Photos by Jon Anderson
Blaker Miller, at left, will become the city of Hoover's new chief operating officer on Jan. 1, 2025. Jehad Al-Dakka, at right, is retiring after about 22 years with the city.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night welcomed Blake Miller as the city’s new chief operations officer.
Miller on Jan. 1 will replace Jehad Al-Dakka, who is retiring after about 3½ years in that role and a total of about 22 years with the city.
Miller has served as the city’s assistant city engineer for a little more than three years. Before that, he spent about eight years with the Alabama Department of Transportation, finishing his time there as a pre-construction engineer for the Birmingham area. He also served 15 years as a road design consultant with PBS&J, now known as Atkins.
Miller, a 1992 graduate of Berry High School (the predecessor to Hoover High School) has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Samford University and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, both obtained in 1998.
As chief operations officer, he will oversee engineering, planning and zoning, building inspections, facility maintenance, fleet, information technology and public works.
That’s a “pretty substantial chunk” of city operations, said City Administrator Ken Grimes, who oversees human resources, economic development, municipal court, administration, and parks and recreation.
Grimes said he, the chief operations officer and chief financial officer work very tightly together.
“He’s kind of a proven, known quantity,” Grimes said. “He’s even keeled, and I like the fact that he gets what we’re doing when it comes to the department’s he’ll manage because he’s been in one of them. He’s just been a good leader that I think has a lot of potential for the future.”
City Engineer Chris Reeves, who has been Miller’s supervisor, did not apply for the chief operations officer position but supported Miller’s decision to apply, Grimes said.
“Blake has a good calm demeanor but a tremendous knowledge base,” Grimes added. His experience with ALDOT is a plus, and Miller has done a good job stepping in to represent the city on the Cahaba Solid Waste Disposal Authority, which has the contract with Hoover’s garbage hauler, Amwaste.
Miller’s analytical processes have helped the city work with Amwaste, and garbage service is “much, much better” than it was a year ago, Grimes said.
Miller said he’s looking forward to his new role, and it was a good opportunity for him.
“The Lord opened the door, and I was going to pursue it until the door got slammed shut in my face,” he said. “The door didn’t get shut. I was encouraged by several employees to pursue this and look forward to getting started. … It’s going to be challenging, but I’m excited. My predecessor was very organized. He has a lot of records I can look through that can hopefully ease the transition.”
Al-Dakka, who earned an engineering degree from the University of Alabama in 1986, worked 11 years as a civil engineer and then spent six years with the Birmingham Police Department before coming to Hoover. He served 18 years with the Hoover Police Department, including a significant amount of time as the executive officer for the department, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the chief’s office.
He shifted out of the Police Department in the spring of 2021 and became the city’s director of special projects but was quickly promoted to chief operations officer with the retirement of Jim Wyatt in May 2021.
Al-Dakka, when asked why he decided to retire, said he has always heard he would know when it’s time to retire and “it’s just the right time.”
He’s 63, and his wife, Cassie, retired more than three years ago, he said. “I’m ready to join that.
“The city’s a great place to work for — great opportunities,” Al-Dakka said. “I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s been an honor and privilege for them to give me the opportunity to be in law enforcement and to be the chief operations officer, but Cassie and I are ready for a new chapter.”
Grimes said Al-Dakka has done a great job at Hoover.
““I really appreciate Jehad’s work ethic, his constant support and guidance of the departments, just a very dedicated individual,” Grimes said. “ I feel like that’s the important thing. I’ve not met very many engineers that came through a career in law enforcement. He is very unique in how he sees things because he sees things through a very structured, systematic way … Jehad’s a very structured and regimented person. We were blessed to have him.”
Al-Dakka and Miller have very similar skill sets, Grimes said.
“They actually function very similarly as engineers,” Grimes said. “He [Miller] has proven he’s got a similar way of organizing projects and dealing with people.”
City officials also on Monday introduced the city’s new marketing coordinator (Jamie Schor), general ledger manager (Brad Nestor) and payroll manager (Amber Salter).
