According to an article in Village Living, Mountain Brook city manager Sam Gaston will retire in November. Gaston has been with the City for over 32 years.
There has been no official announcement from the City yet. In early 2022, Gaston was honored in a surprise ceremony hosted by the City with the renaming of the council chambers to the “Sam S. Gaston Council Chamber.”
At the event, Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart H. Welch III said, “I wanted to take a minute to thank you."
“To thank you for your years of service, and to thank you for all that you’ve done for our city," he added. "I was trying to think of one word to describe you, and my wife came up with two: the rock. I can confidently say that is appropriate, Sam is the rock. He is the foundation for which this city has grown for almost 30 years. Any time I have a question, I know I can go to Sam and get a great answer. So Sam, we wanted to take a second to say thank you, but we actually wanted to memorialize you.”
Gaston responded to the mayor and the gathering of friends and family, saying, “I am caught completely off guard. I have been a very blessed man, thank you so much. It’s a great pleasure to be with the city of Mountain Brook, and I greatly appreciate this. This is a wonderful tribute and I hope I continue to live up to that tribute in the future.
He described his job at the time, saying, “When you love what you do and every day is a pleasure, time goes by fast. We’ve built a great team here. I can say this without any hesitation, 95% of the time, it’s not a job. It’s fun.”
Former Mayor and Councilwoman Margaret Porter responded to the news on Facebook, saying, “Sam: I remember how impressed I was when I interviewed you for the job in 1993. You have exceeded every expectation and brought professionalism, compassion, and leadership to our community. You will be missed but the foundation you have built will be a legacy of which you should always be proud. Well done servant leader! Your. Friendship will always be special to me. Margaret.”
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at aprylmarie.fogel@1819news.com or on X and Facebook at @aprylmarie.
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