City Leader or JV Cheerleader: What is Frank Brocato’s role in Hoover’s award-winning mess?
In a dizzying three months, Alabama Today has reported on the curious case of delayed annual audits and the secret forensic audit being done in the most roundabout way using the least transparent process possible. The firm brought in was Kroll, which was the City Attorney’s law firm, seemingly hired to evade public record laws so that the city could claim privileged communication even when there wasn’t. We still need answers on the funding or cost of the report. Mayor Frank Brocato finally addressed the issue in a council meeting on August 5, 2024. At the next meeting, an investigator with Kroll came to speak and laid out the basics of the investigation. The final report was made public in an early evening Friday press release with a headline intended to discourage a deeper investigation. That worked somewhat, as several local media outlets ran the city’s spin as fact. If you’re looking for the cliff notes version of the report, I created a Top 10 List; that said, I still encourage you to review the document in full on your own to understand the significance of what has been bubbling up behind the surface of the city for years. Reading the report, I was struck by the lack of leadership and accountability from the mayor in the city’s tone-deaf response (which, in all fairness, is better than silence). The ongoing problems were not a secret to anyone in the building. Filling the staffing levels cited in the report would fall under the purview of the Mayor and yet in his annual budget requests he never sought to do so. Instead, he repeated the line of how great things under his watch are and have been. This begs the question: Who runs things at the City of Hoover? Has the mayor abdicated his role to the CFO and City Manager while he’s been busy being a ribbon cutter, cheerleader, and sweetheart deal maker for his pet priority projects? There are strong contradicting messages from the Kroll report and Brocato and BMSS, the company responsible for the city’s annual audits throughout the years. Brocato stressed in his update that “the annual audits have been sound and thorough.” Every CFO has touted winning the GFOA award for 41 years in a row. According to their website, “GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (COA) in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.” Here’s the last sentence of the description, “The goal of the program is not to assess the financial health of participating governments, but rather to ensure that users of their financial statements have the information they need to do so themselves.” If it took one of the world’s most qualified and sought-after firms over three months to begin to make sense of the City of Hoover’s financial mess, one has to question how the Mayor can say with a straight face that the city has met the program’s goal. In order to receive this award, there is a forty-four-page checklist that has to be completed by the city attesting to a strict adherence to best practices in financial reporting. Kroll’s report details years of staffing, software, and policy problems that led to misinformation being presented in many ways over the years. Perhaps there’s an award out there for hiding information and finger-pointing that the city could win, given this report. At the last council meeting, the current CFO touted that Hoover had won yet another award for its financial practices, and in fact, it did. Still, that award and others were awarded during Tina Bolt’s time there. So, which was it? Were things a mess and disaster because of her actions? Did she inherit the mess and pass it down, or was it a combination? Hopefully, this is the beginning of the light being shed on what’s going on behind the scenes in Hoover, and the revelations will continue.
Did John Lyda lie to WBRC Fox 6? Bluff Park’s Robin Schulz says yes.
After the August 5, 2024 City Council meeting, Council President John Lyda gave an interview to WBRC Fox 6 about the passage of a resolution to maintain YouTube Records. Did John Lyda misspeak, mislead or even tell a lie or two? Bluff Park resident and founder of The Hoover Channel, Robin Schultz, took to his YouTube channel with a detailed response. Schultz says of Lyda, “He has done everything in his power to remove transparency instead of enhance transparency in city business.” He also offered the following timeline: Timeline in Video 2015 – Hoover Resident Dan Fulton Records audio of Council meetings and uploads them to his YouTube Channel 2016 – Newly Elected City Council begins to stream meetings using an iPad and uploading to the city’s YouTube Channel 2020 – Council Chambers are remodeled and new $370,000 AV system includes cameras for recording meetings 8/2022 – City deletes all meeting videos from 2016-2022 from their YouTube Channel 9/2022 – Council President Lyda institutes a new streaming policy that mandates that the stream will only start with Action Items and stop at end of Action Items, thus omitting presentations, proclamations, Council comments and Public Comments. 11/2022 – Robin Schultz finds the deleted videos and downloads them, then uploads them to the newly created The Hoover Channel’s YouTube Channel, preserving them in perpetuity. 3/2023 – The Hoover Channel begins livestreaming meetings in their entirety, including Public Comments. 5/2024 – Robin Schultz is asked to draft an ordinance that will restore the streaming of the full Council meetings and Work Sessions. 8/5/2024 – Council votes and approves Resolution 8188-24, which restores full streaming. Prior to the vote WBRC caught up with Councilor Steve McClinton you can see his interview below. See the full interview here:
