Joseph Holt, a licensed home builder and youth nonprofit leader, is running for the District 4 Birmingham city council seat.

Holt’s campaign focuses on neighborhood revitalization, restoring the neighborhood watch, investments in opportunities for youth and transparency between local government and residents.

Holt said he plans to use his experience to create safer and more vibrant neighborhoods.

“I want people to not feel like they’re obsolete, like they have no voice, like now. I think bringing transparency and lots of community engagement will help the community and the government become one,” Holt said.

Growing up in Birmingham’s Kingston neighborhood, Holt said he hoped to see his community transform and thrive. Decades later, he said, the neighborhood is still plagued by poverty, drugs and violence.

Holt said he hopes to change that.

“Why does our neighborhood still look like they’re in poverty? After all the money, all the budgets, Kingston, Collegeville, Inglenook, East Birmingham, still look poverty ridden,” Holt said. “And that’s why I wanted to get in there, to see if I can make a change, because Kingston is where I grew up.”

Holt said he remembers participating on the neighborhood watch and listening to the elders and councilmen of his neighborhood talk about the importance of community.

“That’s what makes me qualified, because I grew up seeing what values used to be. I grew up seeing what our neighborhood used to look like, clean streets, nice grass, pretty houses and the elderly sitting on the front porch with that newspaper and they weren’t scared,” Holt said.

“Growing up seeing that, that’s what makes me qualified, because now I can restore that when I get into that seat.”

After attending Woodlawn High School, Holt earned his GED from Jefferson State Community College. He went on to study at Lawson State Community College where he earned his certification in heating, ventilation and air conditioning before becoming a licensed home builder.

Over the years, Holt said, he renovated more than 50 homes throughout Birmingham, primarily in the Kingston and Woodlawn neighborhoods through his company H Plus H.

“I started buying a lot of the drug houses, completely gutting them and renovating them, to bring back families, bring back renters with children that can go to school, because I want to see kids on swings and riding bikes in the neighborhood again, like I grew up seeing,” Holt said.

To better help the young people in his neighborhood, Holt launched a nonprofit in 2024.

The Holt Foundation for Change trains local youth in carpentry, plumbing and electrical work, equipping them with trade skills that can set them on a better path. Holt has helped young adults secure internships, jobs and scholarships.

As a councilman, Holt said he wants to ensure children and teens have more workforce training opportunities to reduce crime.

“I want to give those kids opportunities,” Holt said. “They need to know that they can put the guns down and they can go gain a paycheck.”

Holt is the father of an A.H. Parker High School student and member of Rock City Church and First Baptist Kingston.

“I’m a part of the fabric of District 4,” Holt said. “I always invested in District 4 and that’s what I’m about. I love my community, I love my district, and I just want to change it and make it look the way that I always imagined it could look.”

In May 2022, Holt was arrested for working with an expired contractor’s license. The charges were dropped after renewing his license that same year.

Holt will be running against District 4 incumbent J.T. Moore, Darryl Williams and Brian Gunn.

The city of Birmingham will hold the election for mayor and city council on Aug. 26.