Johnathan Austin

This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Johnathan Austin

Prior offices

Birmingham City Council District 5

---

Report an officeholder change

Education

Bachelor's

Miles College

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.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Birmingham, Alabama (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.

Birmingham City Council, District 5 Runoff Election, 2017
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.

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

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

Austin participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates. 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.	”
—Johnathan Austin (July 21, 2017)

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
Candidate's ranking	Issue	Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	The candidate did not respond to this question.	7	The candidate did not respond to this question.
2	The candidate did not respond to this question.	8	The candidate did not respond to this question.
3	The candidate did not respond to this question.	9	The candidate did not respond to this question.
4	The candidate did not respond to this question.	10	The candidate did not respond to this question.
5	The candidate did not respond to this question.	11	The candidate did not respond to this question.
6	The candidate did not respond to this question.	12	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
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?Answer options: Not important; Not important, but required by state law; A little important; A little important, but required by state law; Important; Very important	Very important
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?Answer options: None, Local, State, Federal	Local
What do you think is the best way to improve a city’s public safety? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Increased economic opportunities, Increased police presence/activity, Harsher penalties for offenders, Public outreach/education programs	The candidate did not respond to this question.
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Changing zoning restrictions, Create a more competitive business climate, Focusing on small business development, Instituting a citywide minimum wage, Recruiting new businesses to your city, Regulatory and licensing reforms, and tax reform	The candidate did not respond to this question.
What is the one thing you’re most proud of about your city?	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.
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about your city?	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.

Johnathan Austin - Google News

See also

Birmingham, Alabama	Alabama	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• Birmingham City Council
• Campaign website
• Social media
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Birmingham City Council, District 5 2009-2017	Succeeded by Darrell O'Quinn