Economy

Mayor Woodfin proposes $451M FY 2020 budget with focus in neighborhoods

THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES — Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Tuesday unveiled a $451 million fiscal 2020 budget that includes a focus on neighborhood revitalization and an increase in the pension fund for city employees. The budget is a 2.4 percent increase over the $440 million fiscal 2019 budget approved last year by the City Council. The fiscal year begins July 1.

Published

7 years ago

May 15, 2019

Oakland Post

By Erica Wright

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Tuesday unveiled a $451 million fiscal 2020 budget that includes a focus on neighborhood revitalization and an increase in the pension fund for city employees.

The budget is a 2.4 percent increase over the $440 million fiscal 2019 budget approved last year by the City Council. The fiscal year begins July 1.

The budget projects tax and license revenue increase of $6.5 million over 2019 which will be combined with $3 million of commercial construction fees and revenue from the state’s recently approved gas tax.

Up to $14 million in this year’s budget will go to neighborhood revitalization in the form of demolition, street paving, weed abatement and the Birmingham Land Bank Authority, which returns vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties back to the tax rolls, the mayor said.

“These things are important as it relates to the issues I still hear when I’m addressing residents, whether it’s at a neighborhood meeting or church or at their door, [they’re saying] ‘mayor, please pave these streets and please tear these houses down,’” said Woodfin, who delivered his budget message to the council on Tuesday and residents at the Birmingham CrossPlex later in the evening.

Woodfin said his administration is not just talking about the concerns but the money that is in the budget reflects solutions.

The city is not proposing a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year because of the money put toward areas such as merit pay ($3 million), health insurance ($3 million), longevity pay ($2 million) and the pension ($5.8 million) which totaled $13.8 million, the mayor said.

“We did not do a COLA this year, but it doesn’t mean we won’t do one next year, it means this year with the tough decisions we had to make including the number one priority of filling the pension, we couldn’t do all five at the level we wanted to,” he said.

Merit pay is performance-related pay that provides bonuses for workers who perform their jobs effectively according to certain criteria.

As for the pension, he said, “our greatest asset is our city employees and they deserve to have a fully-funded pension and I’m happy to say the city’s portion of meeting our obligation, we will actually meet in this budget. I would say tied for first place in this budget’s priorities were paving streets and our pension funding and we met both.”

Highlights of the mayor’s proposed budget include:

$8 million, street paving and pothole repair (an increase of $5.5 million over last year)
$5.8 million, pension contribution increase
$4.7 million, demolition and weed abatement (an increase of $1.5 million over last year)
$1.5 million real time crime center
$1 million, land bank (an increase of $650,000 over last year)

The spending plan has no funding for non-profit organizations, although the mayor said the city continues to support non-profits, but the focus has to be on public safety, he said.

“I have a moral obligation to public safety and public infrastructure as it relates to how to allocate the city’s tax dollars,” said Woodfin. “When you talk about public safety, that’s the main employee groups including police, fire and public works . . . you have to make those investments because no one else is responsible for [public safety and public infrastructure] . . .which means by moral obligation and by fiscal obligation, they’re the priority.”

The planned $1.5 million for a “real time” crime center will help the Birmingham Police Department modernize a digital-based records keeping program.

The mayor also announced The Birmingham Promise, which represents a $2 million commitment to secondary and post-secondary workforce development, creating apprenticeships and real opportunities for the city’s youth as they enter the job market.

“It is past the time as a city we commit to workforce development and the best place is to focus on our young people,” he said.

The mayor also is proposing to increase the discretionary fund for each council district to $100,000 from $50,000.

Neighborhoods

The investment in the land bank reflects an investment in the neighborhoods, Woodfin said.

The budget reflects a $700,000 increase in the Land Bank which has been in existence for about five years and the same amount of money has been in it every year, Woodfin said.

“We wanted to show neighborhood revitalization isn’t just about tearing down houses, you have to remove the blight but you don’t want a city that’s snaggletooth,” he said. “At some point you have to go back vertical on these empty lots which includes affordable and single family homes and when you add an additional $700,000 that sends a signal to this community that we’re serious about this land bank and it also puts me in a position to be able to go out here and talk to certain stakeholder groups and say the city has shown its commitment for its land bank.

“We’re showing our commitment to neighborhood revitalization by increasing the rate of moving these properties off the tax delinquency and moving them towards going back vertical on this empty lots,” he said.

The proposed operating budget and capital budget for the 2020 fiscal year can be found at www.birminghamal.gov/budget2020.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

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Oakland Mayor Pushes Charter Overhaul to Clarify Roles in City Government, Increase Accountability and Improve Service Delivery

Under the proposal, the mayor would serve as Oakland’s chief executive, overseeing city departments, implementing policy, proposing the annual budget, and managing day-to-day operations. The measure would also give the mayor veto power over legislation and the budget, though the City Council could override a veto with a two-thirds vote.

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Oakland Post

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee. File photo.

By Oakland Post Staff

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee is backing a sweeping proposal to restructure Oakland’s government, arguing the changes would make City Hall more accountable and improve the delivery of basic services like public safety, homelessness response, and infrastructure repairs.

