By Nathan Prewett
For the Tribune
BIRMINGHAM — The third floor of Birmingham City Hall was crowded with attendees of a ceremony to swear in both old and new members of the city council today.
The new members that were sworn in were: Hunter Williams of District 2, Darrell O’Quinn of District 5 and John Hilliard of District 9. Hilliard replaces former Councilor Marcus Lundy, who did not run for re-election.
Councilors Lashunda Scales of District 1, William Parker of District 4, Sheila Tyson of District 6, Jay Roberson of District, Stephen Hoyt of District 8 and Valerie Abbott of District 3 were all re-elected.
After the swearing in ceremony, Abbott was nominated by Roberson for Council President. Hoyt was nominated by Tyson. After a vote, Abbot was elected to the position, formerly filled by Johnathan Austin, who lost to O’Quinn in the runoff election.
Abbott is now serving her fifth term on the city council.
Roberson was then elected Pro-Temp, which had been Hoyt’s position. He was nominated by Abbott. Hoyt nominated Tyson for the role on the council. Roberson now serves his third term.
Later in the meeting, discussion was made to consider a resolution to authorize current Birmingham Mayor William Bell to “execute an agreement with REV Birmingham, Inc. in an amount not to exceed 5,000 under which REV Birmingham, Inc. will provide skilled services assisting the City with various economic development projects including economic revitalization, business growth, industrial developmentand job growth…”
The agreement, which the agenda said was pursuant to Amendment 772 of the Alabama Constitution of 1901, would last for a term of one year.
Scales said that she has been advocating “for years” to include communities in the eastern part of Birmingham in the agreement. Birmingham REV, Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Fleming stood and addressed the council, saying that there are communities in east Birmingham included.
It was determined that Scales had an outdated version of the agreement. An updated version was provided which listed most of east Birmingham with the exception of Roebuck Parkway. Scales suggested amending the agreement to include that area.
After some discussion, a suggestion was made to table the resolution for a future meeting but the council ultimately decided to vote for an amendment to the agreement, which was passed.
The ordinance to make Birmingham a sanctuary city was brought up for the second consecutive meeting today. At a meeting on Oct. 17, the
council heard from more than a dozen advocates of the ordinance, including an employee of CAIR Alabama, Ali Massoud, who spoke today.
He was accompanied by other advocates, including representatives from the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice.
As with the previous meeting, the advocates voiced support for an ordinance that would limit a city’s cooperation in enforcing immigration laws and make it harder to deport those who are considered undocumented.
The next city council meeting will take place on Oct. 31 at 9:30 a.m. on the third floor of Birmingham City Hall.