City Council - Regular Meeting

Light me up.

Good morning, Birmingham. Today is Tuesday, July the 21st. The time is 9.35 a.m. I call to order the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council. The invocation will be led this morning by Reverend Jermaine Johnson. He's the senior pastor of Green Liberty Baptist Church, located in Birmingham, Alabama. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Councilor Gunn. If you are willing and able, please stand and join us in a moment of prayer.

Good morning. Would you pray with me? God our Father, gracious and mighty one, matchless Savior, Lord, we ask that you would be with us this day. We thank you for another opportunity to be here in these places where you allow us to dwell. Lord, dwell in this place. Cover us in this meeting. Lord, we lift up our city officials, our counselors, our mayor, and his staff. Keep them in their perfect pieces. Their mind is stayed on you. We continue to ask that you would protect us as a city. Put your hand on our young people. Cover them as they prepare to begin to come back to school. Make those places safe, Lord. Continue to lift up our city and protect it as only you can. Lord, we lift up these prayers in your holy son Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you Reverend Johnson for leading us in the prayer this morning, taking our time and your schedule to come and take us in prayer this morning. Good morning, Ms. Clark. Good morning. Give us a roll call please.

Yes ma'am. Council member gun. Good morning. Council member or queen. Good morning. Council member Smith. Okay. Council member Smitherman. Good morning. Council member Vassa. Good morning. Good morning. Council member Williams. Good morning. Good morning. Council member Woods. Good morning. President Pro Tem Tate. Good morning. Good morning. And council president Alexander.

Thank you very much. Council. I would like to ask for approval of the minutes, previous minutes from May the 5th, 12th, 19 and 2026. And we need a motion.

Some of all in favor, let it be known by saying aye. All opposed.

Okay. Counselors, the minutes are not ready for June the 2nd, 2026 through July the 14th, 2026. Now we will have communications from the mayor.

Good morning, Madam Pro-Chair. Good morning to the members of the council, members of the public. All those, although all those under the sound of my voice, we do not have a mayor's report today.

Okay. Ms. Clerk, is there any nominations to boards and agencies?

No ma'am. We have not received any from the council office.

Okay. At this time councils, we will consider items listed for consent and I will read as written. All items designated as consent are considered to be routine and noncontroversial and we will be approved by one motion. No separate discussion of these items will be permitted unless a council member, the mayor, For citizens interested in public hearings, so request. If such items will revert to its normal place on the agenda of order of business, all matters of permanent operations will be read. All matters will be announced by reading the item number only. All public hearings will be announced. Ms. Clark, could you read all of the items that are listed for consent for me, please?

Yes, ma'am. The consent agenda begins on page number two. with items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Page 3, we have items 6, 7, and 8. Go over to page 11, and we have item number 9. Page 12, we have items 10, 11, 12, 13. On page 13 we have items 14, 15, 16, and 17. On page 14 we have items 18, 19, and 20. On page 15 we have items 21, 22, 23, and 24. On page 16 we have items 25, 26, 27 and 28. On page 17, we have items 29 and 30. Please note on item 29, the amount of money, it will be for District 6 they will be giving $2,000, and for District 9, it is $5,000. On page 18, we have items 31, 32, and 33. On page 19, we have items 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38. On page 20, we have item 39, and that completes the consent agenda.

Thank you, Ms. Clark. Councils, are there any items you would like to have added or removed from consent? Seeing none, at this time, we will entertain a motion.

So move the public on public hearing items. Oh, public hearing. Okay. Did anybody in the audience want to speak to any of the public?

Anybody in the audience would like to speak to any of the items? Seeing none, we will entertain a motion. So move.

Second.

All in favor? All in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Aye.

All opposed? Aye.

Thank you. If you were here for any items that were on consent, all of those items have passed and we will continue with today's agenda. First item is clerk.

The first item will be on page 20 and it is item number 40. It is a resolution setting a public hearing August 25th, 2026 to consider the adoption of an ordinance to amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham. Case number ZAC 2026-08004 to change zone district boundaries from MUM mixed-use medium district to QMUH qualified mixed-use high district filed by C. Randall Maynard Nixon, the applicant, and Arlington Redevelopment LLC, the property owner, for property generally located at 1240 22nd Street South and situated in Section 6, one quarter, a quarter, Section 2, Township 18, Range 2 West, Birmingham. That's 35205. I have a question about this item.

