Voters weigh in on Birmingham’s future ahead of city election

 1665065981 
1756112260
Voter Sign

Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

Birmingham voters will choose from among nine candidates for mayor in elections Tuesday. When residents around the city were asked to share what is on their minds as they head to the ballot box, two issues rose to the top. 

“Crime and these roads around here,” Terrence Penick said. 

“I feel like everybody has said the pothole issue, so I’m not going to touch down on that,” Destiny Tarver said.  

“Crime is the biggest issue in Birmingham and something needs to be done about it,” Dennis Harris said. 

“I would go with roads,” Terry Burgess said. “We could be a little faster on fixing the roads.” 

Roads have been an ongoing concern in the city for years. As for crime, Birmingham had a record breaking year of homicides in 2024. Since then the homicide rate has dropped by more than half over last year. However, police report a two percent uptick in violent crime the first half of 2025, primarily through theft, burglary and aggravated assault. 

Dennis Harris said there needs to be a solution to crime and that could come through investing in the city’s youth. 

“It’s a serious problem,” Harris said. “I think they need to give the youth something to do. If they give them something positive to do, they probably wouldn’t do it.”  

Destiny Tarver, a self-described Gen Z-er, said she hopes city leaders will cater to its residents and children, not just those who are visiting.

“I want to see the same type of growth and community that we have for things like tourists and things, but putting it into our children so they can grow up to be happy, healthy adults also.” 

Tarver noted a contrast. She sees old, empty buildings downtown but also new infrastructure, like the Coca-Cola amphitheater north of the BJCC. At the same time, she wondered why Birmingham struggles to find solutions for unhoused people while she believes there are spaces and resources for them. 

“We have the capacity to keep everybody safe and housed and healthy,” Tarver said. “I wish we would do more about that, really.”

Another voter, Valerie Crum, took a faith-based look at solutions for unhoused people. 

“We’re in a spiritual warfare, but we’re definitely in a physical warfare too,” Crum said. “It’s really hurting the poor, you, know? And God says ‘the poor will be with you always.’ So we need to have more compassion.”

While crime, roads, students and redevelopment resonated with these voters, all voters will have their say on city leadership Tuesday.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

 

French Prime Minister resigns after less than a month in office

Facing criticism from all sides, France's new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than 24 hours after naming his government and after less than a month in office, plunging the country into a deep political crisis.

Drug checking services save lives in the Netherlands. The Gulf South doesn’t have any

Both the U.S. and the Netherlands wrestle with the politics of drug use, but their approaches diverge in key ways that reflect deeper ideological divides.

New billboard draws attention to Anthony Boyd, Alabama’s next nitrogen gas execution

Supporters of Boyd, the chairman of an in-prison anti-death penalty group, put the billboard message up in hopes of garnering more public awareness.

The medicine Nobel Prize goes to 3 scientists for work on peripheral immune tolerance

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi were honored for research into how the body helps the immune system avoid attacking your own tissues instead of foreign invaders.

CBS’ next top editor to be Bari Weiss of The Free Press

CBS' parent company will buy The Free Press and install Bari Weiss, its contrarian founder, as editor in chief of CBS News.

Amid funding cuts and public health battles, NIH issues autism research grants

Cornell University will receive $5.1 million as the Trump administration seeks to find a source and cure for autism.

More Front Page Coverage