AL.com reporter Anna Beahm and columnist Roy S. Johnson sat down with Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Nov. 20, 2019, to talk about his first two years as mayor. Here is what he had to say about his first two years in office.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is carrying “Leadership in Turbulent Times” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It’s the same book he carried into meetings a week ago. Is it a prop?

Debateable. He’s going to use it today to talk about the problems he inherited after his election rattled Birmingham and regional politics two years ago this week.

His slim-fit navy suit, complete with a red pocket square, mirrors the red and blue book cover. He skipped the tie today. He grumbles about the appearance of his beard, which he’s avoided trimming for no-shave November.

The book covers former U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson and how they led after inheriting a passel of trouble.

Woodfin isn’t shy in comparing his burden to theirs.

“I inherited so many things that were not working in the best interest of our residents: inefficient government, ineffective government, a government that wasn't transparent, (elected officials) weren't holding themselves accountable. And no one was driving customer service,” Woodfin said. “When I came into office, the city had a backlog of $50 million worth of street paving and a $378 million liability pension funding gap. These are things you can't necessarily fix in two years, you need time to address it.”

Yes, he’ll run again in 2021, partly because the problems he’s addressing will take longer than he anticipated to repair. “I'll be seeking re-election because there's work to be done on behalf of the people and we want to complete the work,” he said.

Paving every pothole-ridden street, tearing down every dilapidated structure, cutting every overgrown lot, reducing crime and fully funding the city’s pension are a career’s worth of work, not just a term.

Today, Woodfin says, too many frustrated residents haven’t seen results.

“Government doesn't work that fast, especially when you inherited some of the things we inherited,” he said. “I wish I would have known the depth of the issues and how overwhelming they were. And then been in a position to tell people this will take some time to come out of.”

He described government as “the opposite of fast food,” where every decision has to face the city budget, the city legal department and sometimes the city council.

Woodfin said he could not have known how long it would take to settle into the role.

“It took 10 months, which is almost a year, to build a team. And we've just completed our second year. By the time you're getting into your third year it's time to run for office, and we literally just got here,” he said.

Woodfin still, wants a fair accounting of what’s been done, movement shown.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin discusses his first two years in office with AL.com reporter Anna Beahm and columnist Roy S. Johnson. (Desmond Wilson | dwilson@al.com).

How did he grade himself on promises from his 2017 campaign?

Public Safety – B minus: He’s hopeful about crime trends in Birmingham. Compared to this date last year, violent crime down by more than 14 percent.

“(Reduction in crime) doesn't take away the number of victims of crime who would probably give a lower grade because they've been personally victimized by crime; they've lost a loved one to homicide or they've known someone has been robbed, or their car has been broken into,” Woodfin said. “We haven't stopped all crime. But it's good to know that we've seen a decrease in crime and I think that's important for people to know.”

While crime is down, Woodfin noted several high-profile homicides as the lowest points of his first two years as mayor.

He said he’ll never forget getting the call about Courtlin Arrington, the Huffman High School senior who was fatally shot at school in March 2018, or the call about 4-year-old Jurnee Coleman, who was shot in the head by a stray bullet as she was getting a juice or sitting with the father of Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney as he sobbed. Meeting with the family of Sgt. Wytasha Carter, who was killed in the line of duty in January also marks a low point in his mayorship.

“Our city has had some tough times these two years as it relates to not just crime, but the way certain crimes have had an impact not just on that immediate family, but on our entire community,” Woodfin said.

Neighborhood Revitalization – B minus: When Woodfin talks about neighborhood revitalization, he always gives the example of the grandmother raising her young grandchildren. To the right of her home is a dilapidated structure and to the left is an overgrown lot. Her street hasn’t been repaved in years and her sidewalk is so cracked it’s not walkable. The playground equipment at the nearby park hasn’t been updated in a long time and the streetlight hasn’t worked for a while. Her home is miles from a grocery store with healthy food options.

In the last two budget years, Woodfin has put $13 million toward street paving with 15.5 miles of Birmingham streets resurfaced. About $2.5 million have gone toward cleaning overgrown lots, with more than 4,300 vacant lots being mowed and trimmed. He’s put $6.5 million toward demolishing dilapidated structures: 697 demolished from Jan. 1, 2018 to Nov. 15, 2019.

In 2018, the city established the Neighborhood Revitalization Fund, a way to pay for these improvements. So far, more than $7.2 million has gone into the fund. The Healthy Food Fund, which will be used to attract more grocery stores to Birmingham, is also part of the fund.

Efficiency – C plus: Government efficiency needs work, Woodfin said. The team is just now “getting in the groove” to improve customer service, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability.

“We have a long way to go as far as being efficient. Remember, though, how inefficient it was and what we inherited. It took 10 months to build a team, and we've only been here 24 months. We're just now getting to the point where we can get into the groove of making sure we hold ourselves accountable,” Woodfin said.

"You have you have these five core values, but can you hit them all at the same time with the same frequency in the same sense of urgency? The truth is No. But you can take a couple of them and really, really drop.“

Education – It’s complicated: Birmingham’s schools have for years had a reputation of being on the state’s “failing schools list” and less than ideal graduation rates.

For education overall, Woodfin gave a grade of C minus.

But Woodfin believes he can give students hope of higher education and hope of and obtaining a good job in Birmingham after graduation through the Birmingham Promise. Students graduating from Birmingham high schools in May will be able to use Promise scholarship dollars in August 2020.

He gave a grade of B for the Promise.

The Birmingham Promise offers additional scholarship funds to pay for students tuition after they exhaust federal grant funds. The scholarship is meant to close any tuition funding gap students encounter.

The Promise also includes an apprenticeship program where juniors and seniors can get jobs at Birmingham businesses and earn $15/hour while still in high school.

“This is all about adults finding a unique way to all come together say ‘this is what we're prepared to do for our future workforce in our children's future,” he said.

More information about how the Promise will be funded will be announced in early 2020, Woodfin said.

For his relationship with Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring, Woodfin gave himself an A.

Rick Journey, the director of communications for the city, who stood behind the cameras to observe the interview is butting in to tell us the interview is almost over. “Four minutes,” he motions by holding up his fingers and silently mouthing the words.

Usually, wherever the mayor goes, Rick is there too fielding questions from the media and coordinating for future interviews and records requests.

Last question. In these next two years, what are you focusing on? What are your big goals as you finish your first term?

Woodfin returned to the example of the grandmother raising her young grandchild.

“That’s what we forgot to talk about--the child or grandchild. The focus of the next few years is the child or grandchild. What’s their future look like?”

For Woodfin, street paving, bringing in more grocery stores, workforce development, education and crime are tied to the future of Birmingham’s kids. What’s good for the kids is good for us all, in his eyes.

He promised to continue working to finish what he started two years ago.

“We won't deviate from where we started the first two years, we will remain consistent,” he said.

Once the cameras stop rolling, Woodfin replaces the trendy squarish glasses he slipped off for the cameras but continues chatting about the Birmingham Promise, engaging with minority business owners and the Netflix documentary “Maynard.”

Journey reminds him that there’s another appointment he has to make and Woodfin slips away, book under his arm, the same way he came in.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin discusses his first two years in office with AL.com reporter Anna Beahm and columnist Roy S. Johnson. (Desmond Wilson | dwilson@al.com).

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