RECEIVED AN INQUIRY, CO-CHAIR VASA AND I RECEIVED AN INQUIRY ABOUT THE REQUIRED PUBLICATION OR THE REQUIRED ADVERTISEMENT PERIOD FOR ADVERTISING A PUBLIC HEARING. I'd just like to ask a question. How many, how much lead time is required to advertise these public hearings before we can actually hold the public hearing?

Are we waiting on an answer? So Attorney King, are you Okay. You can give me about five minutes. We'll get an answer. Okay.

Thank you.

Okay, Mr. Clerk, do we need to come back to this item as we... Well, we table item 40. Okay.

All in favor, let it be known by saying... Madam, I think we have an answer. You got the answer? Okay. Thank you.

Our PEP teams had about four weeks.

Okay. I was just wondering about the... STATE REQUIREMENT WITH THE EXACT NUMBER OF DAYS IS THAT THEY REQUIRE PUBLIC HEARING BE ADVERTISED BEFORE YOU CAN HOLD IT. I KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN, IT'S BEEN THE CITY'S PRACTICE TO ADVERTISE FOR FOUR WEEKS, BUT I WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'RE DOING ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT'S ACTUALLY REQUIRED. So just wanted to know what the exact requirement was. So we'll tag team with office of the city attorney on the state requirement.

Okay.

Any other questions about this item? Okay. At this time we will entertain a vote. The vote has started.

Councilor Williams. That vote should be up. The vote is up.

Okay.

All right.

All right. That item passes the council agenda. So at this time we will entertain all the new business and any requests from the public. Is anybody ready to give their reports? Councilor Gunn.

Here are my announcements for District 4. The District 4 office will be hosting mobile office hours today from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at the Harriman Park Recreation Center. This is just an opportunity for residents to come out and get to meet me, ask me questions, and then for us to provide city resources to connect them to some of the questions that they may have. Also happening this week, the UAB Live Health Smart Mobile Market will be in the Norwood Community at the Norwood Community Center this Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. And then last announcement, I'd like to wish the England Branch Library a happy 47th birthday. They celebrated 47 years last Friday, so congratulations to their wonderful team and all the work that they're doing over in the England community. Neighborhood associations for this week. Tonight at 6 p.m., the Woodlawn Public Library will host the South Woodlawn Neighborhood Association. Pineville Vista will have their neighborhood association this Thursday at 6.30 p.m. via teleconference. Kingston is next Monday at 6 p.m. at the Royal Event Center. And then Harriman Park this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Harriman Park Recreation Center. The next community development meeting is Monday, August the 3rd at 3.30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. If you have any items that you would like to submit for the agenda, please send them to Adaris May at adaris.may at birminghamal.gov by the close of business Monday, July 27th. Thank you. That concludes my announcements.

Thank you, Councilor Guy. Councilor Woods.

Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. The Sun Valley Neighborhood Association will meet today at 6.30 p.m. That meeting will be held via Zoom. If you're interested in participating in that meeting, email bhmdistrict1 at gmail.com for more information. The Huffman Neighborhood Association will meet on Monday, July 27th at 7 p.m. That meeting is held at Huffman Baptist Church.

Always encourage everyone to get involved and participate in your neighborhood meetings.

District 1 Serve Day is coming up on July 25th, and so this is a good opportunity to plug in. We'll be rolling up our sleeves, getting involved in a number of ways. This will be from 8.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. We'll be volunteering at multiple sites, including painting at Huffman Middle School. We'll be partnering with House Proud to complete another improvement project and clean up and other service opportunities throughout the district. So registration is available at bhmdistrict1.com, and we'll be pushing that out as well through August. Social one reminder the budget and finance committee will meet next Monday July 27th at 3 30 p.m. In council chambers budget submissions are due by Wednesday July 22nd at noon Thank you Thank You councillor was the councillor when I

THANK YOU. CENTRAL CITY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION WILL MEET TONIGHT AT 6 P.M. AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. SOUTHEAST LAKE WILL MEET ON MONDAY AT 6 P.M. AT EAST LAKE UMC. Annual District 5 Health Fair will take place on Saturday, August 8th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Parker High School. We are partnering with the Alpha Phi chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. This health fair is free and will offer health screenings, community resources, back to school supplies, and a blood drive. Please contact the District 5 office for additional details or opportunities to participate. Applications are now open for the Central Alabama Redevelopment Alliance Small Business Accelerator. This will be Participants will be given tools to enhance their reach, grow their impact, and apply for funding opportunities. You can find more information at www.caranow.org, that's C-A-R-A-N-O-W.org, to complete the application. And that concludes my announcements.

