By William Thornton | wthornton@al.com
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin Friday said in an online post that he decided to run for a third term as he felt he had not accomplished all he had set out to do when he first sought office.
“I never planned to run for a third term,“ he said. ”When I first ran for mayor, my focus was on delivering real change for Birmingham in two terms. That was my honest intent. But once I stepped into office, reality hit.”
Woodfin fielded questions from Reddit users in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session that touched on crime, cybersecurity, potholes, wild dogs and other issues.
“The second term was about recovery and getting Birmingham back on its feet,” he stated. “We’ve worked to bring new jobs, make critical investments in public safety and education, and put resources into the neighborhoods that needed them most. But the reality is, I just wasn’t able to get everything done that I set out to accomplish. There’s still work left to do.”
Woodfin laid out several goals, including education, more job opportunities and eliminating duplicative city services.
“So I’m stepping up again, because I believe in this city, I believe in the work we’ve done, and I believe in what’s still left to do,” he said.
Stopping violent crime: When asked about lowering the murder rate in Birmingham, Woodfin responded by saying it was a top priority. Birmingham ended 2024 with 152 homicides, the highest number of killings in the city in more than nine decades.
Woodfin said he had “full confidence” in Interim Police Chief Michael Pickett, though he did not refer to him as an “interim.”
He called attention to the more than 400 arrests made since Jan. 1, a 27% drop in homicides this year and a 75% clearance rate for murder cases.
“That’s real progress, but we know we’re not done,” he said. “2024 was rough — we don’t shy away from that. But we owe it to the residents of Birmingham and to the victims of crime to keep pushing forward and doing everything in our power to make 2025 a safer year for everyone.”
Cybersecurity: The mayor was asked about steps the city has taken to improve cybersecurity since a 2024 cyberattack that derailed the city’s budget process. Computer systems were down for roughly two months, forcing the city to keep its budget manually since computers used for the finance department were not operational.
Without giving too many details — citing risks of future attacks — Woodfin said the city has beefed up remote access security, multi-factor authentication and cloud-based security. At the same time, the city is modernizing some systems and hardware and conducting regular training.
“Our approach to cybersecurity is proactive and continuous, with 24/7 monitoring, real-time threat detection, and regular testing to identify and address vulnerabilities,” he said.
In response to another question, Woodfin denied putting a “gag order” on city employees regarding ransomware attacks.
Roads: Several questions dealt with roadway lighting, resurfacing and the fate of the City Walk lights. He blamed the Alabama Department of Transportation for many of the problems on state and Interstate highways, including the City Walk display.
“I just sent a message to the Director of ALDOT’s East Division two days ago about this,” Woodfin stated. “I text, I email, I call — I have our Department of Transportation send formal letters. We go back and forth with the state constantly about their responsibility to maintain lighting on these highways.”
When asked why traffic lights aren’t synced, he said the city is aware that more significant upgrades are needed to improve synchronization and traffic flow. He said Birmingham is working with ALDOT and UAB on a Traffic Management Center that will allow for better coordination and real-time adjustments.
In response to a complaint about road patches, Woodfin cited a particularly rough job on Crestwood Boulevard.
“The problem is that utility companies are constantly cutting into our streets — whether it’s for a mainline break, underground work, or another issue,“ he stated. ”They send a contractor to dig up the road, and then a different contractor comes in to patch it. But too often, that patch doesn’t meet our standards, leaving behind the rough, uneven streets you’re talking about. What we’re doing now is holding these utility companies accountable.”
Other topics: Fielding other questions, Woodfin said he was open to filling future vacancies on the Birmingham Airport Authority with aviation backgrounds, and that the city has added more animal control officers to respond to issues with stray animals more quickly.
He promised there would be no more cuts to the Birmingham Public Library System, but said some library facilities “need to be merged or rebuilt” to eliminate redundancies.
