Back in the running: Mayor, city councilors announce re-election bid

Three city officials have publicized their intent to run for re-election.

In late February, Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch, City Council President Virginia Smith and Councilman Phil Black announced in a joint press release they will aim to retain their positions in the Aug. 25 municipal elections.

Smith and Black are the only Mountain Brook council members whose terms expire this year. The terms of the other three council members — Billy Pritchard, Lloyd Shelton and Alice Womack — continue until 2022.

Welch said he views the current City Council as a “dream team.”

“I look at the composition of the City Council, and the talents that each of them bring to the table are all unique and uniquely needed,” he said.

Welch, a Mountain Brook native, was a political newcomer when he succeeded longtime mayor Terry Oden in November 2016.

Welch has spent his professional career building a nationally recognized fee-only financial advisory firm, The Welch Group, and has written regular columns and several books on personal finance.

“I just assumed that it would be kind of like business. You decide to do something, you go do it,” Welch said. “It’s not. You decide on something....everything seems to take three times as long. It’s just the nature of government.”

Although he didn’t know what to expect upon taking office, Welch said he has enjoyed being mayor and is running again because he likes working with the City Council and city employees. He also has embraced his role as the face of Mountain Brook.

“I just wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t fun,” he said.

Welch has prioritized communication and collaboration during his time in office. He oversaw reconstruction of the city’s website, created the Circle of 100 email newsletter promoting city events and has connected with youth through his $1 million bill initiative. Welch gives faux $1 million bills to kids that can be redeemed at City Hall for a sleeve of Starbursts. He said he started the program to encourage kids to engage with city government.

Welch also has connected with leaders from neighboring municipalities, helping initiate a quarterly luncheon with the mayors of Homewood, Hoover and Vestavia Hills.

“We just sat around and got to know each other, and we actually really liked each other,” Welch said.

Conversations at those quarterly luncheons contributed to the development of the non-poaching agreement signed in April 2019 by more than 20 mayors from Jefferson County, including Welch. The voluntary agreement states that cities will not give incentives or otherwise try to lure businesses from their neighbors.

Welch said the regional cooperation experienced under his leadership has been a “game changer.”

“If you look at the communities, the regions that have done really well, they all have some form of non-poaching agreement where they basically say, ‘We need to not be fighting each other. We need to actually be working together,’” he said.

Welch also has demonstrated care for the environment, helping start Shades Creek Fest in 2018 and advocating for the formation of American Green Zone Alliance Green Zones within the city. Electric lawn equipment is used during routine maintenance in those areas in lieu of gas-powered equipment.

Moving forward, Welch said one of his goals will be improving the city’s youth athletic facilities.

“We’re going to raise the level of youth athletics, particularly related to the facilities, so that we can be more competitive,” he said.

Unlike Welch, Smith was not a political rookie in 2016. She has been on the City Council for the past 20 years and has served as council president for three of her five terms. The retired attorney — who is originally from Mountain Brook — said she wants to keep her council seat because it allows her to serve her community, stay involved and meet new people.

She said she’s a good listener and thoughtful decision-maker with a high degree of institutional knowledge.

“I think when you listen well, then you’re willing to listen to everybody’s opinions and try to make informed decisions,” she said. “Sometimes you give a little, take a little.”

Smith pointed to the opening of Cahaba River Walk Park, development of Lane Parke and installation of sidewalks as a few projects of which she’s most proud. She also is part of a roundtable with councilors from other municipalities.

One of the group’s current objectives is improving recycling across the area.

“That’s been very interesting and great collaboration between our cities, and we get a lot done there,” Smith said.

Black, a commercial architect who owns the B Group Architecture firm, is wrapping up his first term on the City Council. He previously served on the Board of Zoning Adjustments for 10 years before joining the Planning Commission.

He was a commission member for two years and became the council’s liaison to the commission upon his election in 2016.

“I’m able to use the skill sets I bring as an architect...to match the other skill sets on the council,” he said.

Black has lived in Mountain Brook since 1984 and said he is glad to hold a position in which he can help the city continue to improve. He said his decisions are informed by an understanding of the unique challenge Mountain Brook faces in balancing commercial growth with neighborhood preservation.

“We have to be really diligent about fostering good business in the villages because they’re not going to get any bigger, so we have to go for quality instead of quantity,” he said.

Mountain Brook’s mayor, city councilors and all committee members serve without pay. Those interested in running for office can qualify July 7-21 at Mountain Brook City Hall.