Richard Franklin, president of Birmingham’s American Federation of Teachers since 2011, is running to represent District 9 on the City Council.

Franklin said he decided to run after realizing how many young people in Birmingham fear for their safety. He recalled his son when he was in high school telling him goodbye by saying, “Dad, don’t get killed.”

“If they’re living in fear, and if they don’t see any hope, they’re not going to come back to Birmingham,” Franklin said.

District 9 covers the northwestern portion of Birmingham, including the communities of Ensley, North Pratt, Dolomite and Wylam.

Violent crime has been top of mind to many citywide in Birmingham recently, as the Magic City ended 2024 with its highest homicide rate on record.

One way Franklin wants to address violence in the city is to expand recreation opportunities for young people, particularly by opening more swimming pools. He said he saw the impact it can have firsthand when he was a swim team coach for the Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board from 2005 to 2011.

“We kept a lot of kids off the street, gave them something to do,” Franklin said. “What I loved about when we had the pools open, a lot of people don’t know this, we taught kids how to swim, but once you join the swim team, you got in the pool for free, so you can come swimming every day for free.”

Franklin also said that if elected, he hopes to form a youth advisory board so young people can feel represented and engaged with local government.

Another policy issue Franklin hopes to focus on is housing infrastructure, something he sees as lacking in District 9.

“When you go visit them in Hoover and other places, we’re not building houses like that in Birmingham or advocating for it. We just assume that people won’t buy but I know a lot of people that I talk to, they grew up in these areas. If the housing stock was there, they will come back,” he said.

Franklin said city leaders have focused a disproportionate amount of effort and resources on building Birmingham’s entertainment districts while residential areas west of Interstate 65 have been left with little help.

“There has to be somebody at the table that’s talking about what’s going on in our neighborhoods,” he said.

Franklin, 44, was born and raised in Ensley. He graduated from A.H. Parker High School and attended Lawson State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he received a bachelor’s degree in special education.

Franklin worked for the Birmingham City Schools from 2006 to 2011 and served as a special education teacher at Huffman Middle School.

This is his second run for a set on the council. He ran against District 5 Councilor Darrell O’Quinn in 2021, getting 21% of the vote, compared to O’Quinn’s 58%.

This time around, Franklin faces Councilor LaTonya Tate, who announced her re-election campaign in September, as well as former City Council member John Hilliard.

In addition to his work with the American Federation for Teachers, Franklin was vice president for the State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. He is also a member of the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.