Thank you, Councilor Quinn. Councilor Vassa, are you ready?

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem. Upcoming District 3 events, we have a D3 school supply pop-up August 1st from 10 to 12 p.m. at Bessie Estelle Park. We'll be distributing supplies that we gathered at our District 3 Summer Fest, and we are inviting all families from Epic Elementary, Glen Iris Elementary, and Avondale Elementary Schools to come out and pick up school supplies for the upcoming year. We also, this past Friday, were very proud to sponsor the 2026 Restore Games. It was an incredible opportunity for young people to come out and explore career opportunities, mentorship, and connections for the future. Very, very excited about that event and glad to be a part of it. Keep up with everything District 3 at district3bham.com, the number 3. And remember, if you want to email our office, you can do so at district3 at birminghammail.gov, number 3. Tonight, we have Five Points South Neighborhood Association meeting at Highlands United Methodist Church. Thank you, Madam Pro Tem.

Thank you, Councilor Vassa. Councilor Smitherman.

Thank you, Madam President. As far as neighborhood meetings, the Five Points South neighborhood, as Councilor Vassa just mentioned, will meet at 6 p.m. today. The Woodland Park neighborhood will meet on Monday, July 27th at 6 p.m. at the Woodland Park Church of Christ. It was a pleasure to attend the 31st Respect Back to School Rally and More Than Congress Faith Church this past Saturday. They gave out more than 1,000 book bags, iPads, school supplies, other giveaways. We served as a vendor as well to give out school supplies, free books. Thank you to Better Basics as well. We also have Birmingham Park and Rec and GMC there. with the survey that they still need, um, feedback on the survey on what your parks would, what you would like your parks and recreations to look like. Um, so I'm always happy to support them. Then, uh, join us this Thursday, starting at 5 30 PM. This is our community health form and partnership with Brenda Brown, bosom buddies. This will be at the Arlington house. We'll have free food. free conversation on nutrition, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and just good health and wellness among us. So it's titled A Conversation to Save Our Communities as well. We hope to see you there. Then every Monday until the last Monday in September, we have Get Fit While You Sit. This is a free community fitness class led by veteran DJ Maestro. Our next class will take place this Monday at 9.30 a.m. at Holy Family Crystal Rainbow. Birmingham High School. So come get moving and have fun and stay active. Also, we have two events on July 24th. First, Green Liberty Baptist Church in Titusville, located at 121 5th Avenue South. We'll be hosting a mobile market and wellness in partnership with Live Health Smart Alabama. They'll be giving away $10 market vouchers upon completion of wellness. And then also... Alpha Omega Group will be hosting an event helping senior citizens with their utility bills. That'll be this Friday from nine to two at New Pure Grown Baptist Church. And then I'm sure Madam Pro Tem will mention Save the Date for Peace on the Block. That'll be Saturday, August 1st from 10 to two. It'll be at 1200 Suscaloosa Avenue as well. And then I really enjoyed, oh, Councilor Smith, don't let me mess up your title. Bloom while you... Black and Bloom. Black and Bloom. I don't want to say Bloom while you're playing it. Black and Bloom. I really enjoyed it. It was amazing just seeing Ensley come to life, and I loved all the different classes, the arts. I was able to paint. I love to paint. I'm not a good artist. And I know the concert was great, so congratulations on a very good event. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Smith. Councilor Williams.

you economic development tourism committee will be in these chambers 11 30 today and crestland neighborhood will be meeting thursday the 23rd at six o'clock at the regular space hope church that's all i got thank you councilman councillor smith yes so yes on saturday we hosted our block and bloom block party um community block party in ensley with our partners the flourish alabama i want to say first thank you to several of our sponsors coca-cola BPD came out and really helped out with us, Parks and Recreation, Eagles Investment, AEG Entertainment. So I just want to thank our sponsors, but I also want to thank my fellow counselors for coming and showing your support and painting and dancing and doing yoga and all the things that were happening there. So we had wonderful volunteers. This couldn't have been done without the volunteers, many volunteers that we had, so I just want to say thank you to everyone for coming out, and we look to see what the future holds with that event. Also, Parks and Recreation is still conducting the citywide community survey. Visit behamparks2035.com to complete that survey. And additionally, pools will extend their hours to include Sundays through Labor Day. So starting in August, pools will be open on Saturday and Sunday, and aqua aerobics at McAlpine every Wednesday will still continue. Thanks.