Apryl Marie Fogel: After months of silence watch Hoover PIO’s unexpected response to city audit inquiries (Video)
“I hope to provide a calming, strong presence should storms arise.” According to Hoover Magazine, Melanie Posey-Joseph said these words just before the first anniversary of her tenure as Hoover’s Public Information Officer. I don’t think anyone who witnessed Posey-Joseph accost me at the end of this week’s council meeting would describe her as “a calming, strong presence.” The good news is that you can judge yourself because The Hoover Channel caught the conversation on video. I want to note three things from our conversation and interaction before the three videos. First, when Posey-Joseph aggressively approached me, I decided to video record rather than audio record, as I usually do, based solely on her tone and body language. It was jarring. As my video starts, you can hear her response to me asking if she could “hold on a moment” for me to start recording by saying, “I’m not holding on your time.” It is astonishing and ironic that the public had to wait 80 days for answers to the questions I asked her, while two literal seconds of delay in our conversation was unacceptable to her. While I didn’t feel physically threatened, I was so uncomfortable, as you can see in the handheld video, that I stepped back to put some space between us. The interaction caught the attention of several key figures in the city, who can be seen pacing by, watching, and finally getting her attention enough to end the interview. Secondly, during our conversation, I mixed up the number of days I contacted her with the number since I submitted a public records request. She did not have 50 days. She had 80 days from the day she received my request to reply. Finally, she seemed to think it relevant to my public comments. My original email to her was mistakenly sent to Posey, her maiden name, not Posey-Joseph. It did not bounce back as undeliverable, but I followed up by phone and email again. As I repeatedly explained to her, the two-day difference was not included in the count of days I cited in my public remarks. However, as you’ll see in the video, this point seemed incredibly important to her and she circled back to it several times. Let me clarify: I sent the email intended for her 82 days ago; however, through my error, the email was received 80 days before my public comments. What spurred the interaction was my offering up my personal experience trying to get answers from her and the city clerk’s records to encourage the city to improve its public record policies and responsiveness. You can watch that video below as well. My intent was not a personal attack on Posey-Joseph or the city clerk but an effort to highlight the city’s lack of transparency and responsiveness. The city website describes her role (emphasis added). “The City of Hoover Public Information Office exists to facilitate communication between the Mayor’s Office and other organizations such as neighborhood organizations, committees and boards, government agencies, media outlets, and the public at large. All requests from media outlets should be routed through the Public Information Office.” It’s absurd that “All requests should be routed through the Public Information Office” when the PIO feels it’s a “waste of time” to reply rather than simply giving a status update, partial information, or redirect the question to someone else. Posey-Joseph claims that my requests weren’t “in her purview,” yet no one from the city ever contacted me to say she had forwarded the request to them. Also, if responding to a request from a credentialed media outlet and credentialed journalist (radio and digital media), one on the city press list for many years, doesn’t fall within her purview, what does? Even if you want to give credence to the baseless personal attack insult spit out and dripping with disdain, Posey-Joseph rattled off that to her I’m not a journalist but am merely a “blogger.” Should anyone inquiring about important subjects in the city be ignored? In January 2019, shortly after being hired, Posey-Joseph (then Posey) told the Hoover Sun that she took the job with the city, among other reasons, because “I feel like they always try to just follow a standard of excellence.” That standard of excellence is precisely what residents of Hoover expect. I encourage them to let the mayor, city manager, and council know if those expectations are currently being met. My public comments: My initial video upon her approach: The view from The Hoover Channel:
Fact Check: City of Hoover City Attorney Phillip Corley Jr. Statement on Council videos
