Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover Council President John Lyda speaks during a council meeting on Monday, April 21, 2025.
A Hoover resident on Wednesday said he filed a complaint against Hoover City Council President John Lyda with the Alabama Ethics Commission, claiming Lyda violating the state ethics law by voting in favor of actions that directly benefited his employer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.
The resident, Paul Hamrick of the Windsor Court community off U.S. 280, released a copy of his complaint, which noted that Lyda and other council members earlier this month voted to spend $6.1 million on sewer system upgrades that Hamrick claims will boost the value of property owned by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama in the Riverchase Office Park.
Hamrick, an attorney who served as chief of staff for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and who has worked as a political consultant, also noted that Lyda was among council members who voted in favor of a financial incentive package for the developers of a new Riverwalk Village development in Riverchase that Hamrick also claims will increase the value of Blue Cross’s property.
The Hoover City Council in November 2023 voted 5-2 on the economic incentive package that granted an estimated $25.8 million in tax rebates to the private company doing the development, plus up to $16 million in cash payments over 10 years to help get the project started.
Hamrick during this past Monday night’s council meeting told Lyda he should have abstained from these votes because the actions benefit his employer. He also said the wife of the Riverwalk Village developer sits on the board of directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.“This is a huge conflict of interest,” Hamrick said.
He told Lyda on Monday night he would file the ethics complaint against Lyda unless Lyda resigned by noon Wednesday.
Lyda, when asked about the allegation of an ethics violation and conflict of interest by Hamrick, on Monday night said he let those comments go “in one ear and out the other.”
In the past, in circumstances where he thought there could be a conflict of interest, he has abstained from votes, he said. “If I thought there was a conflict, I would have abstained.”
