State Rep. Juandalynn Givan had a pair of printed speeches and a third on her phone as she stepped before supporters at a rally Saturday at Four Seasons Bar and Grill.

She would use none of them.

“Today, I don’t need any paper,” the Birmingham mayoral candidate said. “I don’t need a script. I don’t need to be here trying to say what I want to say today.

“We should be standing on three P’s – people, protections and progress,” said Givan, who initially announced her candidacy on New Year’s Day. “We should be standing on the three R’s – restore, rejuvenate and reinvest. We should be standing on the three C’s – to combat, control and conquer crime.”

Givan, who is bidding to be the first woman elected mayor of Birmingham, attacked incumbent Randall Woodfin with the assertion that he is not concerned about all of Birmingham.

“Our city is bigger than downtown, Uptown and Southside,” she said. “Birmingham is comprised of 99 neighborhoods. It shouldn’t matter if you live in Forest Park versus if you live in Ensley, if you live in Pratt, if you live in Riley, if you live in North Birmingham.”

Givan said the Magic City has lost its luster. A change is needed, she said, to bring back Birmingham’s glow.

“When you are the chief executive officer for the city of Birmingham, it is your responsibility to make sure that these departments have individuals who are department heads that can staff and get the job done,” the candidate said. “There is no excuse for us and under my administration, first and foremost, the first thing I’m going to do is clean this city up.”

Givan said Birmingham cannot go another four years the way the city is going.

“It’s filthy,” she said. “Our streets look like war zones. We don’t need dumpsters. We need men and women working at Streets and Sanitation. Our communities are blighted with paper, litter, brush and debris everywhere.”

The state representative said she has already been working for Birmingham from her post in the Legislature.

“I’ve been seeing someone take credit for the Glock bill,” Givan said. “Well, I’m here to tell you (that) not one call was made to Montgomery by this administration before this year with all of the killing and the crimes that took place in Birmingham last year. Not one call to Montgomery was made.

“Listen, we are beyond out of control. This city is under siege,” the representative said. “And we (legislators) went to work. All of these bills that y’all are going to see rolling out the next few weeks are not because of this administration. It’s because of Juandalyn Givan.”

Update: Mar. 23, 20225 – The story was updated to clarify that Givan would not be the first woman mayor of Birmingham, but the first woman elected to the position. Carole Smitherman served as mayor in 2009.