Roderick Royal

Roderick V. Royal represents District 9 in the Birmingham City Council. He also serves as Chair of the Education Committee and is a member of the Transportation and Communications committee and the Planning and Zoning committee. He was first elected to the City Council in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005. His current term ends in 2009.

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. 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.

Royal holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's of public administration from Webster University in St Louis. He has also graduated from the University of Alabama police academy.

Previously, Royal served as the Alabama state coordinator for Job Corps, as a college instructor, 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 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."

External links

• Royal's council bio at informationbirmingham.com
• RoyalTwerp.com, criticism of Royal