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Hoover council appoints Deanna Bamman as next school board member

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The Hoover City Council tonight named Deanna Bamman to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Hoover school board.

The vote was 5-2, with Councilmen Gene Smith and John Lyda casting the no votes.

Prior to the vote, Smith said he felt another candidate was also a strong contender for the seat, which comes open June 1 and carries a five-year term.

"In my opinion there was one other person who lives and breathes Hoover schools," Smith said. "I feel very saddened that this person did not receive more consideration."

Lyda voiced concern that the City Council did not seek to fill the vacancy with a person from the east side of Hoover, the location of Spain Park High School.

"I don't feel the council is doing a good job getting complete coverage on the school board," Lyda said. "We had three strong candidates from the east side of the city, and I'd like to know what sets Ms. Bamman apart from those three."

Council President Jack Wright then called for the vote, saying "we're not going to discuss personal issues."

Following the meeting, Lyda said while Bamman is an outstanding individual, he remains concerned about the City Council's appointments to boards.

"All areas of our city should be represented on our appointed boards, and we're doing a less-than-adequate job of assuring that coverage to address those unique challenges at those schools that are in the Spain Park feeder pattern," Lyda said.

A resident of Trace Crossings, Bamman is the property manager for the Park Trace Swim & Tennis Club. She is a former sales manager for the McRae's department store at the Riverchase Galleria and also managed retail stores in Gainsville, Florida and Houston, Texas and was a payroll administrator in Gainesville, Florida.

Residing in Hoover for 12 years, Bamman has a senior and freshman at Hoover High and a 2013 Hoover High graduate. She is scheduled to serve on 2016-17 Hoover City Schools Strategic Planning Committee and has served on school system committees for accreditation, federal programs and the school calendar. She has been on the school system’s Teacher of the Year selection committee and principal search committees for Bumpus Middle and Brock’s Gap Intermediate schools.

Bamman served two years as president of the Hoover Parent Teacher Council, led the establishment of the Brock’s Gap Intermediate PTO and has served on PTO executive boards at Trace Crossings Elementary; Bumpus Middle and Hoover High, including two years as president of the Bumpus PTO.

Bammon attended Samford University and was a business/marketing major at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In her application for the school board seat, she said the most critical issues facing the school system are: devising a path to a balanced budget that enables program enhancement while ensuring high-quality education; meeting the needs of Hoover’s growing and increasingly diverse population; and developing strategies to increase revenue and reduce non-essential expenditures.

The Hoover City Council also tonight postponed a vote on the request of William Gary Beard to have live entertainment and serve alcoholic beverages at the Park Crest event facility at 2034 Little Valley Road.

The council was told that apartments located near Park Crest had recently changed hands and the new owners had concerns about the event center. Hoover planning consultant Bob House plans to meet with the new owners to discuss their concerns and report back to the council at the next meeting.

The council did approve the request by Ed and Barbara Randle to turn their residence at 2255 Tyler Road into a facility for weddings, corporate meetings and other events.

House said while there was some opposition, the Randles addressed the issues with most of their neighbors.

"The general feeling in the neighborhood is it's better to do this than sell the house, have it knocked down and see a subdivision built on the acreage," House said.

In other business tonight, the City Council:

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