Hoover’s Tony Petelos is back in the game! A beloved mayor looks to reenter politics.
As first reported by The Homewood Star, Tony Petelos, the former Hoover mayor and county manager of Jefferson County, told The Homewood Star he 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 on Thursday, two days after voters approved the referendum authorizing the change in government. Homewood voters on Tuesday authorized the city to change its form of government from a mayor/council format to a city manager/council structure. As part of that transition, the council plans to hire an interim manager to initiate changes and prepare for a full-time hire to be made by the next council and mayor. New leadership will take over after city elections in 2025. Petelos, 71, retired from the county manager position of Jefferson County in 2021. Asked directly if he had talked to representatives from Homewood or interviewed for a role, Petelos declined to answer. He did tell The Star he would be happy to talk with Homewood’s City Council and learn more about their needs, and clarified he has no interest in the permanent city manager role. Petelos, 71, said 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. In April 2021, Petelos told the Hoover Sun, he thoroughly enjoyed being Hoover’s mayor and had a great leadership team surrounding him, particularly former Executive Director Allen Pate, who handled much of the day-to-day administration. He has a lot of great memories from his time of mayor. Those include Hoover native Taylor Hicks winning season five of the “American Idol” singing competition and Hoover dancing instructor Fabian Sanchez appearing as a professional on “Dancing with the Stars,” not to mention all the SEC Baseball Tournaments, Regions Charity Classic golf tournaments, ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings. He very fondly remembers when President George W. Bush visited the Hoover Public Safety Center in 2007 to see the city’s program for using ethanol in city vehicles while in town for a fundraiser for Gov. Bob Riley. Petelos said Bush invited him to ride in his limousine with him to the fundraiser, and he remembers thinking how proud his mother would have been of him. Tuesday night, former Homewood mayoral candidate Chris Lane posted on Facebook that Petelos would be the choice to lead the transition. “I’ve had several people ask me (about his name being linked to the role on social media),” said Petelos, a UAB graduate whose career in politics also includes serving in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1986-97. “I said, ‘Well, you know, I don’t know.’ I need more information before I can make any statement (on whether he would officially apply for the ro Petelos would bring decades of experience to the role. He served as Hoover’s mayor from 2004-2011, leading the city through a period of dynamic growth. He then left to become Jefferson County’s first county manager in 2011, a move that stunned many observers considering the county was mired in controversy and lacking public trust after 22 county officials were imprisoned on corruption charges in the preceding years. “We inherited a mess,” Petelos told the Hoover Sun in 2021, just before his retirement. “It was a challenge.” “It was about as bad as I expected,” Petelos told The Sun, referring to the county’s condition when he came into the job. “The first six years were chaotic — issue after issue after issue.” But by the time he retired, the county had emerged from bankruptcy and was in a much better position financially, with more than $100 million in general fund reserves and another $16 million in a “catastrophic” contingency fund, Petelos said. Just several weeks ago, the City of Hoover underwent a forensic audit that shows that following Petelos’ term in office, the city went through a rough period with checks and balances failing to work the way they were intended, personal vendettas finding their way into meeting agendas, and squabbles between city councilors, the mayor, and the city attorney. If Petelo gets done in Homewood, he could go home and clean up the mess the current leadership has allowed to defile the pristine city hall he left. Could Petelos’ post-retirement include cleaning up a mess he worked hard to prevent.
Ohio-based manufacturer Hyster-Yale to move some operations to Alabama
An Ohio-based lift truck manufacturer plans to move part of its operations to west Alabama next year as part of an expansion plan. Al.com reports Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. announced Tuesday that its Bolzoni line’s North America attachment manufacturing will move from the company’s Homewood, Illinois, facility to its Sulligent, Alabama, facility. A company statement says the move to the larger Sulligent facility will start in January. It says Bolzoni will control the facility’s product manufacturing, and the range of products manufactured at the facility will be expanded. Employees at that facility will become Bolzoni workers. It says production will be phased out at the Homewood facility, which employs 70 people. The statement says the company intends to maintain a Bolzoni distribution center near Homewood. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
NYT highlights Homewood coach with heart for football and philanthropy
A Homewood Middle School football coach and teacher recently found himself in the national spotlight as his efforts to make an impact on local youth were highlighted by the New York Times (NYT). Steve Sills, “an evangelist for the gospel of encouragement, which he’s been preaching for 13 years at this economically and demographically diverse middle school in suburban Birmingham,” works hard to teach the middle school students he works with the importance of giving it your all. “Don’t matter if you are big or small, if you are fast or slow. If you give us the very best of you, together we can do great things,” Sills told the Homewood Patriots football team during a recent Monday night game according to the NYT. Sills, who envisioned a career in football after receiving a scholarship to play at Tennessee Tech and later played in the indoor Arena Football League, didn’t follow his expected life path. Instead he found himself teaching and coaching at Homewood Middle School. There, he teaches his students career and character where he endeavors to pass along his “look good, feel good, do good” mantra. But Sills takes his work beyond the classroom. Nine years ago, the educator founded the Homewood Trendsetters, a school club that according to the NYT, “combines sharp dressing with dozens of service projects, like feeding the homeless at local shelters or cheering on special needs students at athletic events. It now numbers more than 300, including more than 100 girls, and has logged thousands of volunteer hours and raised tens of thousands of dollars for the community.” When they NYT asked him to reduce his teaching philosophy to its core, he paraphrased the poet Maya Angelou: “These kids will forget what I said and did, but I hope they never forget how I made them feel.”
