Government

For Newly Elected Birmingham City Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, the Neighborhood is Still the Thing

This is the first in a series of interviews BirminghamWatch will be conducting with newly elected city officials. Accessibility and accountability are the main priorities for newly elected Birmingham City Councilor Darrell O’Quinn. In a close runoff election, O’Quinn unseated current District 5 Councilor Johnathan Austin. After taking office Oct. 24, O’Quinn plans to immediately start working on ways to engage and educate communities on the resources municipal government can provide, he said. O’Quinn is part of a wave of new leadership headed to City Hall after the Oct. 3 runoff election. Despite his neophyte status in city government, O’Quinn has been heavily involved in Birmingham on the community level since moving to the city in 2001. He currently serves as president of the Citizens Advisory Board and the Crestwood North Neighborhood Association. That experience has allowed him to see where communities and neighborhoods have been underserved by Birmingham’s city government, he said. “I’m sorry to say that the bar has been so low that for me to step in and make a significant difference is pretty damn easy,” O’Quinn said. Recently, O’Quinn spoke to BirminghamWatch about his early priorities as councilor, his plans to address Birmingham’s economic stagnation and his expectations from the new power dynamic at City Hall. Read the Q&A.

by Sam Prickett

JeffCo Rejects Zoning Request Related to Landfill

Oct. 6, 2017 – Bethel Baptist Church of Dora’s church picnic was ruined by flies that frequent the area because of a waste transport business, the Rev. John Foles told the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday. “I want you to imagine a roadkill that has flies all on top of it, and them being very aggressive,” he said to a packed commission chamber. “That’s what we had to endure for over an hour. We threw food away. It’s not just the flies, it’s the aggressiveness of hundreds and hundreds of flies.” The flies – and the smell – with which residents of West Jefferson and the like have dealt prompted the overflow crowd to applaud when commissioners denied a request by Sumiton Timber Company and Sky Environmental to change the zoning on a 4-acre property on Snowville Brent Road in Dora. Sky Environmental has been transferring waste from trains to trucks and then transporting that waste to a landfill in Adamsville. The property is zoned for a pulpwood yard only, and the company sought to change that zoning to permit the legal continuation of its business there. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Runoff Election Results

MAYOR William Bell 17,353, 41.06% Randall Woodfin 24,910, 58.94% Read more.

by Jackie Romine Walburn

Voter Turnout Tops 35 Percent

More than 35 percent of Birmingham’s 119,433 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s city runoff election, topping the 27 percent turnout for the Aug. 22 city election.

by Jackie Romine Walburn

Four New Members and One Incumbent Elected to Birmingham Board of Education

The Birmingham Board of Education will have six new members after Tuesday’s runoff election. Only three incumbents remain on the nine-member board that oversees the state’s fourth-largest school system. New Board of Education members elected Tuesday – all current or retired educators – are Douglas Lee Ragland, Michael “Mickey” Millsap, Patricia Spigner McAdory and Sonja Q. Smith. Also in the runoff, incumbent board member Daayge Hendricks was re-elected for a second term. Read more.

by Jackie Romine Walburn

A Bad Night for Incumbents: Challengers Take the Lead in Council Runoffs

A Crestwood North Neighborhood resident experienced a realization as he greeted Darrell O’Quinn Tuesday night in the parking lot of the Shoppes at Crestwood: “We’re going to have to get a new neighborhood president.” O’Quinn’s term as neighborhood president comes to an end as he prepares to move into his new role as District 5 representative on the Birmingham City Council. In unofficial results, he edged out incumbent council President Johnathan Austin 2,430 votes to 2,271. The night belonged to those who had never held the offices they were seeking. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Randall Woodfin Defeats Incumbent William Bell to Become Birmingham’s Next Mayor

A night of upsets in Birmingham city government culminated in the victory of challenger Randall Woodfin over incumbent William Bell. Woodfin topped Bell in the race by more than 7,500 votes, getting 58.94 percent of the vote compared to Bell’s 41.06 percent, according to the unofficial vote tally. It was the end of an often contentious campaign in which Woodfin challenged the status quo. “We deserve better” was his campaign slogan. Bell campaigned on his experience and accomplishments. But ultimately, a public dissatisfaction with Bell’s seven-year administration won out. “Birmingham, this is our moment,” Woodfin said to a raucous crowd of supporters gathered at his campaign party. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Woodfin Beats Incumbent Bell in Birmingham Mayor’s Race, Other Results

It appears Birmingham voters have replaced their mayor and the president of the City Council. Randall Woodfin has beaten incumbent William Bell in the race for the mayor’s post. In unofficial vote returns Woodfin has taken almost 59 percent of the vote to Bell’s 41 percent. It also appears that Council President Johnathan Austin has been beaten in his bid for re-election. In the District 5 race, Darrell O’Quinn had 52 percent of the vote to Austin’s 48 percent, though only about 200 votes separated the men in the district race. Find the full list of results here.

by Virginia Martin

US Supreme Court Takes a Pass, Won’t Hear Challenge of JeffCo Bond Refinancing

Oct. 3, 2017 – Jefferson County Commissioners reported this morning that the U.S. Supreme Court had opted not to hear the latest challenge to the county’s refinancing of bonds backed by the 1-cent sales tax. “The Supreme Court denied even hearing it,” Commissioner Joe Knight said during committee meeting. “It’s over. It’s done. The Supreme Court said, ‘We don’t even think it worth hearing.’” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether “Extreme” Partisan Gerrymandering Can, or Should, be Curbed

With protestors rallying outside and a packed house inside, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments over the legality of “extreme” partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts. The court has taken up a suit, Gill v. Whitford, that alleges partisan gerrymandering in the redrawing of legislative districts in Wisconsin. The court is mulling whether enforceable standards can be set limiting political influence over the drawing of districts. Conservatives on the court are unsure that can be done, while liberals argued that not doing it undercuts the theory of democracy. Much of Tuesday’s arguments were aimed at Justice Anthony Kennedy, widely considered the swing vote in the case. The Supreme Court’s decision could have ramifications for legislative districts in Alabama and 20 other states. In Alabama, legislators drew new House and Senate districts after the 2010 Census, but a court ordered them to redraw 12 districts deemed to be the result of racial gerrymandering. The issue is whether the redistricting packed too many minority voters in too few districts. Opponents of the plan argue that if fewer black voters – just enough to influence the election – were assigned to more districts, they would have a strong voice in the selection of more legislators. The Legislature adopted new districting maps this spring that redraw 25 of the 35 Senate districts and 70 of the 105 House districts. Unsatisfied, the Legislative Black Caucus has challenged the plans. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision in the spring. BirminghamWatch Coverage Race and the Alabama Legislature, Volatile Mix in Redrawing Political Map A Fix for Racial Gerrymandering? Legislators to Debate Whether New Plan Cures Voting District Problems Legislature OKs Redistricting Plan on Last Day of the Session National Coverage of U.S. Supreme Court Case Kennedy’s Vote Is in Play on Voting Maps Warped by Politics (New York Times) Kennedy is Key to Supreme Court Outcome on Partisan Maps (Associated Press) What is Gerrymandering? A guide to Understanding the Case Before the Supreme Court (Quartz) With Wisconsin case, Supreme Court Takes up Partisan Gerrymandering (Christian Science Monitor) Supreme Court Appears Divided Over Gerrymandering (Wall Street Journal) Transcript of the Arguments (Wall Street Journal) Partisan Gerrymandering: How Much Is Too Much? (NPR)

by Virginia Martin