Mayor

Name: Fernandez “Brother Sims” Sims

Age; 52

Residence:  Birmingham

Political experience: None

Professional experience: Senior pastor/church planter, Charis Community Church; Christian education minister, Oak Grove Baptist Church Ministry; Spiritual Formation director of students, Southeastern Bible College; outreach associate, Discovery United Methodist Church; associate lead pastor/interim senior pastor, House of Refuge Christian Church; director, community outreach, House of Refuge Christian Church; chief financial officer, House of Refuge Christian Church; director of buildings and grounds, House of Refuge Christian Church; chaplain, Lakeside Hospice; bereavement coordinator/volunteer coordinator, St. Vincent’s Home Health and Hospice; executive director, Dynamic Growth and Success for Churches, Individuals and Groups; Agape Housing, AIDS Alabama; SP Richards Company; Alabama Youth Home for Boys; Eastwood Animal Hospital/Clinic; Birmingham Healthcare for the Homeless; Alabama Association of Retarded Citizens; A.G. Gaston Nursing Home; United States Navy and United States Reserves.

Civic experience: Work with prison fellowship, Oak Grove Baptist Church Highway 119, Alabama Animal Adoption Society, Firehouse Shelter, Spirit of Luke Ministries, Mission Birmingham, Christian Service Mission, AIDS Alabama, ARC of Jefferson County, Christians Concerned for Prisoners, The Sickle Cell Foundation, House of Refuge Christian Church, Southeastern Scholastic Society, Society of Christian Philosophers, Southern AIDS Coalition, Offenders Alumni Association, Evangelical Missiological Society, Evangelical Philosophical Society.

Education: Southeastern Bible College, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jefferson State College, Marine Corps Advanced Combat Training School, Hospital and Emergency Medical Technician School AAS, School of Dental Technology AAS, Woodlawn High School

Top contributors: Self, $1,121.09; David and Rupa Kitchens, $1,000; Dorothea and Gary Rutledge, $150; Highland Avenue Package Store, $108 (in-kind).

Main issues: If elected, Sims says he would do a forensic financial audit to accurately assess the city’s financial status; aggressively eliminate wasteful spending; begin to holistically address violence and crime; address issues of the failing Birmingham City Schools; immediately commission a 99-neighborhood and nine-district needs assessment to address blighted neighborhoods and economic disparity; and fast-track the creation of the street-paving division of the city’s public works department.

Campaign: brothersimsformayor.com