Hoover mayor stresses diversity in 2019 state-of-the-city address
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato today stressed the city’s diversity in his 2019 state-of-the-city address to the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce.
Brocato began his speech to the 230 or so people at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel by noting that students in Hoover schools speak more than 50 languages.
“If you want to live in a city where people of all nationalities work, live and play together, come to Hoover, Alabama,” Brocato said. “No matter who you are or where you come from, Hoover is home to people of so many different cultures and nationalities and all walks of life, and I feel like that’s one of our greatest strengths — just to be with people that don’t look like you. To me, it’s the differences that make us stronger, that make Hoover a model city.”
Brocato said that, from the beginning of his administration, he has made it a priority to increase diversity in the city’s hiring practices and civic life in general.
“We believe we have to reflect the variety of people and cultures in our community so we can have a healthy Hoover going forward,” he said.
The mayor referenced the Thanksgiving night shootings at the Riverchase Galleria and ensuing protests by people who believed a police officer’s shooting of a man with a gun at the mall was unjustified and perhaps another example of unfair police action toward the black community.
“Many of the things said on social media and in general media about our city just are not true,” Brocato said. “It’s not the Hoover we know.”
However, at the same time, the mayor said he wants to use this experience as an opportunity to look inward, ask questions, get answers and seek the best practices on how to improve.
“Going forward, we intend to spend even more time in conversations with people from all walks of life,” Brocato said. “We want to know what their experience is like living in or working in or visiting Hoover. We want to know. When we listen to each other, our differences will be leveraged to make us stronger.”
Brocato said that, in many ways, Hoover is already a model city, including how a diverse America does business, lives together and works through differences.
“We’re living proof that no matter who you are, you can come to our city, get a good education, raise your family and earn a living,” he said.
PHYSICAL, ECONOMIC GROWTH
The mayor also spent time talking about the physical and economic growth of the city, moving from a small suburb along U.S. 31 to an economic powerhouse with a vibrant business base and superb school system and public safety offerings.
He thanked people for their input in the city’s comprehensive plan, which is in the final stages of development. He said it’s critical for the city to learn from its past, but more important to look at what it can become in the next 50 years.
The comprehensive plan will help city leaders develop and upgrade its city center, contain suburban sprawl, improve traffic flow and revitalize older neighborhoods, he said.
He said the city’s retail economy has been under attack by online sales for quite a while but is still doing very well.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed taxation of online sales was good, but the city still has issues with how the state is processing and distributing that tax money, he said. His administration will continue to fight in the Legislature for a more equitable distribution of tax money, he said.
The mayor noted three new shopping centers that are under construction — Stadium Trace Village, The Village at Brock at Brock’s Gap and Tattersall Park, and touted the opening of stores new to the Hoover market, such as Cavender’s (western wear), Duluth Trading Co., Aldi, Saltgrass Steakhouse, and Dave and Buster’s.
He also said his administration realizes that existing shopping centers need attention as well and is working with property managers and sales agents to get full utilization of all spaces.
The city’s new economic developer, Greg Knighton, is working to both attract new businesses in high-growth, high-wage industries and help existing businesses expand.
He also said the city is looking forward to a ribbon cutting soon for McLeod Software’s new corporate headquarters at Meadow Brook Corporate Park and IberiaBank’s new regional operations center in International Park.
Brocato said the city also stands to gain economically from the expansion of the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, which is putting the finishing touches on the final phase of development there. That includes five NCAA-size soccer/football/lacrosse fields, 16 tennis courts and a playground and splash pad designed to include accommodations for kids and adults with physical disabilities.
The city has secured the SEC Baseball Tournament through at least 2021, and the new athletic fields and Finley Center are becoming popular places for athletic tournaments and events that draw people from across the Southeast, he said. The growth of the complex should create demand for more hotels in the city, he said.
CITY GOVERNMENT
Brocato praised the work of various city departments and employees and noted the City Council’s willingness to fund various initiatives.
For example, the council agreed to hire eight new firefighters to staff a new ladder truck in western Hoover, which the mayor said should greatly improve response times to emergencies in the fastest growing part of the city.
The council also has added six more police officers, including four new patrol positions that will allow the Police Department to create a new beat and improve it presence and readiness, he said.
And the council has boosted the city’s contribution to Hoover schools to more than $7 million, including money to put police officers in each Hoover school at all times children are present, the mayor said.
CARING PEOPLE
But the greatest strength of Hoover is its people, Brocato said. He recognized several individuals and groups who are making a positive difference with new initiatives, including:
- Greg and Donna Bishop, a couple who started the Hoover Helps program that provides food for needy children in Hoover schools on the weekends.
- David Bannister, who is working with Hoover Helps and Hoover school counselors, to start a Neighborhood Bridges program that provides clothing, food and household goods for needy families in the city.
- Shehzan Maredia and Pippa Lother, two Hoover High School students who created a CleanHoover Initiative to organize environmental cleanup and awareness events.
- Madison Etheridge, a fifth-grader at Brock’s Gap Intermediate School with cerebral palsy who maintains a can-do, positive spirit despite the obstacles she must overcome. She is always trying new things, including cheerleading, dance, swimming and karate, and is an inspiration to her classmates, teachers and the community, he said.
These are just a few of the many caring people in Hoover that make the city special, the mayor said.
Also at today’s chamber luncheon, Chamber Executive Director April Stone gave out several awards:
- Alicia White of JMA Enterprises was named the chamber’s Member of the Year.
- Jason Cobb of America’s First Federal Credit Union was named the chamber’s Board Member of the Year.
- Jay Clyce of Weber Mortgage was named the chamber’s Ambassador of the Year.