Government

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

New Data Show How Often Alabama Uses Solitary Confinement

Survey numbers from 2021 show that roughly five percent of people in Alabama's prisons are housed in isolation for at least 22 hours a day for 15 days or more. Read more.

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

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

Scales Sets Town Hall on Public Safety for Monday Evening

A town hall on public safety will be held Monday at 6 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Huffman Road. Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales is sponsoring the meeting for her District 1 residents in response to the rise in shootings and murders. She said in a statement that many residents are

by BirminghamWatch

JeffCo Commission Passes Annual Budget of $962 Million

With no fanfare, the Jefferson County Commission passed the county’s 2023 fiscal budget at its meeting Thursday. The budget was one of 73 resolutions that passed without discussion as part of the commission’s consent agenda. The proposed budgetary appropriation for all funds is $962,149,935 with $672,306,998 in the operating budget and $289,842,937 in the capital

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

JeffCo Commission Approves Extra Money for TWG Over Tyson’s Objection About Lack of Information

Sheila Tyson was determined to take her stand, even if she stood alone. The Jefferson County Commission today approved allotting an additional $4 million to help offset the deficit incurred by organizers of The World Games. The matter passed on a 4-1 vote with Tyson casting the dissenting vote. The District 2 commissioner said there was too much information that had not been made available to the commission or citizens. “We don’t know who they hired, how much they paid. Nothing was brought up about how the money was spent,” Tyson said. “I just feel like the taxpayers were due this information, that the commission was due this information.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

JeffCo Commissioners to Debate Budget in Thursday’s Meeting

The Jefferson County Commission is set to consider the county’s 2023 fiscal year budget during its meeting Thursday. The proposed budgetary appropriation for all funds is $962,149,935, with $672,306,998 in the operating budget and $289,842,937 in the capital budget. The capital budget represents 30% of the total budget and the operating budget accounts for 70%. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

JeffCo Commissioners Plan to Pitch In Another $4M to Pay World Games Deficit, Continue EMS Discussions

Continuing in the spirit of participation and cooperation, the Jefferson County Commission today put things in motion for helping The World Games overcome the deficit it had from the 11-day athletic competition held in metro Birmingham in July. Organizers of The World Games found themselves in a $14 million hole when the international event was done. Commissioners moved to the agenda of Thursday’s meeting a resolution to allot $4 million to The World Games from the American Rescue Plan Act funds. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

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