News Around Birmingham

This election season has brought back some old faces, but also introduced some new ones, with some historic wins near us. In this issue, we will look at Birmingham's mayor, Randall Woodfin, and his plans for his third term, some nearby mayors and their agendas, and how YOU can get involved civically in your community even if you cannot vote.

After competing against 8 other candidates, Woodfin was victorious with nearly 75% of the vote, starting his third term as Birmingham mayor. This term he is keeping his kids in mind, thinking “about what kind of city they’ll grow up in. What kind of opportunities they will have. What kind of safety they will feel, what kind of pride they will carry in calling Birmingham home.” These thoughts influenced him while creating the Woodfin Way, his agenda for this term. In these plans, he aims to continue to make Birmingham safer, proposing deeper investment in holistic violence prevention programs such as police athletic teams and in-school mental health counseling. He plans on growing his program, The Birmingham Promise, where he guarantees debt-free college for Birmingham city school graduates while they attend in-state colleges. To foster a closer relationship with the public, he promises the launch of a public-facing Capital Projects Dashboard, allowing residents to track the progress of major city investments in real time. There are many more goals in Woodfin’s new agenda; feel free to read them here The Woodfin Way.

For more information: WBMA, The Birmingham Way, Alabama Political Reporter.

This year, Homewood and Mountain Brook both selected their first-ever female mayors. Homewood’s mayor, Jennifer Andress, became mayor during a new era of Homewood’s council-manager government, where now instead of 11 council members, there will be 4 who work directly with Andress. Although she has been a part of the previous 11-member council for the last 2 years, she supports this change, saying, “Really, it’s just going to be a more efficient form of government.” She plans on working on several business projects around Homewood. Graham Smith, mayor of Mountain Brook, ran uncontested, and whenever she starts her term in November, she plans to be a strong steward of taxpayer dollars wanting to continue to be a “low debt carrying city” by only spending “what [they] have cash to accomplish”. She also wants to keep supporting and encouraging local business. Since Mountain Brook has built on 98% of their land, further development isn’t necessary and the goal is to help “what [they] already have [there]”. She does want to collaborate with neighboring municipalities, such as Homewood and Vestavia Hills, particularly their police and fire departments. This will help continue to uphold public safety, because to her, “That’s an area of government that we try to take care of so that residents don’t have to think about that. That’s not part of their daily concern.”

For more information: More on Andress, More on Smith

For those who cannot vote and even those who can, politics may seem like a waste of time and overwhelming. However, the truth is that local, state, and national governments really do influence our everyday lives in many ways. It's worth paying a little attention to how these decisions can affect us. Here is a list of ways you can civically participate in your community:

1.Follow the news: This can be through your local administration's social media for easier access or using resources such as Ballotpedia to track legislation.

2.Write letters (or gather a group to) local newspapers and/or city officials to have your voice heard about issues you feel strongly about!

3.Support grassroots movements such as protests and marches.

4.Practice respectful and open-minded communication: A major way to create change is through collaboration, not confrontation.

Other Sources: Smith’s Plans