Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
CANDIDATES TALK PROPERTY VALUES  
 
September 1, 2004  
Section: Neighborhoods  
Page: 6-H  
   JEREMY GRAY News staff writer  
Property values and the presence of Hispanic day laborers on Lorna Road are two of the key issues for candidates in the runoff for Place 7 on the Hoover City Council.  
 
 
 
Mike Natter, 30, and Daniel Whitman, 38, emerged from a field of eight candidates to make the runoff for one of two seats added to the Hoover council this summer.
 
 
Natter, a construction company president, said the city must make decisions regarding growth with the best interest of the city's existing homeowners in mind.
 
 
"I would take each situation (of proposed annexations or developments) under careful scrutiny and decide if the extra ad valorum tax base is going to be a plus or minus when you look at how it taxes the city," Natter said.
 
 
Whitman, a Realtor, wants to see the city implement a housing code that a committee he served on drafted last year.
 
 
The Greystone resident said newer communities like his have covenants that prohibit the presence of junk cars or allow yards to become overgrown.
 
 
Older communities in the city have no such protection, he said.
 
 
"Hoover has no property maintenance code. As a house comes into disrepair, and junk cars pile up, there's nothing the city can do about it," Whitman said. Place He also wants the city to more carefully examine how new developments impact schools and public safety services, Whitman said.
 
 
"If you know you're bringing in this many people . . . you need to make sure you're providing schools and police officers" for those new residents, Whitman said. Day labor dispute
 
 
Both candidates said they would favor anti-loitering laws to control the presence of day laborers on Lorna Road. Natter, however, said he would have to examine the specific details of any proposal.
 
 
On that issue, Whitman said he was "one of the few who put themselves on a limb and said it needs to be dealt with."
 
 
Whitman said he likes mayoral candidate Tony Petelos' idea of joining in with other cities to pay the salary of an Immigration and Naturalization Service agent who would work to rid the city of illegal aliens.
 
 
Whitman describes it as a "safety issue" because Hispanics along Lorna are targets for crime and because he's heard reports of the immigrants harassing other people.
 
 
Natter said his construction company regularly employs Hispanic laborers who are in the country legally.
 
 
"It seems the Hispanic community is going to be here even if some in the community don't want them here," Natter said.
 
 
Natter said he'd like to see local churches open community centers for the burgeoning Hispanic population.
 
 
"These are human beings we're dealing with and we have to treat them as such," Natter said. Civil government
 
 
Both candidates said they want to see civility return to Hoover City Hall and are willing to work with whoever emerges victorious from the Sept. 14 runoffs.
 
 
While Natter has expressed doubt that it was necessary to expand the council to seven members, Whitman said it is a good safeguard against "cliques" that vote for or against something based on who supports it. Dollars, endorsements
 
 
Whitman led the Place 7 pack on election night with 3,516 votes to Natter's 2,334 votes. Six other contenders shared the remaining 7,310 votes cast in the election.
 
 
Whitman and Natter also got the lion's share of donations, according to campaign disclosure forms.
 
 
Natter had $4,133 in donations, mostly from a $1,000 family contribution and several individual donations of $500 and less from family and supporters.
 
 
Whitman collected $3,265 in donations, which included a $1,000 contribution from Site works LLC, $200 from Civil Consultants Inc., and several donations of $500 or less from individual supporters.
 
 
Whitman was endorsed by the Concerned Citizens for the Future of Hoover and Natter was backed by the Alabama Builders Political Action Committee.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
CONTROLLED GROWTH, CIVILITY AMONG COUNCIL RUNOFF ISSUES  
 
September 1, 2004  
Section: Neighborhoods  
Page: 4-H  
   JEREMY GRAY News staff writer  
Both candidates for Place 4 on the Hoover City Council cite a need for controlled growth and a better working relationship between city officials.  
 
 
 
But Gary Ivey and Jim Henry see different ways to reach the latter goal.
 
 
Henry, a 73-year-old retired executive, said the council should act as a conduit between neighborhood and homeowner associations and city government.
 
 
"The community input has to be expanded" after suffering under outgoing Mayor Barbara McCollum's administration, Henry said.
 
 
Ivey, the 48-year-old owner of Crest Cadillac Hummer, said the relationships among city leaders are an extension of their motivations.
 
 
"I don't have a personal agenda, and I think people have been getting caught up in personal agendas and personalities," Ivey said.
 
 
"There's just no room for that in city government," he said. Growing pains
 
 
Henry, a Greystone resident, and Ivey, a Riverchase resident, both said better planning for growth is critical to the city's future well-being.
 
 
"All these people who used to drive up 31 to go to the Galleria don't have to drive that far anymore," Henry said.
 
