Servants behind the scenes
Parks and Recreation
As superintendent of the Parks and Recreation department, Shanda Williams exemplifies servant leadership through her tireless efforts to make Mountain Brook’s parks beautiful, functional and enjoyable. Williams cares deeply about not only about the people around her but also about Mountain Brook as a whole.
As a result of her work, many people, both Mountain Brook residents and visitors, are able to enjoy the beautiful park environments she has helped develop and maintain. Area parks embody the greatness of the community, and without Williams serving the background role and placing others before herself, our small town just would not feel like Mountain Brook.
-Written by Adele Bird, Jim Crosswhite and Maggie Hightower
Fire Department
According to Mountain Brook Fire Chief Robert “Zeke” Ezekiel, servant leadership is embodied by much more than holding a coveted title and having access to certain privileges. Being a true servant leader means putting those you lead first, taking on a demanding amount of responsibility and work and always considering fellow coworkers as equals.
The department brings this definition to life every day it serves the community. Its firefighters do not answer calls strictly for fires; they assist citizens in any capacity necessary.
Chief Ezekiel continuously reminds his firefighters that one of the most important principles is to put others before yourself. Ezekiel practices this by letting his “family eat first,” meaning he cares for his firefighters’ needs before his own.
-Written by Anna Matthews, Hailey Smith, Katherine Grace Moore and Sophie Brint
Emmet O’Neal Library
Emmet O’Neal librarian Sue J. DeBrecht is a perfect example of servant leadership. DeBrecht has led accomplishments such as expanding the library by 23,500 feet, creating programs for all ages and creating a studious but fun library environment.
DeBrecht did these things by working closely with community leaders and library sponsors. As a result of her work, in 2012 she received the Eminent Librarian Award, which is the highest award given by the Alabama Library Association.
Outside of the library, DeBrecht is a volunteer coach for the Wenonah girl’s basketball team. When the team won the state championship, its members awarded her with a trophy. She also volunteers her free time at the Barber Motorsports Park.
-Written by Robert Waudby, Mary Lee Livingston, Julia Bell Pope
City Officials
As city manager, Sam Gaston’s job is to make sure that each and every member of the departments is doing their job to the best of their ability. However, Gaston goes above and beyond just his job description. Everyone we have talked to has nothing but positive things to say about him. His secretary, Doris Kenny, told us that Gaston expects her to be in her office from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. every day in order to answer calls from the citizens of Mountain Brook.
Steve Boone says that he wears many hats as the Mountain Brook city clerk and CFO. He told us that with a community as small as Mountain Brook, finding full time staff is a difficult task, so he is focused on many different jobs including, budgeting, employee benefits and investment management. He is able to take any job that is asked of him and is able to complete it, no questions asked. After talking to his daughter, we gathered that she really has a lot of respect for him as a father in how he is able to motivate her and that same motivation and determination shines through in his job.
Dana Hazen, Mountain Brook’s city planner, takes on the role to beautify our community. From street signs to trash cans to the placement of our city’s parks, nothing is too big or too small for her to handle. Talking to her, we gathered that she really values leadership. She said that her most important characteristic a leader should have is to be inspirational and considerate of others’ time. Since starting her job here, she has done this by becoming aware that in order for other people to do their jobs better, she needs to get back to them as soon as she can.
-Written by Tara Henderson, Annie Leonelli, Sophie Bluestein and George Keller
Police Department
The Mountain Brook Police department strives to bring a feeling of safety and comfort to our community, and who better to lead it than Police Chief Ted Cook? He has had FBI training, experience as an officer and experience as the chief of police at a previous station.
Chief Cook teaches his force to be the best that they can be and to help our city whenever possible. His officers keep the streets safe that Mountain Brook children can walk to school as early as their first year of kindergarten. Last year, the city had no vehicular deaths from car accidents.
Our favorite story Chief Cook told when we interviewed him was about an officer going to a house to help a woman unlock her car only to find that the woman living there had a pipe burst. He spent his time using what he knew about plumbing to do a patch-up job for her so her basement wouldn’t flood until someone came to fix it.
-Written by Benjamin Rosenthal, Katie Littleton, Lucy Gardner and Charlie Lewis
Public Works
Ronnie Vaughn, the head official for the Public Works department in Mountain Brook, leads by example.
One quality that he likes most about his employees is how they pick up trash around our city even if it’s not theirs. He prides himself and his employees on doing that, and he only hires those in whom he sees as a positive contribution to the Public Works department and who show qualities of a leader.
Vaughn’s work is mostly behind the scenes, and he does not ask for recognition. He leads his employees in keeping Mountain Brook a safe and clean place.
-Written by Carter Hancock, Courtney Niemann and Wells Thomas