Rob Burton IV
- This article is about the Neighborhood Officer and former Birmingham Land Bank Authority officer. For others with similar names, see Rob Burton (disambiguation)
James Robert Burton IV (born March 30, 1989 in New York City) is the Co-Executive Director of SWEET Alabama, and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Land Bank Authority.
Burton is the son of investment banker J. Robert Burton III (deceased) of Auburn, Lee County, and realtor Barbara Burton, formerly Barbara Blount Lovelace, of Brewton, Escambia County. He has two sisters, and lives with his partner in the Glen Iris neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama
Community Work
In 2012 he became a charter member of the Birmingham Young Professional Kiwanis Club, where he served as the Kiwanis Family Liaison for the Birmingham “YP” Kiwanis Club, to coordinate joint K-Family meetings with other members of the Kiwanis Family around the state, and the Assistant Administrator of Kiwanis Kids (K-Kids, Terrific Kids, and Bring Up Grades) for the Alabama District of Kiwanis International.
He served as executive director of the Magic City Agriculture Project from 2013 to 2017, where he supported Smithfield Community residents start the first ever community land trust in the State of Alabama, the Dynamite Hill-Smithfield Community Land Trust. He was elected to serve on the executive committee of the Alabama Sierra Club and co-founded and co-chaired the Alabama Chapter's "Beyond Coal Committee". In 2017 Burton co-founded the 501(c)3 non-profit SWEET Alabama (Sustainable Water, Energy, and Economic Transition in Alabama), where he is employed as the Co-Executive Director, and the community group Friends of Dynamite Hill.
In 2020 Burton was named co-chair of Our Revolution - Birmingham, and co-founded People's Budget Birmingham with eight Birmingham based organizations, in order to ensure residents of Birmingham have a greater say in the municipal budget process.
Public Office
He served on incoming Mayor Randall Woodfin's Social Justice Transition Team in 2018, where he helped lead the Environmental Justice and Sustainability Committee, and was subsequently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Land Bank Authority in the same year by the Birmingham City Council. He served on the Birmingham Land Bank Authority from 2018-2022. During that time Burton served as board secretary of the Birmingham Land Bank Authority from 2018-2021, and Chair of both the Law and Legislation Committee and Special Projects Committee from 2019-2022. He was not re-appointed to the Birmingham Land Bank Authority in 2022 due to his support of Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice's 2021 campaign to keep Birmingham from signing an M.O.U. with I.C.E. The M.O.U. was established to "designate certain employees of Birmingham Police Department as Customs Officers... Title 19 Task Force Officer (ICE Form 73-001)", which caused concern for the local immigrant community over how this agreement would affect their public safety in Birmingham.
Burton was elected secretary of the Glen Iris Neighborhood Association in 2018 and 2021, a role he currently holds, and serves as the vice president for the Southside Community Advisory Committee.
Political Campaigns
Burton has volunteered for a variety of political campaigns, including efforts for Quang Do for the Alabama State House, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders for US President, Yank Lovelace for Mayor of Brewton, Alabama, and Paul Rand and Tiara Hudson's campaign for Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge. In 2021 he served as the campaign manager to elect Celida Soto to the District 8 seat of the Birmingham City Council, where she came in second place to Carol Clarke, out of eight candidates.
In August 2022 he was elected as an At Large Member of the Alabama SDEC, where he now serves on the Youth Caucus.
References
- West, Ty (August 23, 2018) "Two appointed to Birmingham Land Bank Authority"" Birmingham Business Journal
- Prickett, Sam (October 2, 2018) "Birmingham Council Appoints 2 to Land Bank Authority Board, Pushes It to Become Self-Sustaining" Birmingham Watch
- "Acquiring Land via Birmingham Land Bank with J. Robert Burton" (February 25, 2020) Communal Expression
- Hedgepeth, Lee (November 5, 2021) "‘A slap in the face’: Woodfin administration advocates extension of ICE partnership with Birmingham police" CBS42