Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Mountain Brook's retiring City Manager Sam S. Gaston, on Nov. 10, 2025. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
A brief meeting of the Mountain Brook City Council concluded early Monday night, giving way to the real main event of the evening.
A large crowd filled the council chamber to honor its namesake — retiring City Manager Sam S. Gaston.
Gaston sat in the audience Monday night, not in his customary seat at the end of the dais. His successor Steve Boone assumed his new seat with the mayor and council.
When the meeting adjourned, everyone in the chamber celebrated Gaston, who is retiring after more than three decades.
“It's bittersweet,” he said. “I have just thoroughly enjoyed working for this great community and with such great people. The mayor and council have been very generous to me and the staff and our employees, and I will always remember that.
“I did 32 and a half years,” Gaston continued. “There are not many city managers that make a 32-and-a-half-year career in the same city. But I just enjoyed being here. It was fun, it was a good fit for the community. Plus, the mayor and council let me do my job.”
The departing city manager said he and the city did lots of exciting things to move the community forward. He said he was always impressed by the brain trust in the city — “people who had so much to give — knowledge, experience, education — to give back to the community.”
Gaston said the city he helped guide is wonderful because residents don't expect the government to solve all the issues. He cited a strong public-private partnership in Mountain Brook.
“You've got people who will give money for the betterment of the schools or the Chamber of Commerce or the library or the recreation programs,” he said. “There have been a lot of real, public-private partnerships since I've been here, which is, I think, also very commendable on behalf of the residents here.”
New City Council President Billy Pritchard opened the meeting with proclamations honoring Gaston and retiring Council President Virginia Smith, for whom the pre-council meeting room has been named. Retiring Mayor Stewart Welch III received the first proclamation from new Mayor Graham Smith, calling Welch “someone I truly think the world of.”
Said Pritchard: “The contributions of these three people to the city of Mountain Brook is hard for anybody to really understand unless you’re somebody like us that … has seen the service and the work they’ve provided to our city.”
During the meeting, the council:
- Reappointed Scott Boomhover to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
- Amended the traffic island improvement policy. Amounts of $1,500, $2,500 and $3,500 for improvements, depending on the size of the island.
- Approved the sale or disposal of surplus property.
- Authorized the purchase of an F-350 for the fire department.
- Appointed Maretta Ashford to fill the remaining two years of Mayor Graham Smith’s term at the Place 1 member of the city council. Ashford will be sworn in at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12.
