No election, Womack and Shelton to assume council positions

For the second time in a row, Mountain Brook’s municipal election has been cancelled. Only one person qualified for each City Council seat open for election, which was scheduled for Aug. 26. The qualifying period for candidates ended July 15.

New on the council starting in November will be Alice Womack and Lloyd Shelton, who will take the place of Amy Carter and Jesse Vogtle. Both Carter and Vogtle are stepping down to pursue other commitments.

Billy Pritchard’s seat was also open for election this year, but no one qualified to run against him, allowing him to remain for another four-year term. Council members Jack Carl (Place 2) and president Virginia Smith (Place 4) and Mayor Terry Oden’s terms all end in 2016.

The City Council is made of five representatives plus the mayor. Places are held at-large, not by district. There are no term limits, and the members are not compensated.

In 2012, incumbents Smith, Carl and Oden all entered the ballot uncontested, but in 2010 eight candidates applied and campaigned for three City Council positions.

The election being cancelled will also save both the city and the candidates money. An election usually costs the city between $25,000 and $27,000, whether it’s for one seat or six.

Meet the new council members

Alice Womack is the vice president at First Commercial Bank, where she is employed in the Private Client Group as a lender and relationship manager. She currently serves on the Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation Board and is on the city’s Finance Committee. She also served terms as president of Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband Lowell Womack Jr. and have two children in the Mountain Brook School System.

Lloyd Shelton is a 1980 graduate of Mountain Brook High School and is an accountant with Lovoy, Summerville, Shelton, LLC. He is the current president of the Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation and chair of the City of Mountain Brook Finance Committee. Mountain Brook Sports Corporation, current chair. He has also been involved with the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce, Birmingham YMCA, University of Alabama College of Continuing Studies Board of Visitors, Sigma Nu Fraternity and the Sunrise Rotary Club of Birmingham.