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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Birmingham City Council FY 2026-2027 Budget Public Hearing – June 3, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, June 3, 2026

BodyBirmingham, Alabama

SessionCity Council

DateWednesday, June 3, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 53:47

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

1:18

I'll turn it over to you once I start.

1:22

Good afternoon, everyone.

1:24

Today is Wednesday, June 3rd.

1:28

I call to order the special adjourned meeting of the Birmingham City Council, and we'll have our invocation led by Dr.

1:36

Greg Stanley.

1:38

I'll give you that title.

1:43

Will y'all please stand?

1:49

Good afternoon, Council.

1:52

We'll bow his and on Bahars precious and turn off the Lord.

1:56

We ask that you would reign over this divine meeting on today.

2:03

That Lord, these council members that steward the business of this city, that you would give them gravity of heart and resolution and their spirit to do what is needed for this city.

2:19

We ask so God for your divine providence and that Lord, you will watch over us as Lord, we do the business of the city of Birmingham.

2:35

And God now we ask for your divine guidance in Jesus' name we pray.

2:43

Thank God and amen.

2:45

Amen.

2:47

Thank you so much.

2:50

Good.

2:55

Councilmember Gunn.

2:58

Councilmember Gunn.

3:00

Councilmember O'Quinn.

3:01

Here.

3:10

Councilmember Smithman.

3:14

Councilmember Vossler.

3:24

Council President Pro Tim Tate.

3:27

Council President Alexander.

3:29

Here.

3:30

Thank you very much.

3:31

At this time, we will have our public hearing on proposed 2026-2027 fiscal year city budget.

4:18

And notice of the adoption of said resolution was given uh publication in Alabama Messenger, a newspaper of general circulation and said city.

4:27

Uh doing city printing on May 27th, 2026.

4:32

At this time, the council will receive any written or oral comments and suggestions with respect to the expenditure of said general fund and proposed capital budgets.

4:58

At this time, uh only MA Williams.

5:03

Only good evening, council.

5:16

I'm here on behalf of the West Side Legacy Protection Fund.

5:22

My name is Ono Yemi Williams, and I'm part of the Westside United and Legacy Homeowners of Greymont, Eden Ridge, and East Thomas.

5:31

We are here because the council is preparing to vote on a $650 million city budget that leaves the glaring systematic hole right in the heart of the historic West Side.

5:43

While the city celebrates the $50 million choice, HUD Choice Neighborhood Grant, federal rules have marooned the surrounding blocks.

6:00

Babarred our resident blocks from receiving a single dollar for home repairs.

6:05

Eno Ridge and East Thomas have been made completely invisible.

6:10

While our blocks get zero, look who is cashing in on our historic footprint.

6:17

The private developers of our community are legally positioned to capture up to 38 million in pure corporate development fees off of this project.

6:28

UAB is treating our community as an open classroom for academic and health tracking metrics, happily collecting data from our doorsteps while ignoring our leaking roofs.

6:40

Almost a half a billion dollars is slated to be invested on the west side of Birmingham.

6:47

And our residents are basically going to be pushed out.

6:52

Worse, we're dealing with political shell games right here at City Hall.

6:56

On May 22nd, our article regarding funding under a council slip smitherman piece listed Smithfield communities to generate positive headlines.

7:08

But when we trace down the actual dollars, the funding for the rehab of our homes were given to a district we're not living in.

7:17

That's the textbook Bait and Switch.

7:28

This is all happening while the U.S.

7:30

Coast Guard has executed a 126.5 million dollar purchase of the Bergman Ham Southern campus, bringing thousands of personnel into our radius.

7:41

Out of state corporate speculators have already started circling us, leaving these type of documents on our doorsteps, attempting to buy and purchase the homes of the residents that are living there.

7:56

We're asking that the council make a line item of a 7.5 million redevelopment for the legacy homeowners of Great Mont, Eden Ridge, and East State Thomas, so that we can remain in our homes to fight despite the taxation that's going to come to our community as a result of the developments being made in the community.

8:21

This is classic gentrification, and it's in the modern day language.

8:26

And we're the ones who are facing losing our homes and the legacy of our community.

8:32

So again, we're asking that a line item of parallel funding be placed into the city budget.

8:39

Five million dollars of a loan that was loaned to Birmingham Southern has been returned to the city.

8:45

We're asking for 2.5 million dollars of CBD flexible grant dollars be made available to residents, not based off of being at the poverty line, but being legacy homeowners of the community.

9:00

Thank you.

9:19

Thank you.

9:19

Thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Community Engagement█████████████████████████████████████████████45%

Budget Equity Analysis██████████10%

Fiscal Sustainability████████8%

Procedural███████7%

Parks and Recreation███████7%

Economic Development█████5%

Public Engagement█████5%

Youth Programs█████5%

Neighborhood Planning███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Birmingham City Council FY 2026-2027 Budget Public Hearing – June 3, 2026

The Birmingham City Council met in special adjourned session on June 3, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Birmingham City Hall for a public hearing on the proposed FY 2026-2027 General Fund and Capital Budgets (fiscal year ending June 30, 2027). Councilmember Clinton Woods, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, conducted the hearing, which was authorized by resolution at the Council's May 19, 2026 regular meeting and publicly noticed in the Alabama Messenger on May 27, 2026. The meeting opened with an invocation by Dr. Greg Stanley. The roll call showed no absences, with Councilmembers Williams, Tate, Vasa, and Gunn arriving after the initial call. The hearing was held solely to receive oral and written comments; no budget vote was taken.

