Meet the two people leading Mayor-Elect Woodfin’s transition into office

Birmingham’s Mayor-Elect Randall Woodfin takes office November 28.  To kick things off, Woodfin tapped two Birmingham heavyweights to lead his transition team. Who are they?

At 36, he’s the city’s youngest mayor since a man named David Fox took office in 1893. Woodfin defeated Mayor William Bell in a runoff on October 3rd, and as the change of power begins he’s surrounding himself with locally-known leaders.

Check out our interview with Woodfin during the election.

The Transition

At a recent press conference, Woodfin spoke about his goals for the city. His words reflected the themes of his campaign:

“Priority one will be restoring trust in City Hall,” Woodfin told the crowd gathered at Vulcan Park and Museum. “We will eliminate nepotism and cronyism and make sure that taxpayers dollars are spent wisely and that taxpayers can actually see how their money is spent.”

Woodfin also introduced his new co-chairs: Bobbie Knight and General Charles Krulak. Woodfin’s campaign manager, Ed Fields, will coordinate the transition.

The Team

Knight, a retired Alabama Power Company executive grew up in Birmingham’s Zion City neighborhood. A long-time local, she attended Birmingham schools, the University of Alabama and the Birmingham School of Law.

In addition, Knight served in management roles for Alabama Power. She lead the company’s western division, human resources, corporate services and supply chain organizations. She became vice president of the Birmingham Division in 2010.

At the press conference she said that Woodfin was the only person who could drag her out of retirement. Knight spoke about Birmingham being a great American city, although there is work to be done.

 “We must first address real issues that face all of our citizens, from neighborhood revitalization to education, to reducing crime to eliminating red tape from city government, so that Birmingham is truly open for business investment,” Knight said.

Woodfin also chose former Birmingham-Southern College President and retired General Charles Krulak to co-chair his transition team.

Krulak is known for revitalizing Birmingham-Southern College during a time of financial crisis.

During the press conference he said the city  has “gone from a beacon of civil rights to a beacon of human rights to a revitalization of our downtown that we see today. “At the same time, we can’t turn a blind eye to the problems that continue to exist.”

While Woodfin seeks to gather input from his new team, he also wants to hear from his constituents. He encourages citizens to email him here: transition@randallwoodfin.com.

For more, check out WBHM’s real-time reporting on the recent press conference.