The charter reform measure, introduced April 7 and co-sponsored by Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins, would ask voters in November to approve a “strong mayor, strong council” system designed to create clearer lines of authority inside city government.

The City Council, meanwhile, would maintain legislative authority by adopting ordinances, approving budgets, conducting oversight hearings, and confirming key mayoral appointments. The proposal would also create an Independent Budget and Legislative Analyst Office to provide nonpartisan fiscal and policy analysis for councilmembers.

“I’ve spent months listening to Oaklanders across every neighborhood about what they expect from their city government,” Lee said. “The Charter Reform Working Group’s engagement made clear that residents want a system where there are no questions about who is responsible for delivering results on public safety, homelessness, infrastructure, and basic services.”

Jenkins said the proposal would strengthen both executive leadership and council oversight.

“I’ve long believed Oakland works best when residents have clear lines of accountability and a government structure that aligns responsibility with results,” Jenkins said.

The proposal follows recommendations from the Mayor’s Charter Reform Working Group, co-facilitated by the League of Women Voters of Oakland and SPUR.

Over five months, the group conducted more than 60 interviews, held 14 public meetings across Oakland, and engaged more than 750 residents while reviewing governance models used in other cities.

“The process of engaging residents across Oakland surfaced the governance clarity Oakland needs,” said Sujata Srivastava of SPUR. “The Charter Reform Working Group has produced a thoughtful set of recommendations that if adopted could strengthen accountability and improve service delivery across city government.”

Polling cited by the mayor’s office suggests voters may be open to the changes. A February 2026 poll by the East Bay Polling Institute found 64% of voters support adopting a strong-mayor system. Separate polling conducted by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce and David Binder Research found support ranging from 61% to 63% among likely voters.

The measure is scheduled to be heard by the City Council Rules Committee on May 21. If approved by the council, it would appear on the November 2026 ballot, where Oakland voters would have the final say.

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The program marks the first time the state has opened the platform to all Californians. State officials said the effort is designed to give residents a direct role in discussions about how AI should be regulated and used as the technology rapidly expands across industries.

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iStock

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced May 7 that California is expanding its Engaged California digital democracy initiative statewide, inviting residents to help shape future state policies on artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on jobs and the economy.

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State officials said the goal is to identify areas of agreement among Californians and provide policymakers with public feedback as the state develops future AI regulations and workforce strategies.

Engaged California is modeled after digital democracy programs used in Taiwan and is intended to encourage structured public discussion rather than social media-style debate. Officials described the effort as a form of “deliberative democracy” aimed at helping residents engage directly in state decision-making.

“The more Californians are engaged in the democratic process, the better able we’ll be to confront the challenges we face together,” said Nick Maduros, California Secretary of Government Operations, in a statement.

The statewide launch builds on two earlier pilot programs. One pilot gathered public input following the Los Angeles firestorms to help guide recovery efforts, while another collected ideas from state employees about improving government operations.

California has positioned itself as a national leader in AI policy and development. Since 2023, the Newsom administration has introduced initiatives focused on responsible AI use in government, cybersecurity protections, workforce training and regulations targeting risks such as deepfakes and AI-generated robocalls.

The state has also partnered with companies in Silicon Valley — including NVIDIA, Google, Adobe, IBM and Microsoft — to expand AI education and workforce training programs across California schools and universities.

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California Launches Free Diaper Program for Newborns Statewide

The initiative, called Golden State Start, will provide 400 free diapers to every newborn delivered at participating California hospitals beginning this summer. The state is partnering with Baby2Baby, a California-based nonprofit that distributes essential items to children in need nationwide.

Published

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May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that California will launch a first-in-the-nation program providing free diapers to families with newborns, part of a broader effort to lower costs for parents and improve infant health outcomes.

The initiative, called Golden State Start, will provide 400 free diapers to every newborn delivered at participating California hospitals beginning this summer. The state is partnering with Baby2Baby, a California-based nonprofit that distributes essential items to children in need nationwide.

State officials said hospitals participating in the program will give families the diapers when they are discharged after birth, helping parents leave with an immediate supply of newborn essentials.

“Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life,” Newsom said in a statement. He said the program is part of California’s broader affordability efforts, which also include free school meals, universal preschool for four-year-olds and expanded after-school programs.

The announcement comes ahead of Mother’s Day and is tied to the administration’s broader CalRx initiative, which aims to reduce costs for essential products and medications. State officials said California is also exploring ways to lower diaper prices by challenging high costs from major brands.

The first year of the program will prioritize hospitals serving large numbers of Medi-Cal patients, with plans to expand to additional hospitals and birthing centers over time. Officials said the effort is intended to reduce financial pressure on low-income families and improve infant and maternal health by ensuring parents have access to clean diapers.

“California families deserve to feel supported during one of life’s more exciting, yet vulnerable transitions,” First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom said in a statement. She said the program would allow parents to focus on caring for their newborns instead of worrying about basic supplies.

According to Baby2Baby, one in two families in the United States struggles to afford diapers. The organization has distributed more than half a billion items to children over the past 15 years through partnerships with shelters, hospitals, foster care programs and schools.

State officials said Baby2Baby will oversee diaper purchasing, warehousing and distribution through its existing hospital and community partnerships across California.