Public Comments & Testimony

West Side/Smithfield resident: Expressed concern that the proposed $650 million city budget leaves a “systematic hole” in the historic West Side. Citing a May 22 article, the speaker alleged that funding announced for Smithfield communities was traced to a different district, and requested that a parallel line item for home rehabilitation funding be placed in the city budget.
CAB Vice President (Rob): Raised process concerns, including that the speaker sign-up list closed before the 5:30 p.m. start (making it difficult for residents coming from work to participate) and that city emails publicized the budget but not this public hearing. Noted that state law (the mayor-council act) strips the council of the ability to make line-item budget changes, that council members do not receive budget request packets, and that the capital projects budget—including a park line item increasing over 8 to 12 years—is not posted on the city's website. Requested continued dialogue with the full CAB budget committee.
Johnny Gunn, President, Bell Neighborhood Association: Reported that the CAB adopted a resolution that was presented to the council and mayor. Requested that neighborhood funding be restored to $10,000 (referencing a current level of $4,500), arguing residents “shouldn't have to go through the park board and all these other things if we already have neighborhood funds.” Assured the council the money would not sit idle.
Neighborhood USA (NUSA) board representative: Expressed support for a budget line item to fund Birmingham's representation on the Neighborhood USA board and related expenses. The speaker, citing Birmingham's 99 neighborhoods, noted the city provides the largest number of delegates supporting NUSA, that the city's board seat has been vacant since a colleague (“Ellen”) passed away, and that board participation offers valuable networking with other cities and should continue after the speaker rolls off.
Wahouma neighborhood representatives (two speakers): Stated that their small neighborhood—one of the few that owns its own community center—cannot fund planned projects such as a playground renovation on $2,000 per year, and requested $10,000 in annual neighborhood funding. One speaker emphasized that the money “is not just sitting there in the bank” and urged the council: “You're the city.”
Neighborhood accountability commenter: Observed that some neighborhoods have roughly $50,000 budgets but lack officers or a president to manage the funds, while active neighborhoods struggle. Proposed quarterly budget reviews so that unused funds can be redistributed to neighborhoods actually using them (“use it or lose it”).
West End/Legion Fields commenter: Argued that investors receiving significant government support for development at Legion Fields should be required to give something back to the surrounding community.

Key Outcomes

The Council received public testimony on the proposed FY 2026-2027 budget, and all comments were recorded for the budget process; no council deliberation, amendments, or votes occurred during the hearing.
Written comments were accepted after the hearing via Councilmember Woods' email address (Clinton.Woods@BirminghamAL.gov), as announced during the meeting.
The meeting adjourned by motion immediately following the close of the public hearing.

Meeting Transcript

I'll turn it over to you once I start. Good afternoon, everyone. Today is Wednesday, June 3rd. I call to order the special adjourned meeting of the Birmingham City Council, and we'll have our invocation led by Dr. Greg Stanley. I'll give you that title. Will y'all please stand? Good afternoon, Council. We'll bow his and on Bahars precious and turn off the Lord. We ask that you would reign over this divine meeting on today. That Lord, these council members that steward the business of this city, that you would give them gravity of heart and resolution and their spirit to do what is needed for this city. We ask so God for your divine providence and that Lord, you will watch over us as Lord, we do the business of the city of Birmingham. And God now we ask for your divine guidance in Jesus' name we pray. Thank God and amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Good. Councilmember Gunn. Councilmember Gunn. Councilmember O'Quinn. Here. Councilmember Smithman. Councilmember Vossler. Council President Pro Tim Tate. Council President Alexander. Here. Thank you very much. At this time, we will have our public hearing on proposed 2026-2027 fiscal year city budget. And notice of the adoption of said resolution was given uh publication in Alabama Messenger, a newspaper of general circulation and said city. Uh doing city printing on May 27th, 2026. At this time, the council will receive any written or oral comments and suggestions with respect to the expenditure of said general fund and proposed capital budgets. At this time, uh only MA Williams. Only good evening, council. I'm here on behalf of the West Side Legacy Protection Fund. My name is Ono Yemi Williams, and I'm part of the Westside United and Legacy Homeowners of Greymont, Eden Ridge, and East Thomas. We are here because the council is preparing to vote on a $650 million city budget that leaves the glaring systematic hole right in the heart of the historic West Side. While the city celebrates the $50 million choice, HUD Choice Neighborhood Grant, federal rules have marooned the surrounding blocks. Babarred our resident blocks from receiving a single dollar for home repairs. Eno Ridge and East Thomas have been made completely invisible. While our blocks get zero, look who is cashing in on our historic footprint. The private developers of our community are legally positioned to capture up to 38 million in pure corporate development fees off of this project. UAB is treating our community as an open classroom for academic and health tracking metrics, happily collecting data from our doorsteps while ignoring our leaking roofs. Almost a half a billion dollars is slated to be invested on the west side of Birmingham. And our residents are basically going to be pushed out. Worse, we're dealing with political shell games right here at City Hall. On May 22nd, our article regarding funding under a council slip smitherman piece listed Smithfield communities to generate positive headlines. But when we trace down the actual dollars, the funding for the rehab of our homes were given to a district we're not living in. That's the textbook Bait and Switch. This is all happening while the U.S. Coast Guard has executed a 126.5 million dollar purchase of the Bergman Ham Southern campus, bringing thousands of personnel into our radius.

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