Voters Hope Woodfin Fulfills Promises For Better Birmingham
Randall Woodfin takes over as mayor of Birmingham on Nov. 28. He overwhelmingly beat incumbent Mayor William Bell in this month’s runoff. On the campaign trail, the 36-year-old Woodfin promised a better Birmingham. Now residents say they expect him to deliver on those promises.
Videos, radio and tv ads, fliers — Randall Woodfin used an arsenal of tools in his mayoral campaign to blast a message: Birmingham deserves better, safer neighborhoods, more sidewalks, and economic opportunities.
It worked. Hundreds of people packed into a Southside hall to celebrate his victory October 3rd. Lori Chatman wasn’t there; she didn’t support Woodfin. She’s a nurse and a graduate of Parker High School.
“Living here all my life, I’ve seen African Americans struggle to try to make it,” she says. “I want everybody to have a chance to show what they can do or become, just have a little bit more of the pie in downtown.”
Chatman visits Railroad Park regularly, taking note of the development around downtown. She gives a lot of credit to outgoing Mayor William Bell.
“I saw the city growing with the current mayor,” Chatman says. “When you have someone new coming in, you’re always like, hold on does he really know what he’s doing?”
For the city’s sake, Chatman hopes Woodfin backs up his words with action.
Dave Higginbotham says he’s heard promises before, and they went unfulfilled. That’s why this time he voted for Randall Woodfin.
Higginbotham lives near midtown and gets around the area in a motorized wheelchair. He has a short wish list: mainly sidewalks and ramp improvements. He has high hopes for Woodfin.
“He’s young. He’s from a rough neighborhood. He understands,” Higginbotham says. “Woodfin did mention about improving sidewalks. You wouldn’t believe how rough these sidewalks are – even 20th Street.”
Kiwi Lanier, a 25-year-old graduate student who lives in Glen Iris, compares Birmingham to Austin, Texas, where she recently attended school.
Over breakfast in a downtown coffee shop, Lanier says she’s hoping Woodfin will lead Birmingham to become a destination.
“I think he’ll be able to help us grow more sustainably and attract more new businesses to the city to make sure people who live here have jobs,” she says. “make sure Birmingham is place where people want to live.”
Lanier says she’s encouraged by Woodfin’s first moves – like naming her former college president Gen. Charles Krulak of Birmingham Southern, as a leader on his transition team. She also wants Woodfin to improve recycling around the city.
A lot of people – about 25,000 — placed their hopes in Randall Woodfin in this month’s election. In just a few weeks, the 36-year-old former assistant city attorney, gets his chance to make those hopes real.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring an Audio Editor
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring an Audio Editor to join our award-winning team covering important regional stories across Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
Judge orders new Alabama Senate map after ruling found racial gerrymandering
U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the ruling Monday putting a new court-selected map in place for the 2026 and 2030 elections.
Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana
An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads in Holly Ridge.
Bessemer City Council approves rezoning for a massive data center, dividing a community
After the Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 to rezone nearly 700 acres of agricultural land for the “hyperscale” server farm, a dissenting council member said city officials who signed non-disclosure agreements weren’t being transparent with citizens.
Alabama Public Television meeting draws protesters in Birmingham over discussion of disaffiliating from PBS
Some members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees APT, said disaffiliation is needed because the network has to cut costs after the Trump administration eliminated all funding for public media this summer.
Gov. Kay Ivey urges delay on PBS decision by public TV board
The Republican governor sent a letter to the Alabama Educational Television Commission ahead of a Nov. 18 meeting in which commissioners were expected to discuss disaffiliation.
