Photo by Jon Anderson
210311_Tony_Petelos1
Jefferson County Manager Tony Petelos listens during a Jefferson County Commission meeting on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
After nearly 10 years as Jefferson County’s first county manager, Tony Petelos, this week announced his intention to retire later this year, ending more than 34 years of public service, including two terms as mayor of Hoover.
Just before today’s County Commission meeting, Petelos said he likely will retire in May or June, but he still has some unfinished business to address before he leaves.
Petelos was appointed as Jefferson County’s first-ever professional manager in the fall of 2011, taking the job as the county was heading into bankruptcy.
He, the County Commission and staff led the county into and out of bankruptcy and helped get the county on a firmer financial footing. Also under his watch, in December the county was released from a nearly 38-year-old federal consent decree that regulated the county’s personnel practices due to a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit filed in 1975.
“Helping shape and mold the role of the county manager in Jefferson County has been one of the most satisfying jobs of my entire career,” Petelos said in a news release. “While I enjoyed serving in the legislature, DHR, and as a two-term mayor of Hoover, Jefferson County had some serious challenges. I can retire knowing that I had a hand in turning the county around, and it is on the most solid financial footing. The new leadership we have in place is top notch and extremely diverse. I’m not usually one to say I’m proud, but I’m proud of what Jefferson County is today.”
Petelos was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1986 and twice re-elected, serving until 1997. Former Gov. Fob James appointed him as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, and Gov. Don Siegelman kept Petelos in that role in 1999. During Petelos’ tenure, the state agency developed a plan to get released from another federal consent decree.
Hoover residents chose Petelos as their mayor in 2004, and he was re-elected in 2008 without opposition. He took the job with Jefferson County three years later.
County officials said a national search will be conducted to fill the county manager role.
Petelos and his wife, Teresa, still live in Hoover.