Thank you, Councilor Smith. These are the announcements for District 9. Evergreen Neighborhood Meeting will be tonight at 5 p.m. at the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, located at 2009 22nd Avenue North. East Thomas Neighborhood Meeting will be held tonight at 6 p.m. And they meet on Zoom. You can call the office for the Zoom link. South Pratt Neighborhood Meeting will be held tonight at 6.30. Lively Hope Baptist Church, 905 Court T. Indian Ridge neighborhood meeting will be held on Thursday at 5.30 at the New Salem Baptist Church. And Drew Hill neighborhood meeting will be held on Monday, July 27th at 6 p.m. at Protective Stadium, located at 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard. The next public safety meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 28th at 1 p.m. in the City Council Chamber. Please submit agenda items by Wednesday, July 22nd, no later. By 12 noon to the following recipients. Gregory.stanley at BirminghamAL.gov and Ashanta.little at BirminghamAL.gov. I echo Council Smith put on a grandiose event this weekend. Had a very great time. Flourish, Alabama are some great partners. And just to see you know, the block was blooming on Saturday, so it was a real great event. That's all I have at this time, Ms. Clerk. Are there any speakers?

Yes, ma'am. We have several. The first speaker is Deborah Sample.

Okay, ma'am, if you could just step to the mic and give us your name and your address, and you have three minutes to speak. It's two monitors on each side, so monitor your time so you only have three minutes to speak.

Thank you very much. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Yes. Ms. Tate, I did try to get a hold of you to let you know that I would be coming on the issue that I'm bringing forth, but I was not able to ever get a call back from you. The Chief of Staff told me that he takes everything and he does everything and all you do is show up on Tuesdays. So that was his words. But I wanted you to know that I was coming. I wanted to be respectful, let you know that I was coming because it's in your district at 1411 55th Street in Wallum. This is an issue, and I'm Deborah Sample. This is Mr. Shepherd. He owns 1417. Mr. Meeks, he owns 1615. And Michelle is the real estate lady. I have been dealing with this property. I am Walter Bedosa's POA. I've been dealing with this issue with Birmingham for just eight years, since October of 18. 55th Street is absolutely horrible. And one individual has six or so houses on this street. And it is a total dump. He has a junkyard, a closed-in junkyard, but this is the front of his house. And he has multiple commercial vehicles. A fire truck can't get through the street because everything's blocked. The city has put out notices for weeds. And from what I understand, Ms. Williams has been trying to deal with this issue with this individual for a long time herself. Now, Mr. Vidosa was given notice back in October of 1417, which Mr. Shepherd now owns. His son had passed away February before this. And he had wrecker cars, city in October said, hey, you got to get all this cleaned up. There was no mercy. We had six months after his death before anything could be done. But all the property was cleaned up. This was not. So I got paperwork from 2018 backing up. I sent y'all certified letters. I got letters with the mayor. And this was highlighted and sent. Every one of these violations, this gentleman is breaking and has been since 2018, before 2018, as a matter of fact. The city's property, he's even got, which this has just been moved. This is on city property. And I could never understand why the stickers was not put on city property. This is a bus, car, car motors, forklifts, and no telling what's in behind this. This is city property. The grass, everybody tries to, when y'all send notices, everybody tries to tend to their stuff on the street. We have Mr. Meek's yard, nice, neat. Another house just across from this, nice, neat. Most neighbors try to take up there. Mr. Vedosa has had to go to a memory care unit. And I don't know if you're aware, but once you're out of your money and you have to go in under state, you have to sell your home for its market value. Guess what? Nobody wants to buy on that street. It's not the realtor. She can back me on this. She's got people telling her, not on that street. City of Birmingham needs to buy this house. It's just, it's sad. But I mean, it's now to where, how am I supposed to deal with the state to get the property value? when the city is stopping me.

Thank you, Ms. Sample, for that information. Definitely get somebody to assist.

Yes, thank you for the visibility on what you all have been experiencing. We have engaged our code enforcement team. After hearing what you're saying, what we've been told is that there has been some towing that has began, but we'll also do some follow-up directly with you on where this matter is currently, and now we're tracking it, so we'll make sure the council has follow-up as well. Thank you for the visibility.

Well, I appreciate it. I hate that I've had to wait until now, but I mean... Now I'm at a stopping point. I've sent letters and I've tried to do everything the proper way. And please.

Thank you.

Get us a resolution.

Thank you. All right. Well, I work with the administration to get the resolution. Next speaker, Ms. Clerk.

