Veteran TV reporter, firefighter take on Hoover public information roles
Veteran TV news reporter Melanie Posey has taken over the job of public information officer for the city of Hoover.
Posey, a reporter for WBRC Fox 6 News for the past 15 years, is taking the spot formerly held by Lori Salter-Schommer, who retired Oct. 1.
Posey said the TV news industry is changing and she felt it was time for a change for her personally as well. As a mother, she was looking for a job that would allow her more time with her 10-year-old daughter.
Plus, “I’m a lifelong learner and just wanted to try something new,” she said.
Posey said this job with the city of Hoover is a great fit for her because she has lived in Hoover the entire 15 years she has been in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area and loves the city.
She likes the diversity in Hoover and how there are so many amenities close to her home.
“I really do feel like this is just a great place to live,” she said. “I get a sense of community here in Hoover.”
She decided in December 2017 she was ready for a change but didn’t want to take just any job, she said. She was looking for something that aligned with her values and something that would give her a sense of purpose, she said.
The job with the city of Hoover fit that bill. “I feel like they always try to just follow a standard of excellence,” she said.
Posey, 45, began her broadcasting career after graduating from the University of Kansas in 1996. She started at KTKA News Source 49, the ABC affiliate in Topeka, and worked there until February 1998. She then moved to WHO Channel 13 News, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, before coming to WBRC Fox 6 News in Birmingham in January 2004.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said Posey had a good career at WBRC and developed a reputation for fair reporting, and the city is tickled to have her on its side.
Posey’s daughter is in the fifth grade at Heritage Christian Academy. They like to travel and already have visited 16 states together. Her daughter is involved in theater, and they like to attend plays and also take a sign language class together.
NEW FIRE DEPARTMENT PIO
Meanwhile, the Hoover Fire Department also has a fairly new public information officer as well.
Veteran firefighter Scott West has taken over the role formerly held by Rusty Lowe, who retired from the city on Sept. 1.
West got his start with the Tarrant Fire Department in 1999. He started working a second job as a part-time firefighter for Hoover in 2003 and then came on full time with Hoover in 2005.
He worked at the Inverness, Greystone, Bluff Park and Municipal Drive stations before being promoted to lieutenant at Station No. 6 in the Deer Valley area in 2011. He helped open a temporary station in Ross Bridge in 2014 and the permanent Station No. 10 in Ross Bridge in 2016.
In October 2017, West was promoted to captain over Station No. 9 in the Greystone Legacy community and then reassigned to Station No. 2 off Patton Chapel Road in the summer of 2018. Then in September, he was promoted to emergency medical services officer and public information officer, based at Fire Department headquarters at the Hoover Public Safety Center.
West lives in Blount County and enjoys camping. He has two sons, ages 21 and 18.