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Joseph Casper Baker III (Alabama)
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Joseph Casper Baker III ran for election to the Birmingham City Council to represent District 3 in Alabama. He lost in the general election on August 24, 2021.
Baker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joseph Casper Baker III was born in Selma, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2011. His career experience includes working as a self-employed IT Consultant.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: City elections in Birmingham, Alabama (2021)
General election
General election for Birmingham City Council District 3
Incumbent Valerie Abbott defeated Alice Speake, Joseph Casper Baker III, and Wil Jones in the general election for Birmingham City Council District 3 on August 24, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Valerie Abbott (Nonpartisan) | 52.8 | 2,102 |
 | Alice Speake (Nonpartisan)  | 28.7 | 1,144 | |
 | Joseph Casper Baker III (Nonpartisan) | 12.5 | 499 | |
| Wil Jones (Nonpartisan) | 6.0 | 239 | ||
| Total votes: 3,984 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
To view Joseph Casper Baker III's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
2018
General election
General election for Alabama House of Representatives District 54
Neil Rafferty defeated Joseph Casper Baker III in the general election for Alabama House of Representatives District 54 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Neil Rafferty (D) | 89.9 | 13,287 |
| Joseph Casper Baker III (Independent) | 9.7 | 1,436 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 53 | ||
| Total votes: 14,776 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Alabama House of Representatives District 54
Neil Rafferty defeated Jacqueline Gray Miller in the Democratic primary runoff for Alabama House of Representatives District 54 on July 17, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Neil Rafferty | 67.1 | 2,531 |
 | Jacqueline Gray Miller | 32.9 | 1,240 | |
| Total votes: 3,771 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 54
Neil Rafferty and Jacqueline Gray Miller advanced to a runoff. They defeated Jerome Dees in the Democratic primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 54 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Neil Rafferty | 48.8 | 2,870 |
| ✔ | | Jacqueline Gray Miller | 28.4 | 1,669 |
| Jerome Dees | 22.8 | 1,341 | ||
| Total votes: 5,880 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joseph Casper Baker III completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Baker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Joseph Casper Baker III was born in Selma, Alabama and moved to Birmingham in 2002 to attend UAB, where he obtained a B.A. in Philosophy. He is the founder of I Believe in Birmingham and has been involved in numerous efforts of civic activism including serving on the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee for Birmingham and the One Great Community Council of UAB; as well as involvement in the production of many of our most beloved cultural city's events such as the Magic City Brewfest, Sidewalk Film Festival, Secret Stages Music Discovery Festival, ¡Fiesta!, and others. He was the Secretary of Free the Hops, the non-profit that pushed to liberalize Alabama's beer laws, as well as the lead organizer of Rethink 20/59, an initiative to push for alternatives to the proposed elevated interstate through downtown Birmingham. He runs his own business doing consulting and contracting in Information Technology and Telecommunications. He currently resides in Glen Iris neighborhood with his wife and two dogs.
- I will push to modernize our infrastructure in the City by advocating for protected bikes lanes, expanding bus rapid transit and micromobility, and establishing a dedicated funding source for road and sidewalk maintenance.
- I will work to expand educational opportunities for all citizens and their children by fighting to increase funding to Birmingham City Schools, and organizing training for adults to start businesses and learn trade skills.
- I will create a bill to mandate Open Data and transparency in City operations and lobby my fellow Councilors to pass it in the first 100 days of the term.
Community Question Featured local question
I think there is a great amount of disparity across Birmingham between neighborhoods. Even in the "nicer" areas you still find issues affecting quality of life. I believe that healthy neighborhoods come from being well designed and invested in by its residents. There is a balance of policy and amenities that help foster the conditions that lead to having a healthy community. You need good quality communal space. Transport options within the area are supportive of many modes and types. Residents are encouraged and empowered to oversee public activity within their neighborhood.
In Birmingham the two biggest things we could do to build healthier communities is to increase the budgets of the Neighborhood Associations and help them to establish associated non-profits that can fundraise to implement neighborhood improvements. I commit to being a strong advocate for these.
In Birmingham the two biggest things we could do to build healthier communities is to increase the budgets of the Neighborhood Associations and help them to establish associated non-profits that can fundraise to implement neighborhood improvements. I commit to being a strong advocate for these.
Community Question Featured local question
Transit has been improving in Birmingham but we still have a long ways to go. I want to work with the other Councilors to expand the bus rapid transit system beyond the original design, expand the micromobility network to more areas of the City, and build a lot more protected bikes lanes.
Beyond that we need to be engaging the other municipalities of the metro and pushing for HOV lanes, park & rides, and sharing lobbying costs to get more federal monies to support our transit networks.
Beyond that we need to be engaging the other municipalities of the metro and pushing for HOV lanes, park & rides, and sharing lobbying costs to get more federal monies to support our transit networks.
Community Question Featured local question
Birmingham is weathering the pandemic extremely well. We were just featured as having the tightest job market in America. Folks with good education and high skill sets are really empowered to find work that is financially and mentally rewarding. But that condition does not apply to all people in the City. We need to establish educational and training initiatives for adults that train them on how to identify markets and customers and operate businesses to service them. We need job and trade skill training. We need to be steering our students towards education and careers that excite and inspire them, and doing so earlier in their education. In short, we're doing well, but we need to do better still.
