Roderick Royal
Roderick V. Royal (born c. 1965 in Birmingham) represents District 9 in the Birmingham City Council and is serving as acting Mayor of Birmingham. He was first elected to the City Council in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005 and 2009. When the 2009 Council was installed, he was elected president and immediately succeeded former president Carole Smitherman as acting Mayor, pending the result of the 2009 Birmingham mayoral election.
Royal was born and raised in Birmingham. His first political experience was being elected student council president at Tuggle Elementary School. He later served as student government president at A. H. Parker High School and Tuskegee University where he earned his bachelor of science in political science. He went on to earn a master's of public administration from Webster University in St Louis and has also graduated from the University of Alabama police academy.
During the first implementation of Birmingham's Community Participation Program, he served as a youth member of the Fountain Heights Neighborhood Association. He later served as secretary of the East Thomas Neighborhood Association for two terms.
Previously, Royal served as the Alabama state coordinator for Job Corps, as an instructor at MIles College, as a police officer, and as an officer in the United States army during Operation Desert Storm. He was also a committee assistant for the City Council. He has served on the boards of the A. G. Gaston Boys' and Girls' Club, and the Birmingham Humane Society. He has also been a deacon in his church and owned his own business.
Royal joined an all-rookie Council in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005. On the council, he served as Chair of the Education Committee and as a member of the Transportation and Communications committee and the Planning and Zoning committee. He secured bond funds to extend sanitary sewer service to Dolomite and Oak Ridge in 2002. Royal enlisted support from the Jefferson County Health Department and Wal-Mart stores for the Bee Healthy Nutrition Initiative, which provides breakfast bars to elementary school students at five Birmingham City Schools. Another program, Healthy Smiles, is planned to provide city-sponsored dental care at schools.
Royal is married and has three children. He resides in the Pratt City community. In a memorable argument in Council on February 28, 2006, Royal was referred to by Councilor William Bell as "that little twerp."
| Preceded by: LeRoy Bandy |
Birmingham City Council District 9 2001–present |
Succeeded by: current |
| Preceded by: Carole Smitherman (acting) |
Mayor of Birmingham (acting) 2009–present |
Succeeded by: current |
References
- "Birmingham City Council elections: District 9 candidate Roderick Royal." (August 14, 2009) Birmingham News
- Ruisi, Anne (September 22, 2009) "Bandy, Royal tout experience in 3rd council contest." Birmingham News
External links
- Royal's council bio at informationbirmingham.com