Birmingham City Council

Birmingham Councilors Allege Promises Broken but City Still Renews Via Contract

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to renew its contract with the ridesharing service Via, despite frustration from some councilors that promises of expanding the program had not been kept. Under the contract, the city will pay Via up to $2.64 million per year to provide transit services in the city for a term “not to exceed three years.” Every 12 months, the council will have the option to continue funding or to cancel the partnership. Even so, some councilors expressed anger that they were being asked to recommit to an organization that had not fulfilled its promises to expand its services, despite previous increases in city funding ostensibly for that purpose. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Community Police Academy Kicks Off Oct. 4

The Birmingham Police Department will host a 10-week “community police academy” beginning Oct. 4. The program, approved by the City Council Tuesday, will be free and is intended to provide “an opportunity for the community to find out how the police department operates,” said Captain Janice Blackwell, the BPD’s community engagement liaison. It also provides guidance for setting up neighborhood watches and has the goal of strengthening trust between the public and the police department, particularly in the wake of rising gun violence in the city. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Council Discusses Changing the Neighborhood Association Structure

Several Birmingham City councilors on Tuesday called for significant changes to the city’s current organization of neighborhood associations. Discussion over an item setting neighborhood elections for Oct. 18, later passed by the council, veered into a discussion of councilors’ broader dissatisfaction with the system. Most of that centered on low attendance at neighborhood meetings, leading to uncontested elections. District 5 Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, a former president of the Crestwood North neighborhood, suggested that there were “other ways of devising a system that provides representation and embraces the reality that even though there may be hundreds of residents in a neighborhood, there’s only ever going to be a handful of people who actually engage in neighborhood-level conversations.” O’Quinn added that many neighborhood leaders are elected almost by default because no one else signs up to run. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Renews Controversial Online Business License Renewal Service but Warns Company to Improve Customer Service

Birmingham has renewed its contract with Avenu Insights & Analytics LLC, the company in charge of the city’s online business license renewal service. The renewal came despite misgivings from officials about complaints that the company’s customer service is subpar, so the city added a 90-day termination clause to the contract. Online business license renewal was a priority for Mayor Randall Woodfin’s first term, and a contract with Avenu was approved in 2019. While Avenu’s online service has increased licensing efficiency, Woodfin said, its customer service “has not been the smoothest.” Talks with the company about improving its “quality control … weren’t necessarily the smoothest” either, Woodfin said, and eventually led to him having a one-on-one call with the company’s president. “I expressed on behalf of our team (that), in its current form, the service doesn’t meet our core values,” he said. “It’s not working for the small business owner. The team in the (city) finance department is not pleased, and there are some trust issues, etc.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Modernizing Garbage Pickup

Birmingham will spend just over $6.5 million to give each household in Birmingham a new, 96-gallon garbage receptacle that Mayor Randall Woodfin said will modernize the way the city picks up garbage. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Councilors Approve $5 Million for World Games Debt, Express Ire Over Being Left in the Dark

The city of Birmingham will pay $5 million more to the cash-strapped World Games 2022 committee. That decision was made during Tuesday’s council meeting, amid an atmosphere of bitterness from city officials who felt they’d been misled by the games’ organizers. “I know each of you enough to know this sucks,” Mayor Randall Woodfin told councilors. “I feel the same way you feel.” The World Games, which took place July 7-17 after years of planning and promotion, fell far short of its revenue goals, it was reported last week. Though the event ended up costing roughly $65.1 million — which CEO Nick Sellers admitted was close to $10 million less than initially expected — it only generated $51 million in revenue. The organizing committee was left with a $14.1 million deficit and many local vendors were left unpaid for their services. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Council Moves to Redevelop Two Blighted Properties in the Western Area

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to expand urban renewal and redevelopment plans in the city’s Arlington-West End and Downtown West areas, with the goal of acquiring and redeveloping two blighted properties. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

New Members Appointed to BMA Board

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to appoint seven members to the Birmingham Museum of Art’s board of directors, including four new members and three reappointments. Departing member Braxton Goodrich will be replaced by fellow Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation board member Grace Goodrich, who also works as a development consultant and grant writer and

by Sam Prickett

City Commits $13 Million to Public Spaces, Road and Drainage Work in Neighborhoods

The Birmingham City Council approved more than $13 million in capital project funding Tuesday, focusing most prominently on streetscaping and improvements on city-owned properties such as Vulcan Park and Rickwood Field. Several city councilors expressed relief about the funding, saying that it would put to rest major complaints they have received from their constituents. “Thank you on behalf of the Pine Knoll Vista neighborhood,” District 4 Councilor J.T. Moore told Mayor Randall Woodfin, referencing the $815,000 that will be allocated to drainage improvements in that neighborhood. “That neighborhood has really been on my head about it. I can go to neighborhood association meetings and not sweat because we’re actually making moves on this project.” District 9 Councilor LaTonya Tate echoed that gratitude over $598,615 in funding for drainage improvements in Hooper City, saying she had stepped into a “lion’s den” of complaints upon becoming councilor. Mayor Randall Woodfin acknowledged that not every district’s needs could be fully met by this round of allocations, but he added that a meeting has been set with the finance team and the city’s bond counsel to “go deep” on potential market-based sources of funding. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Staff Shortages Delay Trash and Brush Pickup in Birmingham

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told the City Council on Tuesday that staffing shortages were the root cause of recent delays in bulk trash and brush pickups throughout the city. Councilor Valerie Abbott said she’d received “tons of calls” from residents upset that their trash had not been picked up. Read more.

by Sam Prickett