With A Crowded Field For Mayor, Birmingham Voters Weigh In On City’s Future

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2021/08/Mayor_collage_.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1080;s:4:"file";s:26:"2021/08/Mayor_collage_.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:11:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Mayor_collage_-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Mayor_collage_-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-800x450.jpg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:26:"Mayor_collage_-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_wp_attachment_image_alt] => Array
        (
            [0] => The Seven of Eight Candidates running for the Mayoral seat in Birmingham
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Cody Short
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)
1652076852 
1628517654
The Seven of Eight Candidates running for the Mayoral seat in Birmingham

Seven of the eight candidates running for the mayoral seat in Birmingham (Left to right: Darryl Williams, Commissioner LaShunda Scales, Chris Woods, Philemon Hill, former Mayor William Bell, Cerissa Brown, and Mayor Randall Woodfin. Not pictured: Napoleon Gonzalez)

Cody Short, WBHM

Birmingham voters have until next week to send in an absentee ballot application, and Election Day is fast approaching on Aug. 24. On the ballot, they’ll find a long list of choices for mayor.

Eight candidates are running to be the next mayor of Birmingham, including incumbent Randall Woodfin, Commissioner LaShunda Scales, former mayor William Bell, local businessman Chris Woods, Cerissa Brown, Philemon Hill, Darryl Williams and Napoleon Gonzalez.

Woodfin is campaigning on the slogan “Vision 2025” and has pledged that he’ll continue to revitalize neighborhoods, get guns off the street and bring more jobs to the city.

However, candidates and citizens have called him out for not fulfilling his promises or making decisions that he never campaigned on when he was first elected in 2017.

Community and economic development consultant Carmen Mays said she supported Woodfin until he signed off on the $90 million dollar construction of the new football field near downtown, called Protective Stadium.

**“It was not a part of anybody’s campaign,” said Mays, who previously served on Woodfin’s transition team. “At no point during the mayoral campaign did we previously talk about a stadium.”

Although Woodfin is facing a lot of criticism, he does have a leg up by being the incumbent.

“Generally, what we’ve seen across all the political science research is that incumbents have an edge in any type of election,” said Peter Jones, a political science professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Additionally, social media can give a candidate an edge at the polls, according to Allen Tharpe, a professor at Miles College.

“Research has shown that more than 50% of Americans get their news from social media. Not from the traditional sources we normally think. So that’s changed the landscape of politics and political campaigning a lot,” Tharpe said.

So far, Woodfin and Scales have seemed to utilize social media more than other candidates.

It’s possible no candidate will win 50% of the vote and the mayoral race will go into a run-off, which is not uncommon for Birmingham elections.

WBHM has talked with Birmingham voters across the city about what they want over the next four years.

Here’s what they told us:

“Help Our Street Neighbors”
“I think about how if we could budget even a minuscule amount of funds to help our street neighbors and to help the people who do not have places to live? The city regularly sells buildings for a dollar to corporate developers to redevelop. Why aren’t we spending that time addressing housing and homelessness, right? I think about that in health care disparity, too.”
— Jamie Foster, 30

“Number one is the crime issue”
“Number one is the crime issue, that’s the first priority. And then our communities that have really been unattended to.”
— Faye Anchrum, 67

“Invest Into Small Businesses”
“Being in a Birmingham-based business, I think that more communication from the mayor, like, what he’s looking to invest into small businesses is super important, and we don’t get a lot of information from him.”
— Madison Brown, 27

A Sense Of Security.
“We should demand that they meet a minimum bar of caring about housing, hunger and food insecurity and that everyone who wants a job has one.”
— Gabriel Cubero, 26

Voting Absentee

To vote absentee, you must turn in an absentee ballot application by Tuesday, Aug. 17. You can pick up an application at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Once approved, the absentee ballot must be returned to the county courthouse by election day on Tuesday, Aug. 24. If you have any questions, contact the City Clerk’s Office at (205) 254-2290 or visit this link.

**Editor’s Note: Woodfin’s campaign says the mayor did address the issue of a downtown stadium during the 2017 election saying in a debate he did not oppose a stadium and believed the city had to support it financially. This story has also been updated to clarify that absentee ballot applications are due by Aug. 17.

 

First Afrikaners granted refugee status due to arrive in U.S.

Three months ago, President Trump signed an executive order telling white Afrikaans South Africans they could apply for refugee status in the U.S. The first group has been swiftly processed and is set to arrive on U.S. soil Monday

Court rules Alabama violated Voting Rights Act in drawing congressional lines

A three-judge panel permanently blocked Alabama from using a state-drawn map that they said flouted their directive to draw a plan that was fair to Black voters. The decision was not a surprise because the panel ruled against the state twice previously and put a new map in place for last year’s elections.

Who is the new Pope Leo XIV and what are his views?

Pope Leo XIV was born and raised in Chicago. He is of French, Italian and Spanish descent. He spent years working as a missionary in Peru.

India and Pakistan trade attacks amid risk of war between nuclear states

The escalation began after India accused Pakistan of being behind an attack where gunmen killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in India-administered Kashmir on April 22. Pakistan denies it.

FEMA’s acting administrator is replaced a day after congressional testimony

The abrupt change came the day after Cameron Hamilton testified on Capitol Hill that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle an organization that helps plan for natural disasters and distributes financial assistance.

RFK Jr. says autism database will use Medicare and Medicaid info

The National Institutes of Health will partner with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to create a database of Americans with autism, using insurance claims, medical records and smartwatch data.

More 2021 Birmingham Elections Coverage