Homewood informational session outlines benefits of council–manager government

Councilor Nick Sims opened an informational session on Homewood's consideration of the city manager role and said council members and staff would be available for one‑on‑one follow‑ups after a presentation by Mountain Brook city manager Sam Gasson.

Gasson, introduced by Sims as a longtime Mountain Brook city manager, framed the council–manager form of government as a tool to increase professional administration. He summarized academic and professional studies and presented three reasons he said explain why Alabama has relatively few city managers: limited statewide champions for professional management, the need for special enabling legislation, and local cultural and political factors.

Gasson described a city manager’s core duties as serving as the administrative head of the city, supervising day‑to‑day operations and department heads, appointing and removing employees, preparing a comprehensive annual budget for mayor and council approval, and keeping elected officials informed. "One of the most important things is to keep the mayor and the council informed of things going on in the city government as well as the community," he said.

He argued the model tends to produce greater professionalism and continuity: most city managers and county managers hold graduate degrees and the manager model supports centralized budgeting and purchasing, recurring citizen surveys, long‑range planning, and performance benchmarking. Gasson cited Mountain Brook’s routine benchmarking against similar cities and said those practices have helped deliver higher service scores in surveys.

On options in Alabama, Gasson outlined three approaches: adopting the council–manager form via special legislation (the option Homewood is considering); creating a city manager position by local ordinance (used in Mountain Brook and Pelham); or appointing a city administrator who reports directly to the mayor (used in Alabaster and Hoover). He also noted that recent state bills adjusted how some municipalities can adopt professional management.

Addressing Homewood specifically, Gasson said a community of Homewood’s size — he described the population as about 28,000–29,000, an operating budget "over $50 million," and a staff of roughly 350–400 employees — would likely benefit from a full‑time professional manager to handle day‑to‑day operations, capital improvements and strategic planning. "For a city your size... you need more than just a part‑time mayor and 11 council members," he said.

The session concluded with an invitation to residents to ask questions during a Q&A and to speak individually with councilors and presenters at stations displaying ward maps and the ad hoc committee report. No formal decision or vote occurred during the session; councilors said the event was meant to inform residents and gather feedback.

The council will determine next procedural steps; the presentation materials and an ad hoc committee report were made available via QR code for attendees seeking more detail.