 
Therefore, he wants the city to consider building an industrial park to attract hi-tech companies and light industry in order to maintain a tax base.
 
 
Ivey, a member of the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission, said city leaders were wrong to pay for a road to the Ross Bridge development. He argues that it is an example of a planning process that needs to be changed.
 
 
"Developers need to be asking, 'What can I do for the city, rather than what can the city do for me?'" Ivey said.
 
 
Henry and Ivey said the city must look at the impact of new developments on city schools and public safety resources.
 
 
Henry said he favors higher impact-fees for developers to counter the costs of firefighters, police and school facilities that come with new developments. Dollars and sense
 
 
Both candidates are campaigning for the Sept. 14 runoff on a platform of fiscal responsibility.
 
 
Ivey said municipal government should apply the same budgeting process that he uses in his business.
 
 
"We look at real dollars. We don't look at projected dollars," Ivey said.
 
 
"You give them (department heads) real dollars to work with rather than asking them to come up with wish lists," he said.
 
 
Henry said it is imperative the city appoint a liaison to work with the Shelby County Commission.
 
 
"People think of Hoover as a Jefferson County city, but in reality there's some 13,000 registered Hoover voters living in North Shelby County," Henry said.
 
 
Businesses along U.S. 280, which are in the portion of the Place city within Shelby County, provide between $12 million and $13 million of the city's $75 million annual revenue, Henry said.
 
 
"There's too much overlapping for us not to have a closer relationship," he said. The law, day workers
 
 
Ivey said he disagreed with the amount of money the city spent renovating a warehouse into the new Public Safety Center.
 
 
"It was a blatant waste of money. We need to get more staff down there to make the operational cost more palatable," Ivey said.
 
 
He favors moving police detectives and administrators to the center, while keeping patrol units closer to the heart of the city, Ivey said.
 
 
Henry said the city must address the problem of illegal aliens seeking day labor work along Lorna Road.
 
 
"They come up here to find jobs, and it hurts us," he said.
 
 
"Then there's the transient aspect. We've got to address it," Henry said. Money, endorsements
 
 
Ivey raised the most money of any candidate in the Place 4 race and had 6,182 votes to Henry's 4,455 votes.
 
 
Incumbent Kyle Forstman had 2,668 votes.
 
 
Ivey raised $15,944 for his campaign, mostly from a $12,000 self-loan and donations that included two $500 contribution from two groups of developers, one called Hamptons at Ross Bridge and another dubbed the Haven at Greystone.
 
 
Henry reported $2,000 in contributions, half of which came from a self-loan. The rest came from individual contributions of $300 or less.
 
 
Ivey was endorsed by the Alabama Builders Political Action Committee while Henry was endorsed by the Concerned Citizens for the Future of Hoover.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
HOOVER MAYOR MCCOLLUM VOTED OUT  
 
August 25, 2004  
Section: News  
Page: 1-A  
Illustration: A Newschart titled 'Hoover election results' accompanied this article.
 
   TROY GOODMAN and JEREMY GRAY News staff writers  
Hoover voters Tuesday tossed out incumbent Mayor Barbara McCollum, sending former state Rep. Tony Petelos and City Councilman Jody Patterson into a runoff for mayor of Alabama's sixth-largest city.  
 
 
 
Petelos, with 6,966 votes, and Patterson, with 3,322, were the top vote-getters from a field of six candidates.
 
 
McCollum finished third with 2,183 votes.
 
 
Petelos credited his voter support to residents who were "tired of the bickering, tired of the fighting between the mayor and council."
 
 
"It is a big city with big-city problems," Petelos said, "and the residents of Hoover are looking for someone with the experience to run a big city and a big organization."
 
 
Patterson, a home builder, said he heard much of the same concerns from voters as he campaigned in neighborhoods during the past few weeks. "People are ready for a change," the first-term councilman said.
 
 
McCollum and all five council members live west of Interstate 65. The council was expanded to seven members for the election. Of the council candidates who live in Greystone, Hoover's easternmost neighborhood, one won election and three others made the runoff.
 
 
Trey Lott won his council race outright and Mary Sue Ludwig, Jim Henry and Daniel Whitman made it into runoffs.
 
 
McCollum, who held an election-night rally at a neighborhood clubhouse, conceded the race at about 8 p.m., before all of the votes had been counted.
 
 
"I'm sorry, we tried," she told supporters.
 
 
The mayor, through a spokeswoman, declined to be interviewed by The Birmingham News.
 
 
The last half of McCollum's term has been dogged by disputes with three members of the City Council over issues big and small. Patterson, Council President Bob Austin and Councilman Jack Wright have blasted the mayor for not holding budget hearings earlier this year and for spending $34 million to buy and renovate a former warehouse into a public safety center. The center now houses a 64-bed city jail, the city's municipal court complex and more than a half dozen relocated city departments.
 
