Cook to retire from city clerk role

Mayors and council members come and go, but one thing has remained the same at City Hall for 27 years: Linda Cook sitting in the city clerk’s office.

Cook, who has worked for the city of Homewood for over 45 years in total, retired in late April. She left a job that, she says, never really felt like work.

“I always like having a good time, because that’s how I’ve always felt about this job,” Cook said.

Nearly three decades of helping people understand city codes, apply for zoning variances and get their trash picked up has made Cook one of the most knowledgeable people about Homewood in the city. Rather than consulting their ward maps, Cook said most of the employees in the clerk’s office come to her to ask questions about the city wards. No matter the address, Cook almost always knows the information by memory.

“There’s not many places I don’t know about,” said Cook, who also lived in Homewood for 30 years.

Knowing her community inside and out is just the way Cook likes it. She said that getting out in the community and knowing people is essential to being a good clerk. Now, her husband jokes that he can’t ask her to go to Piggly Wiggly to get groceries, as she’ll always be stopped to talk by someone she knows.

“I felt like it was necessary for me, and that was to make efforts to be a part of the community, to know the city,” Cook said.

Cook has worked with five mayors and dozens of council members. She said that she enjoys getting to sit in on planning meetings to provide advice on local and state codes, as well as her personal opinion. When she started working for the city in 1970, Cook said the city’s departments were almost all housed in one building and operated on a budget of about $1.7 million.

“We had no idea what IT [information technology] was, and we didn’t care,” Cook said.

Now the city government works from many buildings including Rosewood Hall, which is just one of many city projects that Cook has watched progress from an idea to completion. 

“I love being a part of that process. I love being a part of something that’s good and will be rewarding for the city,” Cook said.

“I like feeling like I’m making a difference. You’ve got to have purpose.”

Election season gets stressful for the clerk’s office, but Cook said she feels like it’s one of the most important things she does.

“This is when I really feel like I’m doing some good,” she said.

However, most of Cook’s fondest memories didn’t happen in her office. Cook said she loved being part of the We Love Homewood Day and Christmas parades, as well as the annual basketball game between the council and the Exceptional Foundation. 

At one point, Cook wanted to be a teacher, and some of her favorite experiences came in Homewood City Schools. She participated in Grandpals’ Day at Edgewood Elementary every year and has a scrapbook of the children who were her “pals” over the years. When election season rolled around for the city, she would also go to the schools to hold mock elections, teaching children about national elections and their local wards.

Cook said she always held back a roll of “I Voted” stickers from the election season to give to the students.

“Put me in a school and I’m just happy as I can be doing something with the children,” Cook said.

Cook said she didn’t originally plan to retire now, especially before election season. However, her family’s needs took priority over the city. Cook will be caring for her mother and babysitting her grandchildren now that she’s retired. She is also preparing herself for the possibility of being a kidney donor for her youngest sister, who has chronic kidney disease.

“I’ve got to get healthy, I’ve got to get home and rest so if that decision is made and when it is made, I am going to be able to do that,” Cook said.

Cook said she’s going to miss every part of her job as the city clerk, as well as the city that she has served for decades.

“Homewood residents aren’t like any other city. They really love their city,” Cook said. “It’s just not a place you live. It’s a place you get out and you become involved and you know your neighbor.”

“Believe me, this community has meant the world to me.”