Hoover council pays tribute to Gene Smith, John Greene

The Hoover City Council on Monday night saluted Council President Gene Smith and Council President Pro Tem John Greene in their last regularly scheduled meeting of the council.

Smith has served on the Hoover City Council for 16 years, including the past four years as its president. He gave up his seat in an unsuccessful bid for mayor in the Aug. 25 city election.

Greene has served on the council for 12 years, including the past four year as president pro tem (which means he led the meetings in Smith’s absence). He decided not to seek reelection this year.

Councilman John Lyda, the only other council member to have served more than one term, led a formal tribute to the two men. He noted that Smith, in addition to his 16 years on the council, served 17 years as a Hoover firefighter and four years on the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission.

But Lyda said perhaps Smith’s greatest contributions to the city were in an unofficial capacity as a philanthropist who frequently gave money to fund various city needs.

He and his wife, Pam, made numerous donations over the years, benefiting entities such as the Hoover Police Department, Hoover Fire Department, Aldridge Gardens and the Hoover Public Library. He also paid for a consultant to study the impact of the Hoover Board of Education’s 2014 decision to end school bus service for most students, a decision that later was reversed.

Lyda said the Smiths have been some of the quietest and most generous philanthropists the city has ever known and perhaps will ever know. He also praised Smith’s commitment to fairness in the parliamentary process.

Councilman Derrick Murphy said no one could ever say that Smith didn’t conduct business transparently. He allowed people to speak freely and didn’t act in a divisive way with the council, Murphy said. He always wanted to hear his fellow council members’ opinions and didn’t hold it against them when they took positions different from his own, Murphy said.

Smith thanked the community for the opportunity to serve four terms on the council and said he hopes he can continue serving the city in other ways.

Lyda also noted Greene’s 21 years of service as a Birmingham police officer and 40 years of service in the Alabama National Guard and Army Reserve. Greene has a moral compass that is true north and has always displayed an unwavering desire to do the right thing, Lyda said.

Councilman Mike Shaw noted that Greene was always willing to vote against something he didn’t feel was the right decision even when all others voted in favor of it.

Greene said later it wasn’t always easy to cast those “no” votes. He thanked the community for the opportunity to represent them.

“It’s just been great serving the citizens of Hoover and working with my fellow council members and the city staff,” he said. “They’ve just been great.”

He also thanked his wife, Melody, for allowing him to spend time on city business when he otherwise could have been spending it with family and thanked her for standing beside him.

Numerous current and former officials came to Monday’s council meeting to join in the tribute to the two men, including former Hoover mayors Frank Skinner and Tony Petelos, former Hoover councilmen Jack Wright, Jack Natter and Joe Rives, Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens, state Sen. Jabo Waggoner, state Rep. David Faulkner and former Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate.

A public reception was held for Smith and Greene following Monday’s council meeting.