Few hats in the ring for mayor, City Council seats up for grabs

Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch, City Council President Virginia Smith and Councilman Philip Black announced jointly in February that they would seek to retain their offices in the Aug. 25 municipal elections.

At the time, Welch said he viewed 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.

This election will determine whether that “dream team” will remain intact.

At the end of candidate qualifying on July 21, Welch and Smith remained unopposed. Black has one challenger in Gerald A. Garner, a member of the Board of Zoning Adjustment.

Smith, who holds Council Place 4, and Black, who holds Council Place 2, 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.

The following are brief discussions of Welch and the other candidates. We also include dates and other information regarding the election, including the procedure to be followed if a candidate is unopposed.

MAYOR STEWART WELCH III

A Mountain Brook native, Welch was a political newcomer when he succeeded former Mayor Terry Oden in November 2016.

Welch runs his own company, The Welch Group, a fee-only financial advisory firm. He has also written books on personal finance.

The mayor said he enjoys working with the City Council and the other city employees.

“They just care about the community and they care about each other,” he said. “They’re just good people.”

2020 has been a turbulent, challenging year, with the COVID-19 pandemic and other events, but Welch said he believes the city has handled its response to events quite well.

That response “has been very much a collaboration,” said Welch, who credits the important roles played by the City Council, City Clerk Steven Boone, City Manager Sam Gaston and other department heads, as well as the city's employees and first responders.

Welch said he’s proud the city acted quickly to get help to local businesses — including restaurants — after the COVID-19 shutdown in mid-March.

The city has also been “very swift in relaxing lots of regulations” to help businesses, he said.

This effort to support business will continue. “My number one goal is to support our businesses and do everything we can to get them up to full speed,” he said.

As to the budgetary impact of COVID-19, Welch said property tax, which likely won’t be affected this year, is the city’s largest source of revenue.

However, sales taxes are important, and the city will be cautious in the next budget year, he said.

“We will likely postpone some expenses that otherwise we would have moved forward with, and those are being looked at on a project-by-project basis,” he said.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT VIRGINIA SMITH

A retired attorney and Mountain Brook native, Smith has been on the City Council for the past 20 years and has served as council president for three of her five terms.

In February, Smith told Village Living she pointed to the opening of Cahaba River Walk Park, the development of Lane Parke and the installation of sidewalks as a few projects she’s proud of. However, “It’s all a team effort,” she said in July.

Perhaps the most important objective for the council moving forward will be supporting local businesses affected by the pandemic and encouraging residents to buy local, Smith said.

The council will also deal with the budgetary fallout from COVID-19, Smith said.

“Our budget is more reliant on property tax, so we will not feel the impact ... as much as other communities will from a drop in sales taxes,” she said.

However, the city will still “have to make some hard choices,” Smith said.

COUNCILOR PHILIP BLACK

A commercial architect who owns B Group Architecture in Birmingham, Black is wrapping up his first term on the City Council.

Black was a member of the Board of Zoning Adjustments for 10 years and served as chairman about half that time.

He then served on the Planning Commission for four years and, after winning Place 2, became the council liaison to the commission.

Black said he uses his training as an architect and his knowledge of the impact of large commercial projects, both good and bad, to help the council and Planning Commission make decisions about development.

He expressed pride in the council’s “almost real-time efforts” to help local businesses during the pandemic. Regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the city’s budget, Black said the city can look at its revenue projections and build some “contingencies” into its new budget.

There may be some capital projects that can be delayed and allow the city “to stay in the black,” he said.

CHALLENGER GERALD A. GARNER

Gerald A. Garner, a former long-time member of the Parks and Recreation Board, is challenging Black for his council seat. Garner was also made a full member of the Board of Zoning Adjustment by the City Council on July 13.

If elected, Garner said he wants to help “advance and take care” of city facilities, including the roads, parks, athletic fields and the library, and keep them as up-to-date as possible. He said the city government should “advocate for commercial growth” and “wave the flag” for local businesses.

Garner wants to make the streets and schools safer by increasing support to first responders. Mountain Brook should lend “unwavering support” to the city’s “award-winning” schools, Garner said. He said he would also “condemn any and all actions that may attempt to alter the history and ideals” of the city.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Garner works as a financial advisor at UBS Financial Services.

ELECTIONS INFORMATION

Mountain Brook elections — held every two years — are at-large, meaning that City Council candidates do not represent specific districts, City Clerk Steven Boone said.

The offices are four-year terms, and all officials serve on a volunteer basis, Boone said.

If a candidate is unopposed, the members of the City Council sign a document called a Certificate of Election, and the candidate takes office the first Monday in November.

The signing of these certificates was to take place, if needed, on July 27, Boone said.

2020 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: KEY DATES

► Aug. 10: Last day to register to vote in the municipal general election.

► Aug. 20: Last day to apply for a regular absentee ballot.

► Aug. 24: Last day to apply for an emergency absentee ballot.

► Aug. 25: Election day. Polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

► Sept. 1: Election results will be counted, and certificates of election will be issued to all candidates who receive a majority. Runoffs will be planned for any seats where no candidate received a majority vote.

► Sept. 7: Last day for candidates to contest election results.

► Oct. 6: Runoff election day if runoff is needed.

► Nov. 2: Newly elected officials take office.