Hoover City Council meetings can be described in many ways, but boring is rarely one of them. This week's meeting was no exception.
The agenda packet for the meeting was 138 pages long. Agenda items included restoring funds previously budgeted for the City's performing arts center. This settlement agreement required the City to fund millions of dollars in stormwater work to address flooding on private property, addressed accusations of dishonesty related to stormwater funding, and included an update from the City's chief financial officer on her efforts to resolve the years-long problems.
As the meeting started, the City's CFO, Jennifer Cornett, provided the Quarterly Kroll Report Update. In it, among other issues being addressed, she highlighted and introduced two new managers who had been hired, and noted that two additional staff members were currently in the onboarding process. She addressed the effort to correct the lack of formal policies and procedures as outlined by the Kroll forensic audit final report.
It remains unclear how and why Mayor Frank Brocato allowed the staffing shortage and procedural problems to escalate to a crisis level.
Following Cornett's presentation, the City got down to business. The first agenda item that led to public concern and comments was the passage of a resolution on the agenda, as the Riverchase Village Agreement. Residents were concerned because although the council packet referenced documents that had details of the settlement agreement at hand, the documents themselves were not included. The resolution authorized the City to allocate up to $4 million for stormwater repairs to address flooding around the intersection of U.S. 31, Lorna Road, and John Hawkins Parkway. Among the concerns raised during public comments were alleged previous remarks that the City was legally not allowed to pay for repairs on private property. Councilman Casey Middlebrooks emphasized that, while there is pending litigation to address the issue, public safety demands that the city act now.
During public comment, Hoover resident Kristin Landers told the council, "When you spend $6 million here and $4 million elsewhere, it's not government money. It's taxpayer money. You're spending the money of the hard-earned workers of the City of Hoover. You're spending the money of the hard-earned workers of the City of Hoover, the citizens who contribute to your salaries and vote for you in elections."
She noted, "Everyone here is pretty much being primaried this year. We're in this predicament because of poor city management, and I hope we can do better in the future."
Following that item, the City revisited funding for the performing arts center. Earlier this month, the City pulled funds allocated for the performing arts center and reallocated them for stormwater and infrastructure projects. Council members replaced that $6.1 million, bringing the total to $17 million. Public comments focused on the lack of transparency regarding the expenses detailed at the last meeting and the lack of priority given to finding a location and moving the arts center forward.
City Council candidate Robin Schultz took the opportunity for public comment to give a brief timeline showing that the City's financial mismanagement led to the need for additional funds for the Riverwalk sewer system.
He pointed to a video from the 2021 work session as evidence. In an interview with 1819 News after the meeting, Schultz said, "The rate increase they passed in 2021 was designed to cover current and future needs. Therefore, they should not have needed to borrow $6.1 million for it. This shows a lack of fiscal responsibility."
He stated, "It appears to be the new Riverwalk development put strain on the system, and they had to do larger upgrades that were not planned for in 2021, since that development will have hundreds of multi-family dwellings and a hotel."
Further, he referred council members back to last week's video to illustrate that in the dispute between Councilman Steve McClinton and Mayor Frank Brocato over the council's awareness of the "dire" sewer system needs, McClinton was correct. The video shows Councilwoman Khristi Driver commenting after the dispute that, "Now that we're aware of this sewer situation," supporting McClinton's argument that the council was not properly informed and that transparency is lacking between the mayor's office and the council.
Shultz received a round of applause when he quoted "The Princess Bride" to tell the mayor that although he keeps using the word "transparency," "Mayor, you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Without fanfare or comment, the council voted on two resolutions related to the City's budget policies. One updated the City's current reserve policy, moving the amount the City holds from six months' expenditure-based reserves to state instead, "The City shall maintain a minimum total General Fund balance of $60,000,000, effective immediately. This balance is established to serve as a financial safeguard to ensure the City's ability to respond to unforeseen emergencies, maintain essential service levels during economic downturns, and preserve long-term fiscal stability." Additionally, the City updated its Emergency Fund Policy to say, "The City shall maintain an Emergency Fund as part of the required minimum total General Fund balance. This fund represents a portion of the required minimum total General Fund balance and is established to ensure immediate access to resources in the event of a formally declared emergency, safeguarding the City's operations and financial stability during such events."
The City allocated $3 million to the Emergency Fund using its new formula.
The overarching theme of public comments during this meeting echoed those from months of prior meetings: City leadership needs to be more accountable, fiscally responsible, and transparent.
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