Only one race to be contested in Aug. 25 Mountain Brook election

Only one race will be contested in the Aug. 25 municipal election in Mountain Brook.

Gerald A. Garner, a former long-time member of the Parks and Recreation Board, is challenging Councilor Philip Black for his council seat in Place 2. Black is finishing his first term after winning election in 2016.

Mayor Stewart Welch III and City Council President Virginia Carruthers Smith, who holds Place 4, will be unopposed, said Mountain Brook City Clerk Steven Boone. 

Candidate qualifying ended on Tuesday, July 21, at 5 p.m.

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.

Garner served on the Parks and Recreation Board for over a decade beginning in 2007 and is now a full member of the Board of Zoning Adjustment after a vote by the City Council on July 13.

If elected, Garner told Village Living that he wants to help “advance and take care” of city facilities, including the roads, parks, athletic fields and 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.

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

The offices are 4-year terms, and all officials serve on a volunteer basis, he 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 will take place on July 27, Boone said.