Rotary Trial, the Uptown entertainment district at the BJCC and the beautifully restored Lyric Theatre.

Birmingham has even begun to rebuild its long-tattered national image, gaining positive attention for things like its local music scene, trendy breweries, bars and restaurants, and medical care and research at UAB.

But there is also growing unease about crime, poverty, failing schools and the continuing decay of many city neighborhoods. And, as highlighted by the recent release of updated data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there is the real possibility that fast-growing Huntsville will eventually overtake Birmingham as the state’s largest city.

That may be why current Mayor William Bell, who easily beat four challengers without a runoff to win re-election to his first full term in 2013, faces nearly a dozen challengers this election cycle as he seeks to continue a career in city politics that began in 1977.

The following are brief descriptions of each of the mayoral candidates. To check on your voter registration information or to confirm your polling place, visit alabamavotes.gov. If you are not registered to vote, you have until Aug. 8 to do so.

The future of the city is in every resident’s hands.

PATRICIA BELL

Patricia Bell — community activist, promotions consultant and former teacher — is making her fourth run for mayor for one reason: “I haven’t given up on Birmingham, because I know the history of my city,” she said, citing its civil rights legacy. “We’ve no business leading the nation with crime.”

Bell believes her experience as an educator and salesperson will allow her to “sell the city” and “motivate citizens to take pride.”

“We shouldn’t settle for mediocrity,” she said.

If elected, Patricia Bell’s first priorities would be public safety and economics. 

“A lot of our citizens are living in fear [and] some of them feel there is no chance in life,” she said.

Bell would seek to reduce the city’s crime statistics her first year in office and wants to give Police Chief A.C. Roper a chance to succeed. 

“I think if he has the right mayor working with him and the funding, we can come up with programs to bring crime down,” she said, adding she would like to find money to recruit more police.

She also believes some neighborhoods have been neglected. 

“You distribute the finances among every community and do the best you can with all communities,” she said. “I think [Mayor William Bell] has concentrated too much in certain districts.”

Birmingham needs “a new approach” to education, according to Patricia Bell, who sees a link between education and economics.

“If we expand our education to be competitive with the world, we’d see an increase in job readiness and a decrease in crime,” she said.

She said the city’s abandoned schools could be used as “multicultural centers,” community incubators and adult education centers.

Mayor William Bell is a “40-year career politician” who “has gotten too much power” and hasn’t worked effectively with the Birmingham City Council, Patricia Bell said.

► WEB: facebook.com/patriciabell2017

William Bell (I)

Win or lose in this municipal election, Mayor William Bell has likely made a permanent mark on Birmingham’s history.

In a political career going back to 1977, Bell has been a city councilor, council president — the first African-American to hold that office locally — and county commissioner. He’s served as mayor since winning a special election in 2010.

Bell told Iron City Ink he has a significant number of achievements to run on, including “the growth of the city as a whole [and] the people moving back into the central downtown area.”

He also cites plans for revitalizing Woodlawn, Avondale and Ensley; efforts to rebuild Pratt City after the 2011 tornadoes; and the success of Birmingham CrossPlex.

The mayor’s challengers argue he has paid too much attention to downtown and not enough to the neighborhoods, but Bell disagrees, citing such initiatives as the installation of LED lights around the city, which is now beginning, and a large citywide paving project.

“We had to have the resources and the planning in place,” he said. “Things don’t happen overnight.”

Bell defends his record on crime, another election flash point. “Crime has not risen just here in this city but all through the county,” he said. “There has been a slight uptick.”

He also touted such law enforcement partnerships as Operation Eagle, in which the Birmingham Police Department, targets high crime areas and removal of illegal or stolen guns with the help of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Crime Stoppers.

“Our police department is working with other organizations to hold crime down,” Bell said.

The mayor also said it is not “a fair criticism” when opponents say he hasn’t worked effectively with the City Council. “There are a handful of council members who would like to control the operation of city government ... [but] state law is very clear and sometimes when I stand up for that, it irritates certain council members,” Bell said, referring to the Mayor Council Act.

The mayor also argues, despite criticism from council members and challengers, that his administration is transparent in the way it handles city finances. “All of our transaction information is online,” said Bell. “We don’t have anything to hide."

According to Bell and city spokesperson April Odom, all contracts, purchase orders and other information have been available on the city's New World system online. The city announced June 14 the launch of the new Open Gov portal at data.birminghamal.gov where anyone can easily access public safety and financial data.

Bell recently submitted a proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 of $428 million, which he said represents an “unprecedented” increase of $64 million over the past five fiscal years, and argued that the budget is a sign of the city’s growing prosperity.

