Photo courtesy of Jennifer Andress for Mayor campaign.
Homewood City Council member Jennifer Andress is running for mayor. If elected, she will become the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor.
Summer is here, and our centennial celebrations are underway. I hope you survived the fast pace of May and have some nice, relaxing plans in the next few weeks. My family celebrated our oldest son’s graduation from Auburn University the same day as We Love Homewood Day, and we didn’t slow down after that.
The City Council is heading into budget preparation along with our city manager, Cale Smith. We are fortunate to have guidance from the results of our citizen survey, which were presented at our May 11 pre-council meeting and shared on our website and social media. The results showed great satisfaction in our city, especially with our employees, parks, schools, public safety, library and walkability. Concerns include storm water issues, tree canopy preservation and maintaining our small-town charm while balancing future development.
It is no surprise that Homewood once again gained statewide recognition recently, when it was announced as the fifth best place to live in Alabama by niche.com, as well as the No. 1 best suburb for young professionals, the fourth best suburb to live and the fourth best suburb to raise a family.
Of course a large part of Homewood’s success is our outstanding school system. Our academics, arts and music programs and athletics are the best in the state. We are so proud of the citizens we educate and send out into the world. The city’s commitment to our schools is strong and unique, with a dedicated 1 cent sales tax from every dollar that goes straight to Homewood City Schools. Homewood has the highest ratio of revenue spent per student in the area at $6,764.
Our Board of Education is a vitally important group of leaders guiding HCS. Thank you to outgoing member Justin Russell for his excellent service over two terms, and welcome to the board, Dr. Sam Marcrom!
What’s next? Continued work on our comprehensive plan and mapping our growth and development for the next two decades. We had great turnout at our May meetings and look forward to our consultants from TPUD returning in July for more engagement opportunities (this means you — we need your involvement!). Follow along at connecthomewood.com or the city of Homewood’s website and social media for more information. We will also be sharing the results of our annual financial audit later this month, performed by Doeren Mayhew.
I am grateful for you, my neighbors, and am available at jennifer.andress@ homewoodal.org for anything.