The Alabama Department of Archives and History, through its Records Management Section, manages guidance for the retention of public records in the state. In November 2022, the Hoover Sun reported on changes to the City of Hoover’s record retention. In that article, Jon Anderson quotes the city attorney Phillip Corley, saying, “However, temporary recordings should be deleted once minutes are approved according to the Records Disposition Authority issued by the Alabama Local Government Records Commission,” Corley wrote. “Another alternative would be to livestream only with no recordings or not to livestream at all. Transparency under Alabama law means that the meetings are open to the public and minutes of what was done at those meetings are made available to the public. The minutes are permanent public records and the official record of actions taken at a meeting.” Claim: “temporary recordings should be deleted once minutes are approved according to the Records Disposition Authority” (Emphasis added) Fact: “The Records Disposition Authority lists the minimum time that agencies must keep records that are created. Agencies may choose to keep records longer.” Rating: Pants on Fire Sources: Per State and Local Records Coordinator, Appraisal & Records Management Program, Alabama Department of Archives and History: The Records Disposition Authority, approved by the Local Government Records Commission, lists “Recordings of Meetings” as having a retention of “retain until minutes are approved.” The Local Government Records Commission does not dictate where those recordings are housed or whether a record must be created. The Records Disposition Authority lists the minimum time that agencies must keep records that are created. Agencies may choose to keep records longer. RDAs may be found on our website on the Manage Records tab > Local Agencies > Retention Schedules. Please see the retention below for Recordings of Meetings in the Municipalities RDA. 1.04 Recordings of Meetings. Audio or video recordings provide a verbatim account of debate and public input at meetings of the municipal council and municipal boards, commissions, or similar bodies. They are normally used only as an aid to preparation of the minutes . Disposition: Temporary Record. Retain until minutes are approved. Earliest electronic files available show Recordings of Meetings in the Municipalities 2000 RDA with a retention of “Retain 1 year after the end of the fiscal year in which the minutes were approved.” In July 2002, the retention of the Recordings of Meetings was changed to “Retain until minutes are approved.” A notation was added to the description in section two “(revised in conformity with other RDAs).” A random sampling of Alabama cities that maintain videos online: City of Mobile: 1,019 videos: YouTube City of Montgomery videos go back 12-months: City Website City of Selma (Which hasn’t been updated since Jan. 2023. Videos go back to 9/30/2021): City Website City of Huntsville 205 pages of city council videos going back to May 2017: City Website
Five questions for the City of Hoover following contested Certificate of Need hearings:
It’s been several weeks since the Hoover Healthcare Authority defended its Certificate of Need application for an outpatient surgery center at the proposed Riverwalk development. Citizens were given little to no notice to participate in the contentious hearing, which revealed a great deal of information beyond the proposed facility itself. The hearing included testimony detailing millions in pre-paid rent for a building that is currently unoccupied, behind-the-scenes accusations and counter-accusations of wrongdoing, a previously undisclosed forensic audit, and more. Council President John Lyda testified that he saw it primarily as an economic development rather than a healthcare facility project. City lawyers clarified his answer during later testimony. Council meetings continue to reveal a pattern of secret-keeping by Hoover’s leadership. For instance, the city’s budget has had to be amended twice since the hearings began related to that project, once for legal fees and once because the city needed to increase the budget for expenses with totals unavailable at the time when the lease was signed. Most recently, it was revealed that in an email sent in April, which was exclusively obtained by Alabama Today, City Council President John Lyda described “financial disarray.” Here are the Top 5 questions residents of Hoover should be asking their City Councilor and the Mayor since city leadership is not volunteering answers: Was the Hoover Healthcare Authority legally permitted to apply for the Certificate of Need? Page 60 of City Ordinance 23-2634, passed by the Hoover City Council on November 20, 2023, clearly states that the Developer would obtain the Certificate of Need. However, the Hoover Healthcare Authority (solely funded within the City of Hoover budget) applied for the CON instead. Should taxpayers be responsible for the legal fees and other costs associated with something that records indicate would be the developer’s responsibility? Why did Mayor Frank Bracoto and the City Council hide the need for the ongoing forensic audit? What is the status of the forensic audit revealed during the hearing and the annual audit? How will the forensic audit be paid for, and why didn’t the Council approve the costs before it began? Here’s what John Lyda said on April 9 in his email about the need for an audit: Silence is golden unless the silence is from city officials hiding the truth from their constituents. Alabama Today still awaits answers from the Public Information Office, which hasn’t responded to requests from May 17th and multiple follow-ups. Fortunately, sources reveal that Wendy Dickerson, the City Clerk, has a record of readily providing information when asked, except for when city leadership, including its lawyer, steps in and objects. As of last week, when asked, Dickerson insisted that the request, which was submitted on June 12, continues to be reviewed. Contact information for the Mayor can be found here. You can see their contact information here to reach a city councilor.