 
The council trio also has criticized the McCollum-backed annexation of the 1,600-acre Ross Bridge development in western Hoover, something the mayor touts as one of her administration's greatest accomplishments.
 
 
"The way McCollum has handled things, I could not vote for her," said Ruth Nail, 47, as she left her Greystone Farms voting location just before noon.
 
 
Nail and her husband voted for Petelos, a commercial builder who served as Department of Human Resources commissioner under two governors until his term ended in 2000.
 
 
The 33 candidates on Hoover's ballot almost doubled the number from four years ago. The six vying for the mayor's seat boosted those choices, but the ballot growth was largely due to the recent expansion of the Hoover City Council from five to seven seats.
 
 
Residents in eastern Hoover communities such as Greystone and Southlake pushed for the expansion, saying their side of town was being neglected.
 
 
Former Hoover Mayor Brian Skelton made the runoff for Place 6 with 42.2 percent of the vote, along with challenger Jim Summerlin, who got 36.84 percent of the vote.
 
 
In Place 7, there will be a runoff be between Daniel Whitman, who got 26.72 percent of the vote, and Mike Natter, who got 17.74 percent.
 
 
In the remaining council seats, Trey Lott won Place 1, Gene Smith won Place 2 and Wright took Place 5. Place 3 will be decided in a runoff between Mari Morrison and Mary Sue Ludwig. Gary Ivey and Jim Henry will be in a runoff for Place 4.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
HOOVER VOTERS STILL FACE MANY CHOICES  
 
August 25, 2004  
Section: Neighborhoods  
Page: 1-H  
   Peggy Sanford  
Tuesday's general municipal election is done, and even though I was on a deadline limb before the vote, I think it's safe to predict Hoover voters are looking to the runoffs.  
 
 
 
With that in mind, it's worth recalling some of the issues raised during the general election campaign, as well as others likely to face a new or renewed administration after it takes office Oct. 1.
 
 
As candidates face off for the Sept. 14 vote, here are some of the topics and concerns that seem to surface and resurface in Hoover.
 
 
Growth. It was an issue in the 2000 campaign and it remains a key issue in Hoover. Many of the candidates in the general election talked of the need to weigh the possible benefits of any potential annexation into the city against the demands such an addition will bring on Hoover's schools and city services such as public safety and public works.
 
 
Hispanic community. This population continues to grow in Hoover and needs must be met.
 
 
The city, along with volunteers and charitable organizations, last year opened the Multicultural Resource Center on Municipal Drive to give day laborers a place to wait for work and to provide translation and information services to non-English-speaking immigrants. Day laborers still wait along Lorna Road, however, and there are complaints that legal and illegal immigrants are crowding into apartments in the city and placing heavy demands on Hoover schools.
 
 
Proposed remedies varied among candidates in the general election, ranging from enforcing existing laws and passing an ordinance that would limit the number of occupants in one residence to tearing down apartments and revitalizing property along Lorna Road. Another proposal involved trying to partner with neighboring cities to lobby for and perhaps pay part of the salary for an Immigration and Naturalization Service agent in the area.
 
 
Council representation. It took a long and ugly fight that led into court to have two seats added to the Hoover Council in time for this election. All seven seats remain elected at large, or citywide. Talk of moving to district election of council members is bound to return.
 
 
Responsibilities of the mayor. Barbara McCollum, as mayor, has served as the city's chief administrator, overseeing and directing department heads. Has Hoover grown large enough to warrant moving some of the duties of the mayor to a professional city manager?
 
 
It's another question to bear in mind as election season continues, and beyond.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
ATTORNEY ACCUSED IN SIGN PLACING  
 
August 21, 2004  
Section: News  
Page: 12-A  
   JEREMY GRAY News staff writer  
A candidate for the Hoover City Council said Friday that the city attorney has been placing campaign signs for Mayor Barbara McCollum along city and county rights of way.  
 
 
 
City Attorney Steve Griffin would not comment Friday on the claims by Place 7 candidate Daniel Whitman.
 
 
Whitman said he was returning home to Greystone following a Tuesday mayoral forum in Riverchase and saw a man placing McCollum campaign signs along the county right of way on Valleydale Road. Whitman said he approached the man and realized it was Griffin. He said he told Griffin it was illegal, but said Griffin told him it was a county road.
 
 
Whitman said both men drove U.S. 280 toward Greystone, where Whitman is president of the homeowners association. Whitman said he saw Griffin's truck turn onto Hugh Daniel Drive into Greystone and he saw Griffin put up more signs.
 
