Photo by Tosha Gaines
Mayor-elect Jennifer Andress accepts a congratulator phone call after winning election on Aug. 26, 2025.
Homewood will mark a historic milestone Monday evening as the city swears in its first woman mayor and formally transitions to a council-manager form of government.
Mayor-elect Jennifer Andress will take the oath of office at 6 p.m. during a public organizational meeting at City Hall. Also sworn in will be four newly elected council members who will serve under the city’s new structure — approved by voters in 2024 — that reduces the size of the council and introduces a full-time city manager to oversee daily operations.
The change ends Homewood’s traditional mayor-council system and begins a structure used by cities across the country to separate legislative responsibilities from administrative oversight. Under the new model, each of the city’s four wards will be represented by one council member, and the mayor will serve as a voting member and council president.
Andress, who previously represented Ward 5, becomes the first woman elected mayor in the city’s 99-year history.
“For Homewood, it means we are going to transition to this new form of government with our city manager doing full-time management day to day, which he’s already doing,” Andress told The Homewood Star earlier this year. “Really, it’s just going to be a more efficient form of government.”
Interim City Manager Glen Adams, appointed earlier this year, led the city’s 2025-26 budget process and has overseen department-level planning ahead of the transition. Adams is also expected to lead development of Homewood’s first comprehensive plan in more than 20 years — a project slated to begin in early 2026.
Outgoing officials include Interim Mayor Alex Wyatt, who took office in 2024 following the resignation of Mayor Patrick McClusky, and Council President Walter Jones, who has served across two decades since 1996. Nine of the city’s 11 current council members are concluding their terms.
The new council includes:
Nick Sims (Ward 2), the only returning member
Paul Simmons (Ward 1)
Chris Lane (Ward 3)
Winslow Armstead (Ward 4)
The new council’s first regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 10.