► WEB: williambell2017.com

RANDY DAVIS

Randy Davis, former Birmingham police officer and Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff, is running for mayor because, he said, the city he loves is “not moving in the right direction.”

He cites problems such as crime, education, decaying neighborhoods and a shortage of good jobs.

“I just believe I can do so much better than what’s going on right now,” he said, referring to Mayor Bell’s administration.

His law enforcement experience will allow him to try some ideas to reduce crime, including an innovative use of security cameras, according to Davis. “It wouldn’t be a learning process,” he said. “No training-wheels needed.”

Public safety must be properly funded, according to Davis. “Our first responders and law enforcement need to be equipped."

Davis is now production supervisor at an auto plant, making daily decisions about large sums of money, and that job “has prepared me to balance a city budget,” he said.

He cites his “willingness to work with others to get the job done,” including the City Council.

Education is a priority:  “My passion is children,” said Davis, who wants to start a citywide after-school program, get local communities and pastors to mentor kids and offer GED and college prep assistance.

Repairing infrastructure, including roads, drainage and lighting, is critical, according to Davis.

He wants to build numerous “community development centers,” create a citywide bike trail and bring back the City Stages festival.

And he promises honest government. “I’ll be very visible and transparent,” he said. “Trust definitely needs to be fixed between the citizens and its city officials.

“This city can be a beacon for other cities,” said Davis, referring to the coming of the 2021 World Games.

“We need to be ready,” he said, citing the need for the city’s transportation, safety and entertainment to be top-notch.

► WEB: facebook.com/randy.davis.9461

ERVIN PHILEMON HILL, II

Birmingham has a “leadership deficit” and needs to move beyond “the status-quo politics” demonstrated by Mayor Bell’s administration, according to Ervin Philemon Hill, II, who said he possesses the leadership skills, vision, courage, integrity, knowledge and persistence needed to be a good mayor.

A graduate of Parker High School, Hill works in sports marketing and owns EPH Sports Warehouse in Birmingham and Legacy Sports Management International in Atlanta. 

He also worked as a mechanical engineer and has an MBA from Clark Atlanta University.

The Magic City “finds itself at the crossroads of being an average city or being an extraordinary city,” Hill said.

He lauded downtown revitalization but added that “expanding that success in all nine districts will create an enormous growth for the entire city.”

Hill lists four key planks in his platform: citizen engagement, community revitalization and crime reduction; economic development; fiscal transparency and ethics reform; and quality public education.

He also wants to make the neighborhoods safer and cleaner, create jobs and job-training opportunities and properly manage city spending.

He seeks to expose what he calls “the corruption within City Hall, the school district and throughout the city” and proposes making all city financial reports public and educating people on how to read them.

He calls for town hall meetings, working closely with the City Council and doing financial audits in each city department.

The city should also take sole ownership of the Birmingham Water Works, according to Hill.

Hill called Bell’s job performance, at best, average, citing “the continued lack of fiscal transparency and marginal improvements in economic growth and transportation in a city of our size.”

► WEB: facebook.com/philemonformayor

FRANK MATTHEWS

Community activist Frank Matthews is running for mayor because, he said, Birmingham “needs leaders who are willing to sacrifice” — a willingness he said he hasn’t seen in Mayor Bell.

Matthews also believes he can work more effectively than Mayor Bell with the City Council, but the city's high poverty rate is the top issue for Matthews. “Though the mayor claims all this prosperity ... poverty numbers have not changed,” he said. “It’s time to share the economic wealth,” said Matthews, who believes the mayor could work with large financial institutions to help craft creative solutions to poverty.

 Matthews said he’s qualified because he’s been a local activist for 27 years, has worked in some capacity for nearly every mayor going back to Richard Arrington, knows scores of City Hall employees and has analyzed the city’s finances.

 He proposes new ways to prevent crime, saying it’s often “a learned behavior” for young people and in other cases a “mental disorder.”

“Many people go in and out of prison and never have a psychiatric evaluation,” Matthews said.

 He said he would create the Mayor’s Office of Recidivism Reduction and personally meet with Alabama inmates within six months of being released back to Birmingham, offering them a chance to “be a capitalist, not a criminal.”

 He said he would work with businesses to provide employment for former prisoners.

 City employees should have more competitive pay, according to Matthews, who wants to give them a one-time 15 percent merit raise and 5 percent cost of living adjustment.

To “take the politics out of education,” Matthews said, he’ll propose a five-member school board elected at large with the recipient of the most votes serving a four-year term as president.