So that also takes care of Mr. Shepard and Mr. Meeks.

Okay.

I think they were all together. Next is Mallory Bates.

Bates, step to the good morning. Give us your name and your address, and you have three minutes to speak. Okay.

Mallory Bates. Do I need to say anything else? 3465 South Gaylord Court, Colorado. Okay. Your time. Good morning. Listen up, I have something to tell you. This morning, I want to talk about the data centers going up in Birmingham, Alabama. These projects are being rushed, but they are not inevitable. We the people deserve to know the truth about the future being sold to us. Our magic city is a special place surrounded by ancient rivers and beautiful trees. One second. I urge the members of city council to look beyond these short-term sales pitches and imagine the impact of the developments that could have on future generations. Let us slow down the process and allow all voices to speak. The moratorium will mean nothing if these data centers go up. Once a hyperscale data center goes up, we cannot undo the damage. Imagine a future where water bottles are $50, where you are having to pay to shower once a week. Our rivers dried up for what? So billionaires could fulfill their dreams of controlling society. That's not a dream, it's a nightmare. I'm not against technology, but I am an advocate for the most precious lifeblood we have, that is water. There's a lot of propaganda out there and we deserve to study intently the damage these data centers may cause. This is the story of democracy and I'm grateful to be able to use my voice today. Democracy is a slow and painful process and all voices must be heard. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Bass. Next speaker, Ms. Clark. Tammy Smith. Good morning, Ms. Tammy Smith. That's your name and address for the record, please.

Good morning, counsel. Tammy Smith, 1708 33rd Avenue North. My concern today is actually about safety. Where I live, which Ms. Tate knows, Traffic, they go really fast in that area. I'm here to advocate for speed bumps because it might slow them down. A lot of them is going to Sipico Pipe Shop. And when they come up that 33rd Street exit, If they turn, another problem right there is that right away it's almost to the sign and it's getting higher. And I know it's been raining a lot, so I know it's hard to get to. So I'm asking, I don't know who handles that, to maybe get out there and cut it because it makes that area even more dangerous than it always is. And my other safety concern is that there's a tree, which is the only city property that's in front of our house, and there's one across the street in front of the neighbor's house. It had overgrown over into the neighbor's yard and also overgrown over into the middle of the street, also over to our rooftop. And as the more it rains, it tends to break off and branches fall out the tree, and these are not small branches. So I'm asking would somebody possibly come out there and look and maybe cut it back because I was told that once upon a time they did cut it back. But I don't think nobody had nothing to say in the last few years because I have to say I have seen multiple progress in our areas in the last, I'm going to say, four to six years and I haven't seen in a long time, especially Hooper City. So you can't be sitting there not doing nothing if the work is getting done. So I beg to differ to her making that statement. I know that you got to show up. I mean, so it's just a And my concern is really safety now. And I want to just tell you guys, I think you're doing an awesome job. This city is growing so much. And I'm around in all different sides of town. And you can see the growth. And it's clean. And I'm proud. I think Birmingham is a nice place to live. I really do. And I understand why everybody's at it, because it's a nice place, it's convenient, and everybody want it. Because I'd rather keep what I got than to deal with what we hear all these other councilors and mayors and stuff going through. They bicker and fight so much and don't get nothing done. At least we're seeing progress from the administration that we have, and I must say I'm very proud of you all. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Smith. Next speaker, Ms. Clark. Garland Belcher. Mr. Belcher, come to the mic, state your name and address. My name is Garland Belcher.

I live at 3924 39th Court North in the Englenook community. I have a problem with overgrown grass and trees on both sides of me. And I'm almost 80 years old. I'm doing the best I can do to cut it back. And the city has been doing it for the past... They hadn't did it in about three years. They were doing it. I mean, it's awful. And they put signs out or this, that, and the other, but that don't help me. And I'm doing the best I can. I'm living with me and my wife on a fixed income. We haven't had to pay people to clean off somebody else's property. It's overgrown. I have a house pressure wash three times this year from all those limbs and greenery. I need some help. I wish the city would just reconsider and do that lot. If it don't do now, nothing. I'll try to pay somebody to keep it down. Because the oil's coming out, spraying it after they cut it. They would come back maybe four or five months later and spray and kill it. But they're not doing anything now. And it's just too much. So I wish it's in your community. So look at it. And look at the parked cars on the street with no tags on them. And I mean, it just looked like a junkyard. I appreciate it if you all could do anything to help me out. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bletcher. Councilor Dunn, I'll get with you in the administration. Thank you. Next speaker, Ms. Clerk.