 
"I said, 'You are not supposed to be putting these on city right of ways. We can't do it and she's not supposed to either,'" Whitman said.
 
 
Shelby County Environmental Manager Robert Kelley said state law prohibits placing any signs on state or county rights of way. City Clerk Linda Crump said campaign signs cannot be placed on city rights of way, except in a resident's yard.
 
 
Griffin said he would not comment because of litigation between the city and the Greystone Ridge Homeowners Association regarding a road many Greystone residents want to see turned into a cul-de-sac.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
CANDIDATES DRAWING BIG CONTRIBUTIONS  
 
August 21, 2004  
Section: News  
Page: 12-A  
Illustration: A Newschart titled 'Raking in the dough' accompanied this article.
 
   JON ANDERSON and JEREMY GRAY News staff writers  
 
Tuesday is shaping up to be nearly a milliondollar day for political candidates in Jefferson and Shelby counties.  
 
 
 
Mayor and city council candidates in the two counties have raked in more than $900,000 in an effort to get elected to political office, records filed with probate judges this week show.
 
 
About half of that was collected in the past 40 days as candidates scurried to bring in the dough to pay for all those campaign signs, fliers and advertisements that get their names and messages out.
 
 
The bulk of the campaign cash is flowing to Hoover, where 33 candidates have raised about $325,000 collectively, campaign finance reports show.  
 
 
Hoover Mayor Barbara McCollum was second in fund raising, with $53,704 collected for her re-election bid, but one of her five challengers, former state Rep. Tony Petelos, was hot on her heels from a financial standpoint. Petelos has  
raised $52,509 so far for his campaign.
 
 
Hoover Councilman Jody Patterson wasn't far behind, having collected $34,374 in cash, plus more than $12,700 in in-kind donations for things like advertising and food for campaign events.
 
 
Two Hoover council candidates, Gene Smith and Mary Sue Ludwig, also are among the top 10 fund raisers in Jefferson and Shelby. The mayors in Fultondale, Helena, Calera and Midfield round out the Top 10.

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
ELECTION CARDS GIVE VOTING LOCATIONS, DIRECTIONS  
 
August 18, 2004  
Section: Neighborhoods  
Page: 1-H  
   TROY GOODMAN News staff writer  
Voters go to the polls Tuesday to make their choices for Hoover mayor and City Council.  
 
 
 
Thousands of voting location cards have been mailed to residents with the addresses where they must to vote.
 
 
The card reminds voters to bring proper identification to the polls, and that election workers will hold a run-off election Tuesday, Sept. 14, if needed, City Clerk Linda Crump said.
 
 
Hoover has one new voting location this year, at the Greystone Farms clubhouse, 1000 Farmhouse Road.
 
 
Other changes to voting locations in the city have been made since the 2000 municipal election, due to federal guidelines.
 
 
Crump said those changes and other details are spelled out in the voting location cards.
 
 
Hoover will staff 12 voting locations with more than 140 trained poll workers, she said.
 
 
To cast a ballot, each voter must present identification.
 
 
Acceptable forms include drivers license, employee photo ID, college photo ID card, a utility bill, bank statement, payroll check, passport and a fishing or hunting license.
 
 
Each voter should choose one candidate for mayor and one for each of the seven places on the Hoover council.
 
 
All council places are intended to represent voters throughout the city and are chosen by a citywide, not a district, vote.
 
 
Crump said the marked votes on incomplete ballots are counted and applied to election totals.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
MAYOR CANDIDATES ANSWER QUESTIONS ON ISSUES  
 
August 18, 2004  
Section: Neighborhoods  
Page: 2-H  
How should the city handle its tremendous growth and development?  
 
 
 
Tony Petelos Hoover has experienced tremendous residential and commercial growth and development over the years. Much of the commercial growth is retail. When new homes are built, Hoover can expect to build new classrooms. The residential growth alone does not begin to pay for schools and other infrastructure needs. Before a residential project is approved, we must conduct an impact study to determine the effect on schools, police and fire protection, and public works.
 
 
Each residential project should be closely scrutinized and a determination made that is good for the city and not just good for the developers before final approval is given. Every effort must be made to take care of existing neighborhoods and schools. I have no desire for Hoover to be the biggest city it can be: I want Hoover to be the best city it can be.
 
 
Jody Patterson Ask one simple question: Does this annexation provide a better quality of life for our residents? If the answer is no, kill the project. It's time to stop growth for the sake of growth. Ask all seven council members to help me stop subsidizing developers. Commercial development always follows residential. Let supply and demand, basic Economics 101, play the main role, not giving a developer $6 million for a road and getting the county to contribute another $5 million, when the developer should pay for the road.
 
