Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
John Marsh, 10, and Mayor Graham Smith
Jill Marsh snaps a photo of her son John, 10, and Mayor Graham Smith, during the Mountain Brook City Council meeting on Jan. 12.
If John Marsh’s term as Mountain Brook mayor extended beyond one day, homework might not be considered in students’ grades in the city’s schools.
“I do think that we should have … a law that homework does not count as a grade,” the Cherokee Bend Elementary fourth grader said. “I’m not [fond of homework].”
But the first Sarah C. Marsh Mayor for the Day had done his homework before taking office on Monday, Jan. 12.
He studied the agenda for the Mountain Brook City Council meeting and pre-council meeting, focusing on an item involving a police department vehicle that would be turned over to an insurance company after a wreck.
John’s research led him to a recommendation he would make if he remained in office.
“I personally think a really fast long-range EV [electric vehicle],” the 10-year-old said. “I was thinking like a Tesla Model X. The other day I was scrolling through a page on the 43 best police cars. One on there was a Tesla Model X. I was like, ‘Well, [it’s] fast, environmentally friendly and longer range than a normal gasoline-powered police car.’”
John’s mother Jill said she didn’t envision her son as a mayor but wasn’t surprised.
“He’s a good leader and he’s confident,” she said. “He’s not scared of talking in front of people, and he has really good ideas. Yeah, he’s a good problem solver, so it does kind of fit.”
Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
John Marsh, 10, and Mayor Graham Smith
John Marsh speaks with Mayor Graham Smith next to a framed photo of John and his sister, Sarah. The city’s annual Sarah C. Marsh Mayor for the Day honor was renamed for Sarah who died in the July 4, 2025, flash flood at Camp Mystic in west-central Texas.
Although John is proud of enthusiastically going to the polls with his parents on election day, he said he has other visions for his future.
“I want to be a family medicine doctor, follow in my mom’s footsteps and take over her clinic when she’s old,” he said, quickly displaying the diplomacy that would make him a good politician. “She’s not old right now.”
Graham Smith, newly elected mayor of the city, conducted her first official action as Mountain Brook’s chief administrator. Smith proclaimed that the city’s annual Mayor for the Day will henceforth be the Sarah C. Marsh Mayor for the Day, honoring the 8-year-old Mountain Brook girl who was among 27 who lost their lives in the catastrophic July 4, 2025, flash flood at Camp Mystic in west-central Texas.
Sarah’s beloved brother John is the first youngster upon whom the title of Sarah C. Marsh Mayor for the Day was bestowed.
“My first act of business,” Smith said after John gaveled the Jan. 12 council meeting to a close. “I loved that little girl very much. I knew her, and she was so special and dear.
“Sometimes you just know what the right thing to do is,” Smith continued. “This little one loved politics. She did. She loved campaigning. She was ferocious in her own special way. She had a lot of love.”
John stood by Smith’s side as she read the proclamation honoring the life of his sister. Parents Patrick, a sports administration professor at Samford University, and Jill beamed with every word.
“Sarah demonstrated an uncommon enthusiasm for civic life and public service,” the mayor read. “She was an avid ‘politico’ with a deep passion for campaigning and assisting in local municipal elections — always eager to participate, to learn and to lead.”
John sat at the head of the table during the pre-council meeting, pounding the gavel when prompted to open and then conclude the meeting. As the grown-up politicians assembled in executive session, John dined on a supper of fried rice and Skittles in “his” office upstairs.
“The dinner of champions,” said Jill, “for special occasions.”
During the meeting, the city council amended Mountain Brook’s truck ordinance, expanding the definition of a commercial truck. The ordinance had previously said a commercial truck has three or more axles.
“What it said before is that a [commercial] truck had to have three axles or it wasn't considered a truck,” said City Attorney Whit Colvin, who served on a committee with traffic engineer Richard Caudle and Police Chief Thomas Boulware. “I think the committee realized that there are certain trucks that can be really big and can be designed to carry freight or other commercial equipment but may not have three axles.
“That’s sort of an antiquated definition,” Colvin said. “Essentially, this one focuses less on the form of the truck and more on what it does.”
