Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in town Monday to speak with Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and community members.
Conversations were centered around jobs, infrastructure and how federal money should be spent. Some of that money is tied to a project in the city along Fourth Avenue North. Buttigieg was greeted by hundreds of Birmingham residents as discussions focused on how infrastructure investments can impact a city’s growth.
“We’ve also seen reversals from Washington that have made it harder for good people in communities like Birmingham to do what they are doing so well. Specifically when it comes to Fourth Avenue. We were proud to announce a $14.6 million investment in improvements to Fourth Avenue. About $2 million of that made it through before the Trump administration and the Republican Congress pulled back,” he said.
Former State Rep. Paul DeMarco says in order to continue growth in cities, it’s necessary to reevaluate where federal funds are going.
“There is a balance between, yes, making sure that we take care of infrastructure, but at the same time ridding the government of all the fraud, the rampant fraud and corruption and misspending. I think in the long run, we’re going to see more worthy projects being funded, more infrastructure projects being funded because there will be more money that was not being spent on waste and fraud,” he said.
But for many young people, the conversation on infrastructure goes beyond road improvements.
“I think this thing that every single college student cares about is having a high quality, a good paying job when they graduate. another thing that I care about is having, you know, stable housing, affordable housing, so a place to live after graduation that it’s not breaking the bank with my paycheck, but also allows me to have access to things like accessible transportation,” said Birmingham resident Lily Myrick.
DeMarco says all of those concerns tie together and it’s something we are seeing addressed in Alabama already.
“There’s a balance between making sure you have a good workforce and then folks that can get to work. So but so far, it’s working. Again, we’ve seen low unemployment. But you have to have these companies that want to make sure there’s a workforce there. But I think people are companies are incentivized to come to Alabama, which provides good working opportunities, job opportunities, good paying jobs for those that live in our region.”
Buttigieg says a lot of the issues start at the federal level.
“You have a job that ought to be enough to little you get up, you go to work, you do good work. You should be able to expect wages and benefits that are enough, that you can be confident of a roof over your head and food to eat. The reality is that big part of the issue with affordability is that people aren’t getting paid enough and minimum wage is part of that.”
Buttigieg also says after speaking with business owners along the street, it’s clear that investing in infrastructure opens up opportunity to tackle other issues in the city.