Community Question Featured local question
We should never stop discussing how to build a more equitable community. A particular challenge in Birmingham is the lack of any serious home rule. Home rule is the ability of a city or county to make most or all of the decisions of governing human life within the defined borders. In Alabama we have very limited home rule and that limits our ability as a government to respond to needs and changing conditions as we have to go, hat in hand, to Montgomery for any major and most minor changes we need. A great example of this was the recent overturning of Birmingham's minimum wage law by the State government. Without the ability to more directly govern ourselves will we always have one or both hands tied behind our backs when attempting to seriously address these and other issues.
One practical thing I want to pursue a change in that would help address this is lowering or eliminating city taxes on sole proprietorship businesses. As a sole proprietor myself I understand the struggle of my peers to keep business coming and keep your head above water. One of my major platform positions is to create and support training for people to start their own businesses. Working for yourself is scary but can be one of the most rewarding things a person can do. We need to be finding ways to encourage this because you never know who will grow out of their garage and build a business empire. And that's something we need more of in Birmingham.
One practical thing I want to pursue a change in that would help address this is lowering or eliminating city taxes on sole proprietorship businesses. As a sole proprietor myself I understand the struggle of my peers to keep business coming and keep your head above water. One of my major platform positions is to create and support training for people to start their own businesses. Working for yourself is scary but can be one of the most rewarding things a person can do. We need to be finding ways to encourage this because you never know who will grow out of their garage and build a business empire. And that's something we need more of in Birmingham.
I'm most passionate about how public policy shapes the contours of human reality. Good policy makes the burdens of life easier, encourages creativity and entrepreneurship, and generally makes society prosperous. Bad policy stifles people, discourages hope, and lowers all measures of human satisfaction. But distinguishing good policy from bad is not obvious and in some cases the same policy in one place utterly fails when applied elsewhere. The core problem is that statecraft has sadly fallen into decline in America, much to our detriment. Thoughtful consideration of policy has been replaced with sound-bite politicking. What we need is a return to statesmanship.
Beyond the heady consideration of studying policymaking itself, I have a particular interest in City Planning and how the built environment influences people and culture. I believe that the strongest communities, many of whom have endured for thousands of years, have their origins of strength and duration in being places where the humans are nurtured and stimulated. Figuring out how to produce that environment is a key area of study for me.
Beyond the heady consideration of studying policymaking itself, I have a particular interest in City Planning and how the built environment influences people and culture. I believe that the strongest communities, many of whom have endured for thousands of years, have their origins of strength and duration in being places where the humans are nurtured and stimulated. Figuring out how to produce that environment is a key area of study for me.
The City Council is the legislative branch of our City government. They pass the ordinances and laws, and they approve the budget.
The diversity on the9 member, district-elected Council is the source of both its strengths and weaknesses. When Councilors are working together and have a goal-oriented focus they can achieve victories for their citizens. When they squabble amongst themselves they hamper the ability of the City government to adequately address its needs and struggles. I believe that strong and effective Councilors look to build partnerships and consensus with their fellow Councilors.
The diversity on the9 member, district-elected Council is the source of both its strengths and weaknesses. When Councilors are working together and have a goal-oriented focus they can achieve victories for their citizens. When they squabble amongst themselves they hamper the ability of the City government to adequately address its needs and struggles. I believe that strong and effective Councilors look to build partnerships and consensus with their fellow Councilors.
I have always been enamored of Teddy Roosevelt. His can-do, never-give-up attitude has always been inspiring to me and I have thought of him as among the most American of Americans. While like any historical figure he's more complicated than the popular conception, I have always latched onto his desire to fight to make the country a better place than he found it and that's something that I aspire to. We need statespersons who care about improving the outcomes for all citizens and work together for the good of the community/nation and that's who I want to be.
Plato's Republic, The Life and Death of Great American Cities, A History of Rome, The Social Contract
I want to leave Birmingham stronger and better than I found it. I want to set us on a path to success and prosperity that lifts all our citizens up and enables them to be their best selves. I want Birmingham to be a center of future technologies that are used to improve the community and the people in it.
The biggest thing for people to understand about City Council in Birmingham is that Councilors do not control the budget, nor the executive functions of the City (paving roads, cutting grass, fixing things). The strict powers of the Council are passing legislation and voting to approve the budget and expenditures of the City. However, a City Councilor should always be a fierce advocate for not only their district, but of the needs of all citizens in the City and effective Councilors are leaders first and out in front. They don't just accept disfunction, they look for solutions.
I think it is valuable to have familiarity with how the local government operates and who is responsible for the different parts and services of our government. There are many paths that lead to such and it is important as a voter to consider the full picture of a candidate because experience in government alone does not guarantee that an office-seeker will be an effective force in the office.
Good interpersonal skills and effective communication are the key to being a strong Councilor.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate Birmingham City Council District 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 13, 2021
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