Alabama mayors join Jr League Birmingham to fight human trafficking
Mayors all over Alabama are stepping up to fight human trafficking. Julia Meyers, Junior League Birmingham (JLB) chairwoman of the Anti-human Trafficking Committee, has been working tirelessly with the state legislative Human Trafficking Task Force in order to get regional government officials to proclaim January human trafficking awareness month. Mayors of Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, and Hoover have all signed proclamations. “I reached out to 18 mayors in Jefferson County and immediately Over the Mountain mayors responded,” Meyers told the Over the Mountain Journal. “That, for me, was very exciting. In the areas where we think this problem isn’t going on, they are actually taking action.” “I’d like our city to know that Vestavia Hills Police Department actively participates in a task force with some of my old colleagues from my FBI days in addressing this issue,” said Vestavia Hills mayor, Ashley Curry. “We’re doing what we can and just ask that everybody look out for certain signs … if you see something that you don’t think is right, give us a call.” The city of Cullman, Ala. has also stepped up to the task with Mayor Woody Jacobs not only proclaiming January as human trafficking awareness month, but establishing January 11 as a Human Trafficking Awareness Day. “Human trafficking is a problem everywhere, even here in our community. I greatly respect the work that the Task Force has done and continues to do to help prevent this terrible crime in Cullman and Cullman County.” Newly elected Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin also joined Meyers in declaring January as human trafficking awareness month, as evidenced in this tweet by the Junior League of Birmingham: Junior League of Birmingham(JLB) President, Katy Roe Eldridge, and JLB Anti-Human Trafficking Chair, Julia Meyers, join Mayor Randall Woodfin as he and City Council proclaim January as “Human Trafficking Awareness Month”. Thank you for supporting JLB in this effort! pic.twitter.com/bBRq1GvkG2 — Jr. League of Bham (@JLBirmingham) January 10, 2018 “Junior League of Birmingham(JLB) President, Katy Roe Eldridge, and JLB Anti-Human Trafficking Chair, Julia Meyers, join Mayor Randall Woodfin as he and City Council proclaim January as “Human Trafficking Awareness Month”. Thank you for supporting JLB in this effort!” Birmingham is an important participant in human trafficking awareness month because of it’s closeness to the issue. Interstate I-20 between Atlanta and Birmingham is known as the Sex Trafficking Superhighway. “It cuts right there through downtown Birmingham, and what we’re finding, unfortunately with the interstate system that you and I use to get from Birmingham to Montgomery — is that people are using it to bring in girls, for example, for a short period of time. Buyers are available, and then they leave,” said David Pinkleton, fundraising chair for the Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force. Other Alabama officials have responded to the Task Force’s urges. Sen. Cam Ward introduced SB179 on Tuesday to increase the criminal punishment for those found guilty of obstruction or enforcement of current human trafficking laws. Gov. Kay Ivey is also expected to sign a proclamation later this month in observance of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. In addition to the proclamations, Meyers is promoting the Rescue Innocence Project Gala, a fundraiser for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The event features guest speaker Ed Smart whose daughter was abducted in 2002 and miraculously returned to her family after nine grueling months. Smart and his daughter Elizabeth are now active voices in the fight against sexual exploitation. Although Alabama has it’s own human trafficking task force, new laws to punish those who would sexually exploit children, and lawmakers who are willing to step up and make a difference; Alabama only scores an 83.5 on the Shared Hope International report card. According to the report; “A juvenile sex trafficking victim will be identified as dependent or as a child in need of supervision rather than as delinquent, but Alabama law does not provide a statutory avenue to specialized services.” Under the Safe Harbor law, which passed in Alabama in 2016, minors who are arrested for prostitution are not sent to juvenile detention centers or convicted of prostitution. But therein lies the problem; the state of Alabama has no where else to put them. Minors are currently sent back into the situations that sent them there in the first place, or turned over to DHR. “They were denied education and have no skills. They don’t even have family to turn to.” Meyers told the Over the Mountain Journal. This is a problem Meyers and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation hopes to solve. By providing training, specialized staff, and intake facilities for minors who are victims of human trafficking; Alabama would finally have somewhere to send victims in desperate need of care. Funds collected from the Gala will go towards providing these facilities in Alabama and states around the nation.
Gary Palmer announces busy October Town Hall schedule
Alabama 6th District U.S. Congressman Gary Palmer announced Wednesday he will host seven Town Hall meetings throughout the district in October. The events are free and open to the public. Palmer will take questions and address important issues that face 6th District Alabamians and the nation at each event. See below for the dates, times and locations: Clay Town Hall Monday, Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Clay City Hall 2441 Old Springville Road Birmingham, AL 35215 Homewood Town Hall Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. Homewood City Hall 2nd Floor Council Chambers 2850 19th St. S. Homewood, AL 35209 Hoover Town Hall Thursday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Hoover City Hall Council Chambers 100 Municipal Lane Hoover, AL 35216 Columbiana Town Hall Friday, Oct. 14 at 8:30 a.m. Columbiana Senior Center 110 Mildred St. Columbiana, AL 35051 Kimberly Town Hall Monday, October 17 at 6 p.m. Kimberly Senior Center 8013 Warrior Kimberly Road Kimberly, AL 35091 Pelham Town Hall Monday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. Pelham High School 2500 Panther Circle Pelham, AL 35124 Graysville Town Hall Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. Graysville Public Library 315 S. Main St. Graysville, AL 35073
