HOOVER — In last year’s State of the City address, Hoover’s Mayor Frank Brocato said, “We must see ourselves as the leaders that we are.” His leadership and the leadership of the Hoover City Council have been scrutinized by residents since that speech was given.
“A few years ago, I asked our city council to be bold. Not only have they been bold, but they’ve been strategic and wise. I’m grateful to see who we are and where we are. I’m very excited to see where we are going,” the mayor continued.
Who are the City's leaders, and where has the City gone since then?
Many residents and several former elected officials have given strong opinions about the city's current direction and leadership, opinions they’ve been more than happy to express during public comment periods at city council meetings and in opinion columns.
In his State of the City address at a sold-out event hosted by the Hoover Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Brocato was careful to not mention all but one of the crises that have occurred or are still unfolding.
In both last year's and this week's addresses, the mayor touted the Riverwalk Development. The development, a priority for city council president John Lyda, included what council members have described as unprecedented tax incentives. Lyda's testimony during the Certificate of Need (CON) hearings included a declaration that it was "absolutely" an economic development rather than a health care project. The deal included millions of dollars in prepaid rent for office space that have largely been vacant.
In one of the more surprising moments of Brocato's speech, the mayor attacked the group that contested the Certificate of Need, saying, "[T]hough we faced some major, and in my opinion, very unnecessary hurdles intended to damage our product, we were ultimately successful in gaining approval of a Certificate of Need."
What this gross mischaracterization of the opposition to Hoover Healthcare Authority's CON application ignores is that testimony during the hearings indicates that the City was already in longstanding discussions for another health care facility before the mayor and city council president decided to pursue the Riverwalk Development.
The legal fees for the CON were over a million dollars. Questions have been raised about the fact that the agreement passed by the council specifically outlined that the developer, not the City, would incur those costs. That language has not been amended by the council to date, though they have passed resolutions to pay the bills.
Nowhere in his report on Tuesday did the mayor address the results of the forensic audit that was just completed by one of the nation's most well-respected forensic audit firms. The report implicated Brocato as having ignored a staffing crisis in his own offices for years. His crisis led to errors and problems that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in auditing fees and tens of thousands of dollars in IRS fines.
He did not address the mobilization of residents who have begun to question whether the City had lost its way of prioritizing livability in an effort to prioritize and reward favored developers.
In one example, the city council is expected to vote on a widely opposed development in Tattersall Park as early as next month. The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission approved the "controversial" plan it in a 6-2 vote. That vote came after more than 2,000 people signed a petition opposing the development (the petition is now over 2,500 signatures), and hundreds attended various community and city meetings to voice their opposition.
Though only flippantly mentioned a campaign in his remarks during his State of the City report, ABC33/40 reports that he said, "I do plan on seeking another term, I absolutely do," he said. "A lot of things we would like to see happening."
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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