Tag: Clinton Woods
Clinton Woods

Birmingham Council Plans Quarterly Night Meetings to Make It Easier for More Residents to Attend

The Birmingham City Council will hold three evening meetings this year in an effort to increase accessibility and transparency at City Hall.
In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the council approved a measure spearheaded by District 1 Councilor Clinton Woods to hold one meeting per quarter at 5:30 p.m. starting in April. The evening meetings, Woods said, would allow members of the public whose schedules cannot accommodate the council’s regularly scheduled 9:30 a.m. meeting time. Read more.
New Birmingham Councilor Woods Is a Quiet but Focused Addition to the Council

Compared to his predecessor, Clinton Woods has been a quiet presence on the Birmingham City Council since he took office in January. He was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Lashunda Scales, who resigned in November to join the Jefferson County Commission. Scales defined her role as councilor as that of a vocal advocate for her district, and she rarely missed opportunities to speak at length about items that came before the council. “When you saw me with my mouth in those long meetings, (it was because) my district had been overlooked for a long, long, long time,” she said at her last council meeting.
Woods has yet to deliver any soliloquies from the dais, but he said he has spent considerable time speaking to the constituents in his district, finding out what their priorities and needs are. In his interview with councilors before he was appointed, he lamented “that people have come to city council meetings for entertainment value,” and instead presented himself as someone focused on delivering results.
“I’m not going to sell 100 … things I’m going to do,” he said then. “I want to tell (residents) about three things I know I can do.”
After the Feb. 5 council meeting, Woods spoke with BirminghamWatch about what those priorities are, as well as his stance on the issues facing the council in 2019. Read more.
Birmingham City Council Begins New Year with New Councilors

Clinton Woods and Crystal Smitherman were sworn into office as the newest members of the Birmingham City Council on Wednesday, bringing an end to a months-long period of upheaval at City Hall.
Woods and Smitherman were selected by the council during its Dec. 18 meeting to fill the vacancies left by Lashunda Scales and Sheila Tyson, both of whom resigned in November to join the Jefferson County Commission.
While Woods’ swearing in was relatively low-key, Smitherman’s was anything but. The 25-year-old was joined by her family, including her father, state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, and her mother, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Carole Smitherman, who administered the oath of office after a speech encouraging her daughter to “let no man despise thy youth.” Read more.