Photo by Jon Anderson
Former Jefferson County Manager Tony Petelos introduces some of the county’s department heads at the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Hoover Country Club in April 2018. Petelos retired from the county in 2021.
Former Hoover Mayor and Jefferson County Manager Tony Petelos on Thursday expressed interest in becoming the city of Homewood’s interim city manager after Homewood residents on Tuesday voted to change their form of government.
Homewood voters on Tuesday narrowly approved a referendum to switch from a mayor/council form of government to a city manager/council structure. Under the new structure, Homewood’s City Council will change from having a council president and 10 council members elected from five wards to having four council members elected from four wards and the mayor serving as council president. A city manager will serve as the city’s administrative executive.
Homewood’s current council president, Alex Wyatt, said city officials plan to appoint an interim city manager to serve until a new mayor and City Council are elected next year and can choose a permanent city manager.
Petelos, 71, told The Homewood Star he has no interest in the permanent city manager role but would consider coming out of retirement on an interim basis to lay the groundwork for a permanent hire.
“I’m a lifetime resident of Jefferson County and was able to set up a new form of government for Jefferson County, and would be able to do it for the city of Homewood,” he told The Star.
Petelos served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1986 to 1997, representing parts of western Jefferson County. He then was commissioner of the Alabama Department of Human Resources until 2004, when he was elected mayor of Hoover. Petelos left the Hoover mayor’s job in 2011 to become Jefferson County’s first county manager and retired from the county role in the summer of 2021.
When asked directly if he had talked to representatives from Homewood or interviewed for a role with Homewood, he declined to answer, but he said he would be happy to talk with Homewood’s City Council and learn more about their needs.
