Tag: Randall Woodfin
Third Time’s a Charm as Woodfin Swept Back Into Mayor’s Office
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin was reelected Tuesday with almost 75% of the vote in a nine-candidate race.
Leading Mayoral Candidates Trade Insults in Debate
Incumbent Mayor Randall Woodfin’s administration was a frequent target in Tuesday’s debate, sponsored by WJLD.
Woodfin Issues Statement After “Glock Switch Ban” Becomes Law
The mayor issued recorded and written statements shortly after Alabama Senate Bill 116 was signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey on Mar. 19.
Woodfin Kicks Off Campaign for Third Term as Birmingham Mayor
The incumbent pointed to educational, infrastructure and neighborhood achievements during his tenure and said the city has come too far to turn back now.
Woodfin Points to ‘Progress and Rebirth’ as Reasons Voters Should Reelect Him Mayor
Mayor Randall Woodfin has a simple request for Birmingham: “Stick with me.”
Cleanup Begins After Looting Damages Downtown Birmingham Businesses
Dozens of people took brooms and shovels in hand Monday morning in the aftermath of looting that plagued downtown Birmingham in the continued outrage over the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.
Private citizens and professionals cleaned up broken glass at storefronts from Park Place south to Third Avenue North. The historic Alabama Theatre was among the structures that were damaged.
To combat a potential repeat of what happened Sunday, Woodfin declared a state of emergency in Birmingham today and enacted a curfew for 7 p.m.
Read more.
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.”
Rick Journey and Chanda Temple Joining Woodfin’s Staff
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has tapped television news reporter Rick Journey to serve as his director of communications. Former Birmingham City Schools spokeswoman Chanda Temple also has taken the position of public information officer.
“Our administration’s focus on servant leadership by putting people first starts with transparency and providing a clear message to our citizens and our employees that we will serve with the public’s best interest at the core of our work,” Woodfin said in a statement. “I am pleased to have Rick and Chanda be part of providing that clear message and joining an administration committed to core values of transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and customer service.” Read more.
With First Demolition, Woodfin Promises “Aggressive” Approach to Blight
Dec. 1, 2017 — Mayor Randall Woodfin oversaw the demolition of a dilapidated house in Rising-West Princeton on Friday morning, an event that he said would exemplify his administration’s more aggressive approach to combating blight.
Woodfin said the issue of abandoned structures was “easily” one of the top two complaints he had received during the course of his mayoral campaign.
“People want their property value protected. They want to feel safe where they live,” he said. “The minimum we can do is getting more aggressive about getting rid of these dilapidated structures.”
Woodfin said his administration was beginning to inventory dilapidated structures across the city and then determine which should have their demolition prioritized. Read more.
Police Chief A.C. Roper Retires as Mayor Woodfin Looks to Make Personnel Changes at City Hall
Nov. 29, 2017 — Less than 24 hours after Mayor Randall Woodfin took office, Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper announced his retirement.
Roper, who has been chief since 2007, said in a statement that he’d informed Woodfin of his decision on Nov. 8. He said he had decided not to reapply for his position “after a considerable amount of prayer.” Roper said he’d stay on for the next few months as the search process begins for a new chief.
Roper’s future with the department had been in question since Woodfin’s election, though Woodfin stressed Monday that Roper’s resignation was voluntary. Throughout his campaign, Woodfin expressed concern over the increase of crime in the city. The city logged its 100th homicide of 2017 on Monday — roughly on track to tie 2016’s homicide count of 109, the highest number since 2006’s 110.
Woodfin when he spoke with BirminghamWatch on Monday described gun violence in Birmingham as an “epidemic” and said the city would have to combat crime “in a different way” than it had been.