Hoover Council President John Lyda describes “financial disarray” and notes fraud possible
A month ago, Alabama Today submitted a formal public records request to the City of Hoover, copying City Councilors John Lyda and Curt Posey on that email. While City Clerk Wendy Dickerson acknowledged receipt of the request, so far, the city has failed to produce a single record, return a phone call, or give a status update about it. An email exclusively obtained by Alabama Today sheds light on some of what the city is hiding by withholding the requested public documents. Lyda emailed the rest of the council on April 9, 2024, with the subject line “Hoover Forensic Audit- Kroll Proposal.” Good afternoon, Wallace Jordan has researched several options and vetted various individuals and firms for the completion of a forensic audit on city finances. Attached is a proposal from Kroll Investigative Analytics. I know there is a shared desire to get moving on this ASAP so that we can get assurance that the recent discovery of financial disarray is due to human error or carelessness rather than fraud. The cost is estimated to be between $145k and $177k and is expected to take between 60 and 90 days. Please let me know ASAP if you believe there’s sufficient reason not to move forward on this. Phillip will also be happy to provide any info on other firms and individuals they spoke with in finding the right fit for our needs. Thank you! John According to Lyda’s email, the forensic audit was expected to take 60-90 days. That was 92 days ago. Two sources tell Alabama Today that the forensic audit includes an investigation into unconfirmed reports of documents protected by the state document retention laws intentionally deleted by a former city staffer. Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office has a Special Prosecutions Division that has prosecuted ethics violations by city officials in recent years. Their website states, “This division prosecutes mainly public corruption and complex economic crimes. The special prosecutions division works with federal and state agencies to conduct joint investigations and prosecutions. In addition, the division assists various commissions and agencies with prosecutions.” It is unclear if the City of Hoover has yet been in contact with investigators for the state about Lyda’s concerns. As reported first in 1819 News, City Councilwoman Khristi Driver revealed the forensic audit publically for the first time in sworn testimony during the hearings contesting the Certificate of Need that the Hoover City Healthcare Authority has asked the state for. On May 30, Driver testified, “My understanding of the purpose of the audit would be to take a look at all of our financials to make sure that everything is in order and to follow up on some of the observations that were made in our most recent audit from our regular auditor.” According to the Hoover Sun, the last audit report for fiscal 2022 noted “some material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in the city’s internal controls. The material weaknesses included insufficient segregation of duties over financial reporting by an outsourced contractor at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex and errors and problems related to implementing a new business software system. The significant deficiencies dealt with the recording of accounts receivable transactions and the holding of checks for vendors.” An examination of publicly available records by a financial expert indicated that internal control weaknesses were found rather than material weaknesses, as described by Hoover Sun. Despite the concerns in the audit report, the Sun reported at the time that Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato “was not alarmed.” City officials have not publicly addressed the forensic audit, how it is being paid for, or how it impacts the timing and delivery of yearly annual audit from the city’s longtime auditor Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith (BMSS) Advisors and CPA. Earlier this year, the City of Homewood announced that it retained an independent forensic certified public accounting firm to investigate the theft of city funds and notified the Jefferson County district attorney and the FBI. A city employee was then arrested and charged with misappropriating city funds for allegedly stealing over six figures.