He wants to give Birmingham small businesses the “oxygen they need” by spending $10 million annually for four years and helping 200 local businesses each year. Owners could receive up to up to $50,000 in assistance.

► WEB: facebook.com/outcastvotersleague1999

FERNANDEZ SIMS

Birmingham’s “at a critical juncture in its history,” said mayoral candidate Fernandez Sims. “The city’s gone in the wrong direction for decades, and I think that for that to change, you need a person who can reach out across all demographics — race, all these barriers that divide us — to bring people together.”

Sims, pastor of Charis Community Church and case manager at Impact Family Services, believes he is that person.

“I offer wisdom and maturity, and I’m not connected to any of the past corruption or any problems with the schools,” he said.

Mayor Bell “hasn’t taken care of the people,” Sims said. “He hasn’t been a good leader. He’s taken too much power. He’s divided the city racially, economically.”

Sims is a Birmingham native, graduate of Southeastern Bible College and military veteran who said he’s done community service for decades with nonprofits and other organizations.

“I’ve worked with large budgets and have a heart to serve the people,” he said.

Sims’ platform has three planks: better schools, better communities and better government.

He said he would give the school board the support it needs, encourage community involvement in schools and start a citywide literacy program.

He wants to clear up blight, turn abandoned lots into urban farms, build nine “world-class” community centers and overhaul mass transit.

If elected, he would order a forensic audit of the city and “track where every dollar is going,” he said. To fight crime, Sims — in addition to having “adequate” police funding — would offer free domestic violence, anger management and conflict resolution programs in schools and communities.

He wants to restore pay raises for city employees, including police officers.

And Sims believes he can use his love of people to build good, productive relationships with the City Council members.

► WEB: brothersimsformayor.com.

RANDALL WOODFIN

Randall Woodfin, assistant city attorney and member of the Birmingham school board, said he’s running for mayor because of dire needs he sees in many Birmingham neighborhoods.

“Having grown up here, I’m seeing the struggles families face, and I think as mayor we need someone with a sense of urgency to help all the people,” he said, citing such problems as crime and poverty.

Woodfin also said the mayor should display a “collaborative style of leadership,” a quality he hasn’t seen in Mayor Bell. “You can’t move a city forward if you are comfortable not talking to your council.”

The administration has also “failed to provide basic services and infrastructure for our neighborhoods,” Woodfin said.

Downtown is booming, but other areas have problems, according to Woodfin. “I don’t have a problem with downtown’s growth,” he said. “I just have a problem with the rest of the city not growing, too.”

Woodfin’s platform also includes promises to invest in education, including summer enrichment programs and workforce certifications.

He wants to re-establish the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and encourage small businesses that wish to operate in the city by making it much easier for them to buy and renew permits and licenses.

He also wants to commit sufficient funding to public safety, including public works.

Birmingham can build on the fact that the city’s budget has grown to $428 million in Bell’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget, according to Woodfin. “That means we have more occupational tax, business licenses, sales taxes,” he said.

However, if elected, Woodfin plans to conduct an audit to see how city money has been spent in recent years and wants to plan how the city should spend money going forward, including needs such as mass transit.

“We can have efficient, transparent government,” he said. “We can spend money is such a way that it works for everybody.”

► WEB: randallwoodfin.com

TRUDY HUNTER

One of the most serious problems facing Birmingham is “widespread poverty,” said social worker and mayoral candidate Trudy Hunter.

Addressing this inequality effectively will require “new and creative leadership on the part of both government officials and public administrators,” she said.

Hunter believes she can help supply that leadership – on poverty and other issues – while also drawing on the talents of the city’s residents.

“Every individual from all 99 neighborhoods holds the key to building a strong city,” she said.

Hunter said she believes in “investing, inspiring and encouraging every individual with the authority to make and create change.”

In addition to poverty, Hunter seeks to address such issues as education, infrastructure, transportation and enhancing neighborhoods.

Hunter also said the first thing she’ll do if elected is hire a forensic accountant to analyze the city’s finances.

“Only by having complete transparency with the public, and letting them know up front where we stand and what issues need to be addressed immediately, we can move Team Birmingham forward,” she said.

Hunter has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Miles College, a master’s in social work from The University of Alabama, a degree from Birmingham School of Law and an advanced degree in legal research and writing from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. She’ll take the Alabama bar exam in 2018.

She believes her experience as a social worker helps qualify her for mayor.

“For more than 18 years, I’ve been working with diverse populations in urban, rural and reservation communities on a broad range of issues,” she said, citing such examples as crime, education, housing, hunger and mental health.

Hunter also stresses the need to address what she calls the “institutional racism” part of the Alabama constitution, as well as other laws, policies and institutions.