Robert Banks.

Good morning, Mr. Banks. State your name, address, and you have three minutes to speak.

Three minutes. Good morning. Robert Banks, 1613 28th Street, Ainslie. I come with the concerns of the citizens of Ainslie on what we need. I think that's your district, Ms. Smith. I think some of that's your district too, Councilor Tate. Ainslie needs a whole lot of help. We already know that. the grass overgrown, all those sorts of same things that go on every year, every week. Park and rec ain't doing their job. But most of all, we don't even have a certified grocery store there. We don't have marinos. They don't do nothing for the community. We need better grocery stores. We need to try to implicate better businesses in Ensley. And y'all, we had to blossom on Bloom, but Ensley ain't blossoming nowhere. It ain't going nowhere. It ain't blossoming nowhere unless counselors as well as citizens work together and start building these coalition and groups that ain't getting out in the community stopping the violence I'm just being honest I don't see them out there in the community I'm in the community now it's all good for entertainment and we bring certain people here that's good but we need counselors as well as the mayor as well as policemen without locking people up to go inside the community and really deal with the youth take your uniform off take your title off and go in there and deal with with the people and know what the people really want in the community. Like I said, we have blossoming bloom on the block, but if you was on that same street, you seen them same potholes that I see. So what was blossoming about that? Nothing. So at the end of the day, we appreciate the entertainment. We appreciate the food and book bag giveaways. We all do that. But what we need to end is a vibrant understanding of a whole community and work together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Banks. Your comments is well noted. Next speaker, Ms. Clark. Eric Hall. Mr. Hall, come to the mic, state your name, address. And, sir, you have three minutes to speak.

Good morning. My name is Eric Hall. I reside at 1721 Cullum Street South, which is in Council District 3. This morning I rise to say as a child I was raised watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. And this famous saying is, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor? And that's the question that I have for all of you today. Would you be my neighbor? Many of you know me as a community activist, and I have a wonderful opportunity to travel around the world to train other organizers about authoritarianism and how do we fight an authoritarian regime. And I usually get applause when people say he's from Birmingham, Alabama. And they think about the fight of the foot soldiers and the civil rights history and the legacy that we have in Birmingham, Alabama. But it's a sad reality when I have to tell them that I'm fighting an authoritarian regime. I'm fighting leadership that instead of accepting accountability as a call to do something, the leadership respond with it as if we are attacking the people. I've never seen an administration that look at a call for accountability as a call for an attack. And instead of listening to the people, what you all have made a decision to do is invest in more security. Instead of allowing the people to come to your office, you want to greet us with police and security. And it's wrong. Allow people to listen to people. Never tell someone that you don't have to talk with them or you don't have to meet with them. You all are elected officials. You signed up to talk to the people. You signed up. to listen to the people and to hear from the people. And so with that being said, as I close, I want to say this. We have some priority issues in the city of Birmingham. And what I'm seeing is that, one, we are prioritizing parties over people, and the people are not getting what they deserve. And you all hear it, and you all see it, and I know you all know what's right. I want to acknowledge Councilor Daryl O'Quinn Darryl O'Quinn, without any cameras, without any spotlight, without any notice, he went to a homeless shelter. He went to a homeless shelter where I work at. And he wanted to see the beds. He wanted to see what were the needs of the people. And I applaud that. That's the kind of leadership that we need from all of you to address the issues. Poverty exists not because of it is what it is. It exists because of bad policy or the lack thereof of policies. We elected you to be leaders, transformative leaders, visionaries. Be the leader that we elected you to be. But don't be a leader that's sold out. Represent your people. With that, I yield. Thank you so much for the time.

Thank you, Mr. Hall. Ms. Speaker, any more speakers? No, ma'am, that's the last speaker. All right, this time we would thank the officers on duty today. Officer Pinker, Officer Wesley, and our fire inspectors on duty, Inspector Shaw and Inspector Griggs. At this time, we will entertain a motion for adjournment. Second.

All in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All opposed?

Meeting adjourned. Thank you. Again, thank you all so much for being here.

Every one of us has a role to play, whether you represent education, business, faith communities, nonprofit organizations, local government, neighborhood associations, or simply care deeply about your community. Your voice, your experiences, and your ideas matter.

When I think about systems, I think about families, I think about communities,

See helping the families and the children. And when that's your motivation, you don't need a lot.