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An exciting new era for Birmingham

By Joey Kennedy
Alabama Political Reporter

Here in Birmingham, the excitement continues after Randall Woodfin solidly defeated incumbent Mayor William Bell in the Oct. 3 runoff for mayor.

So beginning Nov. 28, the stateโ€™s largest city will have that cityโ€™s youngest mayor in a long, long time. Woodfin, 36, and a lawyer in the cityโ€™s legal department, ran a magnificent campaign. Bellโ€™s campaign was typical Bell โ€“ depending on his backers (many, Over-the-Mountain businesspeople) โ€“ and it was not very enthusiastic.

Woodfin, however, knocked on doors, and had an army knocking on doors. He was everywhere, every day.

The result is that good timing and good campaigning put Woodfin in at City Hall.

Now, the young mayor has to deliver.

In the wake of the election, I talked with Woodfin, and heโ€™s getting pretty much what he expected.

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โ€œIโ€™m more slammed than I thought Iโ€™d be, but itโ€™s OK,โ€ Woodfin said. โ€œItโ€™s all good. I asked for it.โ€

And then: โ€œIโ€™m very humbled by the responses of voters and residents.โ€ Woodfin said Birmingham has a lot of naysayers and โ€œsometimes not a lot of hope. What we wanted to say is we wonโ€™t participate in that. Weโ€™ll stay above it.โ€

Stay above it, Woodfinโ€™s campaign did. It was not a nasty campaign, though some Bell supporters criticized Woodfin for his leadership on the Birmingham Board of Education. Thatโ€™s fair. The city school system is a mess, going through superintendents almost as fast as our pugs go through their kibble. The school system has many failing schools.

But Birminghamโ€™s school system was a mess long before Woodfin was elected four years ago, and itโ€™ll continue being a mess long after heโ€™s gone. Thereโ€™s only so much one man can do.

What the school board position gave Woodfin was actual experience in governing. Doesnโ€™t matter how well or poorly that went, it was experience, and even bad experience can be good experience.

What Woodfin has promised โ€“ and heโ€™ll be held strictly accountable for that promise โ€“ is that the cityโ€™s finances will be transparent. The mayorโ€™s office, City Council offices, city departments โ€“ all will publish their accounts online and be readily available to any resident, as they should be and often were not under Bell.

Woodfin made a fantastic start with the team that will lead his transition into office. Retired Alabama Power Co. executive Bobbie Knight will co-chair the transition with former Birmingham-Southern College President Charles Krulak. Knight had an outstanding career at Alabama Power; Krulak saved BSC during some of its darkest hours. The well-respected Ed Fields, Woodfinโ€™s campaign manager (and the best bet to be Woodfinโ€™s chief of staff), will be transition coordinator.

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This is an amazing team.

โ€œIโ€™ve been at the city for a long time and around a lot of campaigns,โ€ Woodfin told me. โ€œTransitions are important. We all have to sit down and say whatโ€™s in the best interest of the city. That requires communication.โ€

Donโ€™t expect like many elected mayors, for Woodfin to simply go in and clean house at City Hall, though some might like him to. He may be young, but heโ€™s deliberate, and thatโ€™s what Birmingham needs at this stage in its redevelopment into one of the nationโ€™s top small cities.

โ€œI think weโ€™re in a wait-and-see approach,โ€ Woodfin said. โ€œItโ€™s extremely important we assess personnel. We have to be in a space where we donโ€™t lock ourselves into anything and leave things open.โ€

Woodfin said each departmentโ€™s personnel and leadership will be assessed, and his team will make sure the right people are in place to provide the right services to city residents.

โ€œLet me say this, too,โ€ Woodfin offered. โ€œThe mayor (Bell) has good people working for him. Campaign dollars arenโ€™t my money. Taxpayer dollars arenโ€™t my money. I think this is a really important point. Iโ€™m telling you this is my style.โ€

Woodfin said heโ€™s not worried about pushback from the City Council, either.

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โ€œI think theyโ€™re excited and looking forward to working with me,โ€ Woodfin said. โ€œIโ€™m excited to be working with them. We represent the same people. The issues in their districts are my issues. The issues in the city are their issues.โ€

So, Birmingham prepares for an important transition, one that can build on the momentum gained under William Bell.

Birmingham is better today than it was more than seven years ago when Bell first took office. But it can be better, still, and itโ€™s up to Woodfin to take Birmingham there.

Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner and Birmingham resident, writes a column every week for Alabama Political Reporter. Email: jkennedy@alreporter.com.

Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner, writes a column each week for the Alabama Political Reporter. You can email him at jkennedy@alreporter.com or follow him on Twitter.

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