► WEB: trudyhunterformayor.wordpress.com

LANNY JACKSON

Birmingham suffers from a “leadership void” and has faced “decades of stagnation” according to mayoral candidate Lanny Jackson.

It’s time to “transform Birmingham into an international city where all races of people are welcome” – one that enjoys economic development in all its neighborhoods, as well as decreased crime and gun violence, Jackson said.

After traveling widely during 21 years in the U.S. Army, Jackson said he observed that cities that were able to “transform and compete globally” did so by looking ahead 20 to 30 years in planning their economies and mass transit needs.

The candidate said he retired from the Army as a non-commissioned officer, is currently a supervisor at UAB and draws on 42 years of management experience.

His platform includes greater regional cooperation; the creation of a “state-of-the-art” regional transportation system; and partnerships between local colleges and universities and government agencies to retrain the workforce and help businesses retool and innovate. He also wants to rehabilitate abandoned homes for low-income families.  

The candidate argues that school board members should be appointed and that the board needs more members with graduate degrees in education and administration.

He believes he can work effectively with the City Council. “In government, everyone ... needs to know their role,” Jackson said. “The mayor is the chief executive body, the city council is the legislature and we have the circuit courts to referee.”

He said that, if elected, he will have to articulate his vision for Birmingham to the council as well as the public. And Jackson said he’ll show members respect and try to persuade them to his side.

“Leadership is an art or process to influence one in such a manner to accomplish a goal or mission,” he said. “We all have ideas, and effective listening is the key as a leader.”

► WEB: lanny2017.com and on Facebook.com/Lanny2017BhamMayor.

CHRIS WOODS

Building contractor Chris Woods said he’s running for mayor because of what he calls “the lack of attention paid to the neighborhoods” by the Bell administration.

Woods also laments the city’s rising crime, failing schools and poorly maintained roads, and he said that the growth of small business in the area “has been stunted under this administration.”

His platform focuses on public safety, transparent government, education and job creation.

Woods, who played football in the 1980s at Auburn University and in the NFL, drew attention in 2015 when he won $2.58 million from the city in a wrongful termination lawsuit after the Bell administration removed his firm from some building projects. He later accused some officials of demanding kickbacks for municipal contracts.

Woods told AL.com that this isn’t the reason he’s running for mayor; however, he told Iron City Ink the city must restore the trust of citizens with “transparent government” and an end to “‘pay-to-play’ deals.” He also advocates a limit of two terms for mayors.

He believes his experience in construction, including some time spent as the city’s construction manager, will help him effectively manage the Birmingham’s finances, eliminate waste and provide good services. 

“Fiscal responsibility is one of the largest challenges facing our city today,” he said.

If elected, Woods said, he would order an audit of the city’s finances and said the city should hire a CPA.

He thinks he can work with the City Council more effectively than Bell. “The mayor’s job is to serve as the administrator, and the council’s job is to serve as the legislators,” he said. “The current administration desires to fulfill both roles.”

He advocates long-term planning regarding development. 

“I believe that development dollars should be invested throughout all the districts of the city,” he said.

City employees should receive better wages and benefits, according to Woods, who said the city has lost experienced police officers to other communities with better pay.

► WEB: chriswoodsformayor.com

DONALDLOMAX

Donald Lomax said he’s running for mayor of Birmingham because he believes he can make a difference in the city in numerous areas: transit, infrastructure, the school system, economic growth, reducing unemployment and creating higher-paying jobs. 

His other goals include lower taxes and a reduction in the city’s crime rate. The purpose of these improvements would be to ensure “that all Birmingham citizens can have an opportunity to improve the quality of their lives,” he said.

As far as his qualifications, Lomax said that he has a college degree in business administration and 25 years of experience in finance, real estate and business management.

Infrastructure needs in the city include fixing streets and bridges and reducing flooding, according to Lomax.  He also wants to address such social ills as poverty, homelessness, violence and illegal drugs.

The incumbent, Mayor William Bell, gets a mixed report card from Lomax, who said Bell’s performance “is good in some areas.” But the challenger added that Bell “needs to have compassion and concern for the elderly and the poor.”

Lomax said his immediate goal, if elected, will be to assemble his staff and legal team. And he believes that he can get along well with the city’s legislative branch.

“I have very good public relation skills and experience and believe I can work effectively with the City Council — including the incumbents,” he said. 

Editor’s note: At our press time, Iron City Ink was unable to obtain information from Carl Jackson, the other mayoral candidate who qualified with the county elections office. We were also unable to obtain a photo or campaign contact information from Donald Lomax.