Apryl Marie Fogel: Hoover City Council President John Lyda’s Quarterback Fake
Here in Alabama, football is beloved; there’s nothing like an unexpected play in a big game, something like a quarterback fake—a play requiring skill and precision akin to a magician’s sleight of hand. But while deception entertains on the field or stage, it’s troubling in local politics. Hoover has been rocked of late by confounding admissions, accusations, and unanswered questions, dividing the city council and fracturing relationships. Some are unaware of the turmoil at City Hall, while others ponder the way forward. City leaders, led by Mayor Frank Bracoto and Council President John Lyda, have sought to downplay or ignore question upon question and issue upon issue. City Administrator Ken Grimes followed their lead earlier this week and responded to concerns posed by residents on Facebook. Though the story he was responding to provided video evidence of a direct quote by the CFO and statements made in sworn testimony by the mayor, Grimes called it “junk taken out of context.” He didn’t clarify whether it was the mayor’s comments or the CFO’s that he believed was junk or what additional context he thought was needed to understand why a lease was signed before the costs were known or why the mayor said under oath that he hadn’t read it. Observers agree that the unfolding saga is more complex than officials admit, and a resolution is unlikely unless transparency improves. Could these issues be a series of unintentional and unrelated fumbles? Perhaps, but why would those involved leave them lingering and unaddressed for so long? For several years now, Lyda, Brocato, and their supporters have treated nearly every inquiry of questionable behavior as mere distractions rather than cause for concern. Until now, different situations have been treated as one-offs rather than a pattern, but a clear pattern is emerging, and I’m here to lay it all out for you in story form. Why story form? While not exactly boring in these circumstances, the interworkings of city government aren’t particularly riveting either. The facts laid out here are just that: facts. They stem from dozens of interviews, reviewing dozens of media stories, council meeting videos (no thanks to the city), searching for documents buried in dense public meeting packages, and reviewing audio recordings of testimony from the sparsely attended recent hearings. The city itself has been…less than helpful. Buckle up for a true story told in parts to bring the many converging details together for the first time. This is, without a doubt, just the beginning. Chapter 1: Darkness Slowly But Steadily Descends on the Field Once upon a time, Hoover seemed to have a government guided by the conservative values of small government, fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability. However, as the city’s population, economy, and infrastructure grew, sunshine faded on the public information accessible to those who live, work, and do business there. I live in neighboring Birmingham and heard the city was overwhelmingly conservative, so imagine my surprise when I learned that while the state was going forward, Hoover was going backward with public information. Around August 2021, city officials sparked controversy by deleting years of council meeting videos from their official YouTube channel without notice or explanation. When confronted, no one would take responsibility for the decision. The city attorney, Phillip Corley, told The Hoover Sun, “This was a council policy communicated by the council president to the city clerk.” The Sun asked follow-up questions about the conflicting information from the City Attorney and evidence of when the videos were discovered missing, and his questions were ignored. The move to limit the availability and coverage of videos prompted the launch of The Hoover Channel, a YouTube page with over 200 videos created by Robin Schultz. He and his teenage grandson, Jackson Schultz, maintain the site. Based on what I witnessed at the last council meeting, Jackson did the technical camera work while Robin sought answers and accountability from the council himself. After the meeting, Jackson hurried his grandfather along to help him pack up the bags of equipment they used. After the council was questioned about the deletions, Lyda informally polled the council members and formalized a new policy. The new one restricted the city’s livestream. It would now end before the public comments section of the meeting, and the city was now not only allowed to delete the videos after 60 days or after minutes had been approved but required to do so. I’ve talked to multiple people about this, and not one person can explain the positive benefit of deleting the videos for the city if there’s no liability related to what has been done or said. Corley, the city attorney, defended the council’s actions. I’m paraphrasing here, but he essentially said residents who want public meetings, made and kept public using equipment they’ve paid for, are ungrateful little curious cash cows for the city who are lucky to get any video at all and should take what he and the council decided behind closed doors to give them and shut up. Okay, I added a lot of color to that last part. His actual quote was, “He advised the city that state law does not require meetings to be videoed or livestreamed, or for recordings of meetings to be made or preserved.” It’s worth noting that Corley’s name comes up again at least twice in this sordid series of stories. First, when the city increases the outside attorney budget by $500,000, and then when the mysterious forensic audit becomes public. These moves and curious cleanup, some would say coverup, were just the beginning. Residents and other sources have pointed out that the meeting minutes of city council meeting have also undergone changes over the last several years. Descriptions of council actions have become incredibly vague, often omitting crucial details of pre-vote discussions and questions/answers relevant to future research, reporting, and glorious editorial storytelling. Remember that these half-baked minutes are all the city attorney says the law requires them to do. If he and Lyda had their way, you would not
City of Hoover cracking down on controversial businesses
A city councilman in Hoover, Ala. proposed a temporary moratorium on shops he feels does not present the city in the best light. While the current proposal being considered at this weeks Hoover city council meeting will include a moratorium within the city limits; ultimately the plan is to change zoning to limit where they can go in the future. Councilman Casey Middlebrooks proposed the ban on “vape shops, check cashing, pay-day loan type businesses, pawn shops, adult sex shops, and so forth,” until the city can rework their zoning ordinances WBMA reported. Middlebrooks is worried that too many of these types of shops may drive away future business for the city, The temporary ban means that new businesses would not be allowed to apply for a business license within the city, and has caused some contention with current business owners already in operation. Randy Toffel owns the Vapeology vape store in Hoover, and told WBRC that if “Middlebrooks is worried about his store’s clientele, he shouldn’t be.” “I have doctors, I have attorneys, I have car salesmen, I have mechanics, I have firemen, I have grandmothers that come in my shop,” he continued. Toffel also told WBRC that “he’s dedicated to helping people quit smoking,” and that his shop shouldn’t be penalized for it. Another city councilman, Mike Shaw somewhat agrees with Middlebrooks, but thinks the city should focus on rezoning, instead of an outright ban. “I think these businesses can have negative connotations in certain locations, but again, these are legal businesses. So however we feel about them, we still have to allow that according to state law,” Shaw told WBMA. “I don’t think we have problem with these businesses.” Other council members disagree. “We need to define what the real problem is. If the issue is surrounding where these business are located , I think there are better ways to address the problem,” councilman John Lyda told WIAT.