 
And we should never have spent $6 million for a convention area. Tourism is seasonal, risky for Birmingham area. This (Ross Bridge golf resort) was built in the wrong location. (Galleria district, more central/ proven). Don't spend existing residents' money, tax dollars, to push growth. As your mayor, it's my job to control growth and demand that a project isn't detrimental to existing neighborhoods.
 
 
Walter Mims Hoover should create a zoning plan. Implementation of this plan should be done with the help of citizens who live in the area that is most impacted. Develop neighborhoods with a range of housing types (i.e. mixed-use for residential and commercial). Development of a range of transportation options. Recruit new small business partners by providing services for them including access to capital, markets, network and technology.
 
 
Barbara McCollum The City of Hoover, like all Alabama municipalities, is required to establish and maintain a Planning and Zoning Commission. The commission is composed of volunteer Hoover citizens who make decisions regarding the proper zoning and land use for the city. The Planning and Zoning Commission utilizes a "Comprehensive Plan" for land use in making its decisions concerning development. During my administration, I appointed a committee composed of a cross-section of Hoover citizens that studied land use in the city and drafted the Comprehensive Plan.
 
 
During my administration, recommendations made in the Comprehensive Plan are being implemented by the adoption of city ordinances that are required to implement the plan. Also, I have utilized the prin ciples of "Smart Growth," which include mixeduse zoning such as that utilized at the Preserve and Ross Bridge developments.
 
 
Bob Lochamy Conscientiously! There are strong indicators that we are about to become the state's fifth largest city, by the addition of approximately 10,000 new residents. It is imperative that we regard any and all annexations and developments in a conscientious and controlled, comprehensive manner that measures any such actions against the overall citywide impact, and in a sincere "open communications" and engaged partnership with our citizens. We must encourage and engage our citizens on the front side of this most important aspect of our city's future direction.
 
 
I am calling for the formation of a citywide citizens-based task force and citizen action committees to engage various citizens from throughout Hoover to work with our elected and appointed officials and administration with the many issues relating to, not only growth and development, but also the relative comprehensive impact of these actions in regards to education, finance, planning and zoning, recreation, public safety and public works, etc. We must approve and adopt a comprehensive long-range land use plan. This element of our city governance has been stalled over the past few years and we must be more disciplined and responsible in establishing a plan of action and direction, instead working in a piecemeal fashion that establishes no comprehensive discipline or control.
 
 
Stephen Bryant The City of Hoover has shown tremendous growth within recent years, residentially but also in the business sector. One very important issue we must pay close attention to in our residential community is that we must not build homes or apartments without first taking into consideration the school system. I believe that if we overburden a proper student-teacher ratio, then not only will property value decrease but the number of college-bound students will decrease as well. Also, with so much construction taking place, I would like to see street resurfacing done after developments have been finished.
 
 
Hoover currently has debt-service payments of about $9.3 million per year, but sales tax revenues are breaking records and the city has an improved bond rating. What do you think about current management of the city's finances, and would you change anything?
 
 
Tony Petelos The debt service has increased at an alarming rate. While sales tax revenues are currently doing well, our sister cities to the south are expanding their retail space. Alabaster is scheduled to open approximately 800,000 square feet of retail space and Pelham will open another 800,000 square feet. I am afraid when these open, we can expect a drop in revenues. Sales tax is a wonderful source of revenue as long as it lasts. Should the economy experience any decline, the sales tax revenue is one of the first things to drop.
 
 
The $35 million public safety center and the $6 million road leading to Ross Bridge are examples of poor planning and management. Now we need a new fire station in Ross Bridge, more money we must spend. Over 100,000 square feet of empty space remains in the public safety center. The price tag will rise even higher before the police can be moved. The utility bill and maintenance for the public safety center is estimated at $50,000 per month. It was over eight months into the fiscal year before a budget was adopted this year. This is poor management by anyone's standard. We must improve planning, have better communication and adopt a budget in a timely fashion.
 
 
Jody Patterson Current management of city finances is not only risky but irresponsible. Mayor Barbara McCollum pushed and got her three votes to borrow more money than any administration in our city's history. The debt service of $9.3 million is more than our city gives to our schools. McCollum is directly responsible and should be held accountable. Yes, I would do what McCollum promised in 2000. Implement sound conservative spending policies. We had $29 million in our reserve fund in 2000, now we have $24 million, and it is projected to decrease over a million each year through 2009.
 
