Hoover mayor hires longtime police manager Ellen Williams as new assistant

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato has hired a longtime manager in the Hoover Police Department as his new executive assistant.

Ellen Williams, who has been administrative services manager in the Police Department for 27 years, is filling the spot vacated last week by Denise Roberson, who retired after almost 37 years with the city.

Williams, who started the new job Monday, said she applied for the executive assistant post because she’s been in the same job for so long and this was the first opportunity she’s had for growth with the city.

Roberson is the only executive assistant to the mayor the city has ever had and served six of the city’s 10 mayors.

Before joining the Hoover Police Department as a civilian employee in 1990, Williams worked as a bookkeeper in the finance department at the Covach & Associates real estate development company in Mountain Brook. She initially was hired to assist former Hoover police Chief David Cummings, then worked for Chief Bob Berry and most recently for Chief Nick Derzis.

She said she likes the direction that Brocato is taking the city and is happy to be part of his team.

Williams and her husband, Roger, live in Bluff Park and have 9-year-old twins who attend Briarwood Christian School and play with the ’07 White Lightning travel softball team affiliated with the Hoover Softball Association.