Birmingham wins 2018 Smart Cities Readiness Challenge Grant
The City of Birmingham has been selected as one of five winners in the 2018 Smart Cities Readiness Challenge Grant competition. Announcement of the grant award came Thursday. In awarding the grant, the Smart Cities Council called Birmingham “an inspiring example of how a mid-size city can lead the way toward livability, workability and sustainability,” and said that the city “works diligently to ensure that its initiatives benefit multiple departments and multiple populations.” The council also noted that Birmingham will use the grant to provide a collaborative framework for projects under way including an open data portal, smart street lighting, community Wi-Fi, bus rapid transit and the city’s recently announced crime reduction initiative Operation Step Up. “It’s important to acknowledge the good work that’s already being done as it relates to having an inclusive economy and government that infuses technology and innovation to provide better and more effective and efficient services to our citizens and small business owners throughout the city,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. “This grant shows that we are a city not only on the move, but making the right investments.” Woodfin reacts to the Magic City winning a Smart Cities Readiness Challenge from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo. The Readiness Challenge Grant is intended to help cities use technology and data to tackle local challenges, and improve services and connectivity. Winners will receive on-site Readiness Workshops provided by the Smart Cities Council. In addition, to help accelerate the initiatives funded by the grant, Birmingham and the other winners will receive mentoring, and tailored products and services from the council’s technology partners. The Council will also bring to each winning city some of the world’s experts from the private, philanthropic, academic and research sectors to offer advice to advance smart city initiatives. Birmingham’s winning application emphasized the city’s plans for accelerating ongoing progress in advancing innovation, particularly in the areas of public safety, energy and transportation. Alabama Power, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, Jefferson County and the City of Hoover all provided input and support for the strategies outlined in the successful submission. “Awarding this grant to Birmingham demonstrates the growing national awareness of the progress our city is making,” said John O. Hudson III, senior vice president for marketing and business development for Alabama Power. “And that progress is gaining momentum every day. We look forward to continuing to work with the collaborators for this successful grant application and others to make Birmingham a national leader in creating the jobs and opportunities of the future. The Readiness Challenge Grant will boost those efforts.” In addition to Birmingham, 2018 Readiness Challenge Grants were awarded to Cary, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev. ; Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.; and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Birmingham also was a finalist in last year’s inaugural competition, in which grants were awarded to Austin, TX.; Indianapolis Ind.; Miami and Orlando Fla.; and Philadelphia, Pa. The Smart Cities Council is an industry coalition formed to accelerate the move to smart, sustainable cities. The council seeks to lower the barriers to adoption of technology and data as tools for enhancing livability, workability and the expansion of economic opportunity. Comprising more than 120 partners and advisers around the world, the council has contributed money and resources to more than 11,000 projects that incorporate smart cities principles. “The five winners had three important things in common, including a focus on uncovering synergies and cost-efficiencies between departments,” Smart Cities Council Chairman Jesse Berst said of the 2018 winners in a news release. “They also fostered coordinated collaboration between internal departments, external stakeholders and nearby regions. Finally, they exhibited a determination to include underserved and vulnerable populations.” This story originally appeared on Alabama News Center.