 
Walter Mims Hoover is experiencing an increase in sales tax revenues but we are also spending at recordbreaking levels. Last year, revenues were $82 million - expenditures were $88.7 million, leaving us with a actual deficit of $6.7 million. I anticipate this year's deficit to be even greater. We are spending $9.2 million on debt service while only allocating $7.5 million for educating our children. Our debt has almost doubled since 1999. Our current obligation is over $115 million and I question what this is going to do to our bond rating in the future. Spending must be brought under control so that our citizens will not be burdened with increased taxes to secure their educational needs and standard of living.
 
 
Barbara McCollum The City of Hoover's debt service payment is well within acceptable limits for the capital improvements required to meet the needs of our citizens. As Standard and Poor's noted in raising our bond rating, my administration adopted an excellent budget process, we adopted for the first time in the city's history a five-year capital plan, an excellent financial reporting system, a strong cash position, an annexation policy that measures economic benefits and liabilities to the city prior to bringing in new property, and a strong growing retail base.
 
 
Bob Lochamy We must be more sincere, dedicated and responsible stewards of our city's resources. The most recent drastic escalation in our city's annual debt service has put our city in a most precarious position. I feel that the current administration has been self-serving, short-sighted and irresponsible in its efforts to efficiently manage, report and protect our resources and provide our city's ever-expanding city services.
 
 
The current administration has boasted of increased sales tax revenues while NOT facing the fact that the escalating debt service that our city has incurred under this current administration has taken away a part of our city's financial ability to deal with any immediate needs or demands, which could be fast approaching as a possible economic downturn and decrease in sales tax collections could occur, due to outside forces. For instance, Pelham, Alabaster and Vestavia Hills are going to challenge our current retail sales tax base and have a profound impact on our school system and our expanding city services and our ability to accommodate the upcoming surge of home-building activity.
 
 
Stephen Bryant The current financial situation that Hoover is now in is a very positive state of growth. I would work closely with those who are in the financial departments to continue progress.
 
 
What do you see as Hoover's biggest need, in terms of public facilities and programs?
 
 
Tony Petelos Hoover is a beautiful city and has a great deal to offer, however, there are many needs that we must meet. With continued expansion and development, we must insist that community parks come with each development. As a parent, I am concerned with children being at the ball park for games past 10 p.m. on school nights. We need more athletic facilities, including ball parks and an indoor track. A city the size of Hoover should have a facility dedicated to our senior citizens.
 
 
They would benefit from a place to gather, fellowship and exercise.
 
 
Jody Patterson Needs for residents. 1) Open park space - just a place to throw down a picnic blanket and throw the Frisbee, just to relax with friends and family. 2) Senior citizens center. 3) Hiking trail, bike paths. 4) Youth park with skate park.
 
 
Walter Mims Develop a regional transit network, with either private or matching funds, with a variety of transportation choices.
 
 
Barbara McCollum The city needs to provide sufficient working space for our Police Department at a Public Safety Center.
 
 
Bob Lochamy We must address the need to expand our city's public facilities to better accommodate our diverse and dynamic population and our city's families. A centrally located (i.e., Lorna Road renewal) full-service recreation park, such as Vestavia's Wald Park, would be one of our first priorities, which would include an outdoor swimming pool, picnic tables and pavilions, a state of the art skateboard and BMX bicycle park, meeting space (for family reunions, civic groups, businesses, etc.,) swing sets and sliding boards, tennis and basketball courts, walking and jogging tracks, etc.
 
 
A centrally located performing arts center could be most beneficial to both our school system and our overall community interest. A centrally located full-service senior citizens center would provide our senior citizens the opportunity to have a community-based center in addition to the ongoing efforts that our area churches provide for this segment of our population.
 
 
Stephen Bryant Hoover's new municipal center was opened mainly for the city employees and not for the residents of Hoover. Currently, all Hoover residents have to go outside of the city to get a driver's license or car tag. I will make this location available for specifically that, and also for future voting. The space is available. The entire second floor of this facility is an open space. We have the space in this new facility of ours as us, the taxpayers, are paying for it.
 
 
How would you address the problems and needs associated with Hoover's growing immigrant population, including the workers who regularly gather on Lorna Road?
 
 
Tony Petelos I am opposed to the multi-cultural center that was opened by the City on Municipal Drive as a "day labor" pick-up center. This creates an open-door policy for illegal immigrants. Not only are we providing a place for immigrants living in Hoover, but immigrants from surrounding cities come to Hoover for work. We need to enforce local acts and ordinances to prohibit loitering and soliciting. Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, dealt with a similar problem by enforcing jaywalking ordinances.
 
 
There is no short term solution for this problem. Even if our local police arrest illegal aliens, the federal government has not always done their part. I will propose a plan in conjunction with some of our neighboring cities, where we will approach Immigration and Naturalization Services and provide office space and a portion of the salary for a full-time INS agent to be in our area. I will also push for adoption of a housing code in the City of Hoover which will limit the
 
 
number of residents that can live in a house or apartment. This is a serious health and safety issue.
 
