Illustration by Melanie Veiring
ask the candidate
Mountain Brook residents will vote on two city council seats on Aug. 26. Candidates Gerald Garner and David Silverstein are running to represent Place 2.
The candidates shared why they’re running with Village Living.
Q: How do you plan to strengthen the relationship between City Hall and residents?
Garner: The city has a website that we try to promote. The city has apps — the police app, for example — that can keep you updated on inclement weather, road closures, accidents. City Council meetings are not the most exciting thing in the world for people to attend, so we have YouTube where residents can watch. But it’s difficult for cities to disseminate information. We have Facebook pages, and Stuart Franco and his group are trying to help us reach out more than we have. But not everybody is going to sign up for text alerts. Anytime we have the opportunity to tell residents, “Hey, there are some really good avenues for you to see what’s going on,” we try to do that. And people can call me for anything — that’s why I signed up.
Silverstein: It starts with listening. I believe in open, transparent government where residents feel informed, respected, and involved early in the process. As a councilor, I’ll be accessible and proactive in making sure decisions reflect the values and priorities of our community.
To read Garner's full Q&A, click here. See Silverstein's full Q&A here.
