Eaker seeks to be voice for eastern Hoover on City Council

Mitzi Eaker has been interested in politics for seven or eight years and has noticed that the far eastern part of Hoover doesn’t have any of its residents in elected positions with the city.

So she, as an Inverness resident for the past 15 years, decided to throw her name in the ring for Hoover City Council Place 2, which is being vacated by Gene Smith as he runs for mayor.

Eaker faces four competitors for the Place 2 seat: Ron Brown, Robin Schultz, Dina Shunnarah and Sam Swiney. The election is Aug. 25.

Eaker said she thinks it’s important that residents in the eastern part of Hoover have a voice in city government — someone who knows the U.S. 280 area and what it’s like to live there.

“I do feel like I can be the voice for this side of town,” she said.

That said, she understands that each spot on the Hoover City Council is a citywide position and that she would be working for all the residents of Hoover, regardless of where they live.

She knows places like Ross Bridge are special, and she has spent a lot of time at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex and loves the entertainment opportunities in western Hoover, she said. She thinks both sides of the city can be sustained.

Eaker said she’s excited about the new sidewalks coming to Inverness but believes there are some basic city services that need attention in eastern Hoover, including better trash pickup and a turn lane on Valleydale Road at the entrance to Spain Park High School.

She also would like to see some proactive steps taken to develop the rest of the Tattersall Park and Lee Branch shopping centers. There is empty land in both shopping centers and empty storefronts in Lee Branch, and the city needs someone to come in with a vision of how best to fill those spots, she said.

“It’s going to be worse if we don’t help the small businesses,” she said. “I really do see the heart of Hoover is in Hoover’s small businesses.”

Another goal is to help brand Hoover as a city better. “I don’t think people really know what Hoover is about and who really is in Hoover,” she said.

One of the reasons she and her husband chose to live in Hoover is its diversity, she said.

“I just love living in Hoover. There are so many different types of people,” she said. “I love that my kids can experience that.”

TAXES AND POLICE

Some current members of the Hoover City Council have said the council needs to revisit increases in sales, use and lease taxes that were approved two years ago, as well as a $2-per-night room fee for lodging facilities.

Eaker said, if elected, she’d have to take a closer look at how that extra money is being used and whether it is helping the city grow.

She’s doesn’t like to raise taxes and is always in favor of continuing to look for ways to save people money, and she knows the travel industry in particular has been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. However, “we do need money to run the city,” she said.

If the tax increases that already were approved have helped the city bring in more business, it’s more of an investment, she said.

Some Hoover residents have called for “defunding” the Police Department or pulling some of its resources to fund other social services.

“I am not a proponent of defunding the police,” Eaker said. “I am a proponent of providing something for all of our citizens. I think security is a huge issue … I think we need to be supporting police and giving them the resources they need to keep Hoover safe.”

If additional social services are needed, city officials should look elsewhere for resources instead of pulling money from police, she said.

Eaker said she has been impressed with how volunteers have come forward to meet the needs of struggling people in Hoover through nonprofits such as Hoover Helps and a new mentoring program in the Hoover school system.

BIO

Eaker was born and raised in Gadsden and graduated from Gaston High School in Etowah County in 1990. She then obtained a bachelor’s degree in social work from Jacksonville State University and a master’s degree in Christian education from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

She spent four years as a children’s minister at Southside Baptist Church in the city of Southside and nine years as a children’s consultant and children’s resource team leader for the national Women’s Missionary Union, based in Birmingham.

She led an effort to collect more than 2,000 shoeboxes with essential supplies and toys for children in Alabama and 2000 shoeboxes for children in Joplin, Missouri, after deadly 2011 tornado outbreaks.

“I do want to serve and make a difference in this world,” Eaker said. “I want to serve my community in a way that’s meaningful.”

For the past eight years, Eaker has run her own marketing company called Mitzi Jane Media, focused on helping small businesses.

She has been a member of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneurial Council for the past two years, provided free marketing training for the council this spring, helped create marketing materials for the chamber website and helped sponsor the chamber golf tournament the past two years.

This is her first run for public office, but she did help with the campaigns of Amie Beth Shaver for Alabama House District 43 and Gary Palmer for U.S. Senate in 2014.

She and her husband Shane have been married 17 years and have two boys — a ninth grader at Spain Park High School and sixth grader at Berry Middle School.

For more information about Eaker, go to mitzieakerforhoover.com or visit Mitzi Eaker for Hoover City Council Place 2 on Facebook.

See the complete list of candidates for Hoover mayor and Hoover City Council.