New City Clerk Heather Richards seeks to do the job ‘with integrity and honor’

At a meeting of the Mountain Brook City Council on Aug. 23, Heather Richards was sworn in as the new city clerk.

However, Richards is not a new face at City Hall, having  already been employed by the city for what she calls “eight wonderful years.”

She served as a magistrate in the Mountain Brook Municipal Court for two years before becoming magistrate supervisor.

Mountain Brook “has always felt like ‘home’ to me in terms of employment,” Richards said.

About 15 years ago, Richards worked for a probation company, and Mountain Brook was one of the places she would go.

“I knew back then that I wanted to work for the city,” she said.

Richards enjoys the community of Mountain Brook, at least in part, due to the place where she grew up.

“I am from a small, one-red-light town in Walker County called Carbon Hill, and I loved living in a small town,” she said. “There is something very intimate in knowing a town and everyone in it.”

This is one of the things that drew her to Mountain Brook. “I loved how the community is involved with the city and how the city is involved with the community,” Richards said.

The magistrate position came open in 2013 “I knew I had to get the position,” she said. “When I was offered the position, I knew this would be the place I would retire.”

Richards later decided she would like to be city clerk. Steve Boone, who is also assistant city manager and finance director, formerly functioned as city clerk.

To prepare, Richards took the required tests at the Personnel Board of Jefferson County Alabama and placed in the top 10.

“My hope was one day the position would come open and I wanted to be prepared for it, if and when it did,” she  said.

Richards was happy as magistrate supervisor, but she “wanted to be more involved with the happenings of the city,” she said.

The city clerk has numerous duties, including documenting and facilitating city council meetings; documenting and publishing ordinances and resolutions; maintaining public records; supervising the court and revenue department; and serving as the city’s chief election official.

The job allowed Richards to “be in the front seat of the decision-making process that goes on in the city,” she said. “Seeing the way the government operates from this point of view is very intriguing.”

Richards said she wants to “excel” at the job and “strive daily to exceed any expectations the residents may have.”

The city clerk is a “very public position,” said Richards, who said she’s comfortable in that role.

“I’m very much a people person,” she said. “I enjoy conversing and engaging with the public.”

Richards also hopes to change a “misconception” a lot of people have about government.

“They may have had a bad experience or know someone else who had a bad experience with a government entity,” she said. “I want individuals that come into the building to feel welcome and know they matter and their opinion matters.”

“I want to be the best city clerk I can be and uphold this position with integrity and honor,” Richards said.

An Alabaster resident, Richards has worked in the court system for 13 years and, prior to coming to Mountain Brook, served as a magistrate for the city of Hoover.

She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from The University of Alabama at Birmingham and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public administration from UAB.