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Hoover council restores funding to several community groups

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Photo courtesy of Greg Bishop

The Hoover City Council on Monday night restored funding that had been cut from several community groups when the council passed the 2020 budget in September.

The council in September cut funding for the Hoover Helps nonprofit that helps feed hungry children from $30,000 to $15,000, funding for the Hoover Arts Alliance from $4,000 to $2,500, and funding for the Hoover Belles service group from $5,000 to $4,000.

Those decisions were reversed Monday night.

Councilman Casey Middlebrooks, who made the motion to restore all the funding for Hoover Helps, noted that Hoover Helps provides an important service and is run 100 percent by volunteers. Also, the group anticipated getting the same $30,000 it received from the city last year and did not have time to plan for a reduction in funding, Middlebrooks said.

Now, the group can be put on notice that a reduction in funding may be coming in the future, he said.

Linda Chastain of the Hoover Arts Alliance said she appreciated the funding for her group being restored as well because that group’s fiscal year began in July and they did not know to expect a funding cut from the city and that they might need to seek money from elsewhere.

There also was much discussion about the Hoover City Schools Foundation, which saw its city funding cut from $50,000 to $10,000 this year.

Foundation leaders and teachers who received grants from the foundation on Monday night talked to the council about the importance of the work the foundation does in enhancing the educational offerings for Hoover children.

Katie Thompson, a special education teacher from Riverchase Elementary School, said a grant she received from the foundation allowed her to develop a sensory garden for students with special sensory needs. The garden has allowed for engaging opportunities for visual, auditory and tactile learning, she said.

“The amount of joy it has brought to my students and others has been amazing,” Thompson said. “It’s done a world of good.”

Councilman Curt Posey said council members were concerned about the amount of money the foundation was spending on administrative costs. The salary for the foundation’s executive director, who just resigned, was more than $53,000, said Susanne Russell, the treasurer for the foundation. Total revenues for 2018 were $143,990, she said.

Posey said the council wants to make sure its donation is earmarked for grants and does not go toward administrative costs.

The council ended up postponing a vote on an agreement with the foundation to give the foundation more time to figure out how it will close out 2019 and handle administrative costs in the future.

As the council debated funding restoration for Hoover Helps, Councilman John Lyda said he did not appreciate having to reconsider budgeted amounts for these groups after council members put so much work into developing the original budget.

“It’s really easy for members to come in here and make a speech about doing good that none of us would ever disagree with, but we had a process that we followed, and it made me more proud to be in this group than any process I’ve been a part of,” Lyda said. “Then to come in here and be put in a position to have to vote no on these things, it’s really disappointing. … It’s unfair to the membership of this body.”

Lyda abstained from the vote to restore funding for Hoover Helps to $30,000, and Councilman John Greene voted against the motion, but the other five council members — Middlebrooks, Posey, Mike Shaw, Gene Smith and Derrick Murphy — voted in favor of restoring the $30,000 contribution.

Shaw did, however, note that there are many great organizations providing valuable services to people and he didn’t want to get into a footrace to see who can fund the most worthy causes.

Murphy said that during budget discussions, it was understood the council would come back and revisit some of the contributions to community service groups at a later date. There was still some disagreement about the contributions at that time, and some council members were eager to pass a budget prior to the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year.

In other business Monday night, the council:

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