Hoover looks within to fill chief operations officer, city engineer roles
Jim Wyatt was ready to retire as the head of the Hoover Building Inspections Department at the end of 2019, but the departure of Chief Operations Officer Tim Westhoven opened a new opportunity for him.
Westhoven recommended Wyatt to replace him, and Mayor Frank Brocato and City Administrator Allan Rice agreed Wyatt was the right person for the job, so Wyatt decided to stay with the city in an expanded role. He became acting chief operations officer in January and was appointed to the position on a permanent basis in May.
The 67-year-old now oversees not only the Building Inspections Department, but also the engineering, public works and fleet management departments.
It’s very similar to the role that Wyatt had in Homewood for six years before coming to Hoover.
“I love it,” Wyatt said. “It’s very interesting to interact with the different departments and their concerns and issues. It kind of breathed new life in my career.”
Wyatt said he is no longer dealing just with building plans and code issues for private companies. He now has a chance to manage city projects, troubleshoot and figure out how to get projects funded and completed, he said.
Wyatt got his start in the construction industry in the 1970s after going through a construction management apprenticeship program directed by Allen Pate (who would later become the city of Hoover’s executive director).
He worked for the Daniel International construction company for four years, then several years with Brasfield & Gorrie. After that, he worked for the city of Birmingham for more than 31 years, starting as a building inspector, then chief building inspector and finally as Birmingham’s chief building official, overseeing 60 inspectors, plans examiners and permit clerks. Then came the move to Homewood before Pate called him to lead Hoover’s Building Inspections Department four years ago.
Wyatt also served 10 years on the Alabama’s State Elevator Board, served on the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Construction Arbitration Committee and taught a special studies course on building codes in the UAB School of Engineering for two nights per week for three years.
He and his wife, Jan, have three children and 10 grandchildren and have lived off South Shades Crest Road for 15 years. He and his wife attend Hunter Street Baptist Church.
CITY ENGINEER
Hoover also gained a new city engineer in May following the departure of longtime City Engineer Rodney Long.
Chris Reeves, who served as assistant city engineer for more than 17 years, landed the top job in that department in May after serving 41/2 months as acting city engineer.
Reeves earned a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University in aviation management in 1992 and went to work on a statewide survey crew for the Alabama Department of Transportation. He went back to Auburn in 1995, while continuing to work for ALDOT, and in 1997 earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
Reeves then worked for the Allen-Simpson design firm in Phoenix City for about a year and for the city of Auburn as a project engineer for almost two years. He moved to Skipper Consulting in 2000 and came to the city of Hoover as assistant city engineer in 2002.
As assistant city engineer, Reeves worked on everything from planning and zoning issues to traffic, street light maintenance, project management, road resurfacing and subdivision inspections for new construction. It is that variety that he has loved, he said.
“It’s never boring. It’s a very challenging and fun place to work,” he said. “A lot of good people work here.”
When Long retired at the end of 2019, Reeves said numerous co-workers encouraged him to apply for the city engineer post, so he prayed about it and decided to.
“It’s a good opportunity for me,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll do a good job as city engineer. Rod set the bar pretty high.”
Reeves, 51, is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers and International Municipal Signal Association. He and his wife, Amy, live in Trussville, have three children (ages 16, 15 and 11) and attend First Baptist Church Trussville.