 
Jody Patterson Our laws must be enforced. Driver's license and insurance laws should be strictly enforced. We must put some teeth into our loitering laws. No loitering, period. It's a safety issue. It's dangerous to have people standing on the side of Lorna Road. Where apartments front Lorna Road, I would like to work with property owners and slowly and carefully eliminate some of the apartments by working with owners to obtain a highest and best-use zoning.
 
 
That would be commercial, more revenue for Hoover. Redevelop and eliminate some apartment buildings. Slow, planned rezoning on Lorna will help, and it's a good place to start. I will push immediately for any laws we need to ensure health, safety, morals and general welfare of all of Hoover is protected.
 
 
Walter Mims I would reach out to the Hispanic leaders and work with them with the aim of helping our immigrant population to become productive tax-paying citizens. Our current unemployment rate is 1.8% and we have absorbed many of them into our work force. We should work with the churches and community schools to teach English to all preschoolers and school-age children. The Lorna Road problem would be solved with transportation options and job-placement programs.
 
 
Barbara McCollum I will continue to partner with state and federal agencies, community volunteers, local churches and the school system in order to educate and regulate the migrant population. This is a complex national challenge, which requires multiple resources and solutions.
 
 
Bob Lochamy We must face the facts. We have stood by and let this issue now become a definite problem for our city and our citizens. I do sincerely believe that Hoover's growing immigration population is one of our city's most pressing problems, both shortand long-term. The overall impact of this issue can and will have a profoundly negative impact on our city if we do not take immediate action to address this most complex issue. Our central city, especially along the Lorna Road corridor, is deteriorating and is in need of immediate review and aggressive revitalization.
 
 
The disproportionate number of apartment complexes along or near Lorna Road has led to a disproportionate density of apartment residents that places undue stresses on our city services, our school system and our city's planning discipline. Removing at least three, if not more, of these apartment complexes would begin to resolve this aspect of the issue. The day laborers that do congregate along Lorna and at the Multi-Cultural Center have become a public nuisance in many ways. Due to the growing immigrant population in Hoover, which, at this time, is primarily housed along Lorna Road, there has been an increase in retail and service establishments to accommodate the immigrant population in this general area.
 
 
Based on the traditionally transient nature of the day laborer to go where the work is, this immediate accommodation of retail and service outlets will have an even more drastically negative impact on our central city as the day labor population, in due time, shifts to other cities and areas of growth and job opportunities, further leaving the Lorna Road area in a then more dilapidated and blithe condition and in a more costly position of recovery and renewal.
 
 
Stephen Bryant Hoover is one of the finest cities in all of Alabama. It is no surprise to me that we have seen a surge in immigrant population. With such residential and commercial growth in the city, jobs are plentiful. However, I would like to see a business open up for temporary work in that area so the loitering will stop in that area off of Lorna.
 
 
 

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
HOOVER CANDIDATES SPAR OVER GROWTH  
 
August 14, 2004  
Section: News  
Page: 1-A  
   TROY GOODMAN News staff writer  
Hoover Mayor Barbara McCollum is proud of the city's growth policies, financial stability and the new city jail and municipal office complex, all accomplished during her four years in office.  
 
 
 
Four of her five challengers - Tony Petelos, Jody Patterson, Walter Mims and Bob Lochamy - say the city's growth is out of hand, spending outpaces revenue and financial crisis looms.
 
 
As McCollum seeks a second term Aug. 24, she cites as accomplishments the 1,600-acre Ross Bridge development, an improved city bond rating and creation of a mixed-use zoning law that allows village-like retail inside neighborhoods.
 
 
"I do stand on my accomplishments . . . we've solved problems, we've shown leadership. We have gotten $60 million in grants through this administration from working with the state and federal government," McCollum said.
 
 
The four most visible challengers are telling voters they believe the past four years have been detrimental in terms of the city's ability to plan for growth while still providing basic services, such as police and fire protection to new homes and businesses.
 
 
Petelos, a former state lawmaker and Department of Human Resources commissioner, has repeatedly criticized McCollum for spearheading the Ross Bridge annexation without enough consideration of the 2,300-home planned community attached to the project.
 
 
"The answer again is, before we do massive annexations, before we do any more annexations, we need to do impact studies and have a report to the school system, the fire department, the police department, the finance department, the public works department to determine what the true cost of annexation is," Petelos said during a Thursday night campaign forum.
 
 
The League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham presented the forum in the Hoover High School gymnasium. All Hoover mayoral candidates, except Stephen Bryant, who has been absent from most campaign forums in the city, participated in Thursday's two-hour event.
 
