Johnathan Austin
Johnathan Austin was the nonpartisan District 5 representative on the Birmingham City Council in Alabama. First elected in 2009, Austin lost a re-election campaign in the runoff election on October 3, 2017.
Biography
Austin received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Miles College. In 2017, he was in his second year at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law.[1]
Elections
2017
The city of Birmingham, Alabama, held elections for mayor and city council on August 22, 2017. A runoff was held on October 3, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 7, 2017.
Darrell O'Quinn defeated incumbent Johnathan Austin in the Birmingham City Council District 5 runoff election.[2]
Birmingham City Council, District 5 Runoff Election, 2017 | ||
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Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
Darrell O'Quinn | 51.68% | 2,431 |
Johnathan Austin Incumbent | 48.32% | 2,273 |
Total Votes | 4,704 | |
Source: City of Birmingham, "General Municipal Runoff Results," October 10, 2017 |
The following candidates ran in the Birmingham City Council District 5 general election.[3]
Birmingham City Council, District 5 General Election, 2017 | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
Johnathan Austin Incumbent | 31.52% | 1,358 |
Darrell O'Quinn | 25.63% | 1,104 |
Chris Davis | 17.87% | 770 |
Dorothea Crosby | 11.21% | 483 |
Jeremy Schatz | 6.80% | 293 |
Robert Walker | 3.76% | 162 |
Erica Robbins | 3.20% | 138 |
Total Votes | 4,308 | |
Source: City of Birmingham, "General Election Results," August 29, 2017 |
Campaign themes
2017
Austin participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates.[4] The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
“ | In the next term, I want to continue to look at innovative policies and growth opportunities for our City. In the FY18 budget, we are going to increase our city’s investment in our school system by several million dollars that will go towards enhanced technology and equipment for our students. Our schools can be our City’s biggest economic development agent and biggest crime deterrent if make improving them a top priority. I am also working to pass a First Source Hiring Policy to make sure that companies receiving incentives from the City hire their workers locally. Justice and decriminalization reforms are also at the top of my list.
Specifically in District 5, I want to work on a plan to address parking downtown so that it will be more convenient and resident-friendly. We are also exploring our options regarding a creating a pedestrian and bus only corridor on 20th Street which I think would serve as a great connector between the development around Railroad Park and the Uptown Entertainment District. Taking care of our neighborhoods will continue to be my top priority. We’ve got to clean the blight up so that we can start to look at building rather than tearing down. We’re going to continue to make sure we fund public safety and support community policing programs as well.[5] |
” |
—Johnathan Austin (July 21, 2017)[1] |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.
Issue importance ranking | |||
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Candidate's ranking |
Issue | Candidate's ranking |
Issue |
The candidate did not respond to this question. | The candidate did not respond to this question. | ||
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The candidate did not respond to this question. | The candidate did not respond to this question. | ||
The candidate did not respond to this question. | The candidate did not respond to this question. | ||
The candidate did not respond to this question. | The candidate did not respond to this question. | ||
The candidate did not respond to this question. | The candidate did not respond to this question. |
Nationwide municipal issues
The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.
Question | Response |
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Very important | |
Local | |
The candidate did not respond to this question. | |
The candidate did not respond to this question. | |
In 2013 and again in 2016, my colleagues elected me to serve as Council President, and I think that serving in that capacity has given me an additional platform from which to advocate for the people of District 5 as well as for our city as a whole. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done over the past four years. We were able to bring Uber and Lyft to Birmingham, pass an ordinance to allow the food truck industry to really take off, and create a Healthy Food Incentive program for our citizens. We also worked to improve bike lanes and bring Zyp Bike Share to the City. We have seen growth and revitalization in our downtown center like never before—the Barons stadium, a new Publix grocery store, the Magic City Connector bus line, the Uptown Entertainment District, as well as dozens of new restaurants, hotels, and housing units.
As a Council we’ve also directed more funding towards cutting overgrown lots and abandoned structures in our neighborhoods. We established the Land Bank Authority to help with cleaning up our neighborhoods. We’ve invested every year in paving streets, building new sidewalks, and improving our lighting. We just opened a brand new bus Central Station also secured $20 million to build an East-West Bus Rapid Transit Line. We’re also going to work to make sure bus stops are integrated into shopping centers and shelters are provided to shield passengers from the weather. With Birmingham’s recent designation as a World Trade Center, we really expect to a wave of job creation. Through a collection of partnerships with various companies called Birmingham Careers, we are working to provide training opportunities and direct hire options for students graduating from Birmingham City Schools. This will provide a path to success for our youth, an opportunity for them to realize the dream here in OUR city without having to flee to the suburbs for better schools, decent housing, and a safer neighborhood. | |
My top concern is that we’re caught up in what I describe as a tale of two cities. The downtown center is booming and that’s trickling south and east, but if you go north of I-20/59 to Fountain Heights or west of I-65 to Smithfield, it’s like a different world. We’ve got to make sure we take care of ALL of our citizens and that means working on policy solutions that will outlast us and continue to benefit generations to come. We are developing on a plan that will put in place Economic Empowerment Zones to ensure that new projects and the investment that follows them will be distributed evenly through the entire city. Revenue generated in these zones will be invested back into those communities. My focus is to make sure that we capitalize on our most precious resource-- the untapped potential of the people of Birmingham. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Johnathan Austin Birmingham City Council. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Birmingham, Alabama | Alabama | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
- Birmingham City Council
- Campaign website
- Social media
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "Johnathan Austin's Responses," July 21, 2017
- ↑ AL.com, "Meet the candidates for Birmingham City Council," July 7, 2017
- ↑ AL.com, "Meet the candidates for Birmingham City Council," July 7, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by - |
Birmingham City Council, District 5 2009-2017 |
Succeeded by Darrell O'Quinn |
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State of Alabama Montgomery (capital) | |
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