Government

A Work in Progress: Woodfin Assesses His First 100 Days

March 8 marked the 100th day of Randall Woodfin’s first term as mayor of Birmingham — a major benchmark for any newly elected politician. Woodfin spent much of last year’s campaign laying out his plan for this first stretch of his tenure in office, in opinion columns, on his website and along the campaign trail. It was an ambitious slate of objectives to accomplish in just more than three months: conduct an audit, eliminate nepotism, increase neighborhoods’ input in the budgeting process and assess a wide variety of issues facing the city through a citizen-led transition team, among many others. Now, nearly two weeks after the 100-day benchmark, those goals remain in various stages of realization. Some of them, such as the audit and the appointment of a LGBT liaison to the mayor’s staff, are nearing completion, with announcements, Woodfin said, coming soon. But others remain farther down the road, some dependent on the results of the audit, which is slated to be completed in early April, and others dependent on the slow-turning wheels of city government. Woodfin spoke with BirminghamWatch on Wednesday about which campaign promises his administration has been able to meet, which ones it hasn’t, and his outlook on his term so far. Read the Q&A.

by Sam Prickett

Jefferson County Commission Revives Effort to Demolish Dilapidated Houses

Jefferson County is moving back into the demolition business. Commissioners moved the matter of demolishing a structure at 526 Butler Avenue in the Bessemer area to the consent agenda of Thursday’s commission meeting. “It’s something we haven’t had in our toolshed, our repertoire to work with,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. “When we have a dilapidated home that becomes a public nuisance, whether it’s been abandoned by a storm, tornado or whether it’s been abandoned for lack of use, we need to have the tools – and now we do – to go in and demolish that home and clean it up for the neighborhood. “It’s long overdue,” Stephens said. “We want to put funds in the budget next year so we can do that in a meaningful way.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Jeffco Commission Debates Giving Fultondale the Cold Shoulder Over Unpaid $15M Debt

March 20, 2018 — Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington said Tuesday that continuing to do business with a city that hasn’t paid its bill to the county is not good business. “It might be good politics but it’s not good business,” Carrington said. He was referring to Fultondale, which he said had not paid more than $15 million owed to the county. Carrington made his point as commissioners in their Tuesday committee meeting discussed a through road agreement with Fultondale. He said Jefferson County participated with Fultondale on an economic development project in the city. “We were supposed to be paid out of revenues from the development, and the city of Fultondale still owes the county north of $15 million and hasn’t paid anything since 2016,” Carrington said. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Council Rejects License for Scrap Metal Processor, Cites Pollution of Black Neighborhoods

March 20, 2018 — Citing a need to change historical disenfranchisement and pollution of Birmingham’s black neighborhoods, the Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to deny a scrap metal processors license to a company attempting to establish a scrap-processing yard in the Acipco-Finley neighborhood. A group of citizens from that neighborhood appeared at the meeting’s public hearing to speak against the proposal from Jordan Industrial Services. Jordan’s attorney, Mike Brown, argued that Jordan had worked to clean up the property, alleging that its previous tenant, Kimmerling Truck Parts and Equipment, had left “a pretty bad eyesore for the community.” But residents argued that a new coat of paint and some cleaning wouldn’t address the larger issues of air pollution generated by the yard. A 2012 report by the Houston Chronicle, found “dangerous levels” of hexavalent chromium — a highly carcinogenic pollutant also known as Chrome VI — in the areas surrounding five metal recycling operations in that city. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

The Next 100: Woodfin Outlines Recommendations Committees Made on Neighborhoods, Economic Development and Schools, Among Others

Mayor Randall Woodfin in his “The First One Hundred” event Thursday evening presented the findings of his transition committees and vowed to make several changes to the structure of Birmingham’s city government based on the reports. Woodfin gave his presentation during an event at the Alabama Theatre. Though the event’s title ostensibly referred to Woodfin’s first 100 days in office – a benchmark reached March 8 – Woodfin mostly ceded the spotlight to the heads of his transition team’s five citizen-led committees. He responded briefly to their suggestions at the end of each committee’s presentation. Among the changes he said would be coming, Woodfin said he’s willing to form a formal partnership with the city school system. He also said he will reshape the mayor’s office’s division of economic development to the Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity, and he said he would create the Mayor’s Office of Social Justice during his next 100 days. A 35-page booklet titled “The Woodfin Way: A Citizen-Led Transition for Progress in Birmingham” summarized the transition team’s findings and Woodfin’s resulting plans. The booklet was handed out during the event and is available online. Transition committees reporting during the event were on neighborhood revitalization and public safety, education and workforce development, entrepreneurship and economic development, transparent and efficient government and social justice. Read more. Read the full version of “The Woodfin Way: A Citizen-Led Transition for Progress in Birmingham.”

by Sam Prickett

100 Days and Counting: Bham Mayor Randall Woodfin Set to Discuss Reports on His Top Issues

March 15, 2018 — Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is slated to present his transition team’s reports this evening at the Alabama Theatre during an event commemorating his first 100 days in office. Woodfin’s transition team is led by former Birmingham-Southern College President Charles Krulak and former Alabama Power executive Bobbie Knight. It consists of five citizen-led committees focusing on various priorities in Woodfin’s administration: neighborhood revitalization and public safety, education and workforce development, transparency and efficient government, entrepreneurship and economic development, and social justice. In the weeks following Woodfin’s inauguration, the committees held public meetings to gauge citizens’ concerns, the results of which were published on Woodfin’s campaign website. Reports from follow-up meetings among city officials and transition teams will be the focus of Thursday evening’s event. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Storm Season is Coming and Concord Still Has no Shelter, JeffCo Commissioner Says

Jimmie Stephens said he had had enough. The president of the Jefferson County Commission made it clear during a meeting Tuesday that he was tired of facing Concord residents with unfulfilled assurances that they would get the storm shelter for which they have waited seven years. “They lost family members, they lost homes and they’ve waited seven years to get this done and it hasn’t been done yet,” Stephens said in the commission’s committee meeting. “When you live in the Concord community, when you live in the Oak Grove community and you’re looking for a safe place to get out of a storm, it’s not if you’re going to have one it’s when you’re going to have another. It’s hit every time.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Humane Society in Search Again for a New Home

March 6,2018 – The Greater Birmingham Humane Society is looking for another place for its new home after Jefferson County commissioners acknowledged that another entity is interested in developing the old Trinity Steel property in North Titusville. Commissioner David Carrington said during the commission’s committee meeting Tuesday that the Trinity Advisory Committee met and approved the property being used for economic development. Subsequently, the Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority met and rescinded the zoning authorization to the city of Birmingham. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Council OKs Complete Streets Policy to Improve Street Access for Foot and Bicycle Traffic

March 6, 2018 — The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to amend the city’s transportation plan to include a “Complete Streets” policy, which would make streets more accessible to foot and bicycle traffic in addition to cars and public transit. District 5 Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, who heads up the council’s Transportation and Communication Committee, described the ordinance’s passage as “a historic moment for the city of Birmingham.” “I don’t think most folks realize it, but I truly believe that at some point in our future, maybe 15 or 20 years down the road, people will look back at this day and say, ‘We turned a corner here,’” he said. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Ivey, Cobb Lead Their Parties in Fundraising for the Governor Campaign

Gov. Kay Ivey has amassed a campaign war chest almost equal to that of her three opponents combined as the campaign for the Republican gubernatorial primary enters its final three months. On the Democratic side, former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb has a slight fundraising advantage over her chief opponent, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox. Read more and see lists of contributors to each candidate.

by Glenn Stephens