 
The field of candidates in Hoover's race is crowded. Along with the six mayoral contenders, 27 people are running for the Hoover council. Campaign donations since January have climbed to more than $132,000, according to reports filed with the probate judges last month.
 
 
Among mayoral candidates, Petelos raked in the most with $43,800 in total campaign donations, followed by McCollum with a total of $41,300 raised for her re-election bid.
 
 
Patterson, a Hoover council member, Lochamy a political consultant, and Mims, a business consultant, all said annexations and development need to be slowed down to protect the city's financial reserves, existing home values and the city's retail tax base.
 
 
Infrastructure McCollum told the 250 attendees that plenty of consideration had been given to the infrastructure and services behind the new project. The Retirement Systems of Alabama is investing $100 million in the project's golf course, hotel and spa, and the mayor predicted tourism dollars would boost the city budget for decades. The hotel and hundreds of homes will be open by mid-2005, builders say.
 
 
"We do impact studies all the time," McCollum said during a recent campaign meeting held at a neighborhood clubhouse.
 
 
She said the $32 million spent on the Public Safety Center was the most affordable solution to ease poor working conditions at the 1980s-era Municipal Center located near the Riverchase Galleria.
 
 
Lochamy reiterated his belief that tearing down three apart ment complexes on Lorna Road near the Interstate 459 overpass will ease crime, loitering and open up the possibility of residential and commercial redevelopment in the area.
 
 
"I don't think we can waste another day. The central part of our city is deteriorating," Lochamy said at the League's forum.
 
 
Mims told the crowd he would like to establish a Hoover small-business council and make other administrative changes to promote the city's retail tax base. "We must protect our revenue stream," he said.
 
 
Another issue raised during the League's forum was McCollum's insistence that she has been kept out of the loop on negotiations to sell the Hoover sewer system that serves the Riverchase, Southlake and Inverness neighborhoods.
 
 
Residents in those neighborhoods have said they question how Jefferson County could make an $18.8 million offer to buy the Hoover system without McCollum's knowledge. The buyout offer came May 24 as the county explores ways to expand its customer base and repay construction loans.
 
 
McCollum said once the $18.8 million was offered, City Attorney Steve Griffin kept her out of the negotiations on purpose because a sale must be decided by the Hoover City Council, not the mayor.
 
 
Patterson said confusion over the sewer deal is a good example of how the mayor and the city attorney have failed to work with the five-member city council to make smart financial, capital-improvement decisions. If elected, Patterson said, he will work to build a consensus of all council members. The panel has been expanded from five to seven seats in time for the Aug. 24 election.
 
 
"I don't want three votes or four votes, I want us all to work together to do what is right for the city," Patterson said.  

Birmingham News (AL){PUBLICATION2}
TATE: EXPERIENCES SPURRED HIM TO RUN  
 
August 11, 2004  
Section: Neighborhoods  
Page: 4-H  
   JEREMY GRAY News staff writer  
Don Tate said his experiences during the quarter of a century he spent as a Hoover police officer spurred him to seek a seat on the city's council.  
 
 
 
Tate is one of eight candidates for Place 7 on the Hoover council.
 
 
"I was tired of being asked . . . when is the City of Hoover going to take care" of any number of problems, Tate said.
 
 
Now retired, he said he wants to use a position on the City Council to help correct some of those problems.
 
 
"First and foremost is the financial situation of the city," he said.
 
 
Tate, 49, said he believes the answer is to practice sensible spending and implement a balanced budget.
 
 
"This administration is spend ing money on some of the most ludicrous things," he said.
 
 
One example, he said, is the new Public Safety Center which, he predicts, will "be a problem for years to come."
 
 
"I would like to see a balanced budget, which is something we haven't seen in several years. In fact, we haven't had a budget at all for the last few."
 
 
Hoover Finance Director Robert Yeager disputed that claim.
 
 
"We have not, since I've been here, adopted a budget that was not balanced," Yeager said.
 
 
The Hoover council did not adopt a 2004 budget until June, with only three months remaining in the fiscal year. The budget approval stalled in September when three council members balked at approving Mayor Barbara McCollum's $78 million budget proposal.
 
 
Aside from fiscal concerns, Tate said he embarked on his first political run to see the city move forward with plans to four-lane Alabama 150.
 
 
He said Hoover also needs "a workable long-range plan for the growth of the city."
 
 
Tate has lived in Hoover since 1967 and is a graduate of W.A. Berry High School.
 
 
He attended Jacksonville State University and graduated from Samford University.
 
 
Tate is a member of the Chace Lake Country Club.
 
 
He and his wife have two children, one of whom is a firefighter in Tuscaloosa and another is a student at Auburn University.