280 Corridor Election Guide

WHAT

Chelsea City Council:

The Chelsea City Council has five seats, which are all elected at large. Candidates can run for any place on the council and are not limited by where they live, as long as they reside in the city of Chelsea. All voters are also able to vote for each place, and all five places come up for re-election at the same time.

With Mayor Earl Niven retiring, one council member retiring and three council members running for mayor, four spots on the City Council and the mayor’s office will be open during this year’s election. Voters will vote on those four places as well as Place 3, where David Ingram is running for re-election.

Hoover City Council:

Hoover voters go to the polls Aug. 23 to elect their mayor and candidates to fill all seven City Council seats.

Candidates can’t officially start qualifying until July 5, but at least half a dozen residents already have announced their intention to try to replace current council members, and Mayor Gary Ivey is facing a challenge from former Hoover Fire Marshal Frank Brocato.

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WHEN

July 5: Candidates begin qualifying to run. While many candidates often announce their intention to run for election before this date, this is the day when the formal process of submitting qualifying forms begins.

July 19: The last day to qualify to run. All qualifying forms must be filed with the city clerk by 5 p.m.

Aug. 8: Last day to register to vote for the municipal election. 

Aug. 18: Last day to apply for a regular absentee ballot, available from the city clerk.

Aug. 23: Election day.

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WHERE

Polling locations:

In Chelsea: The only polling location for Chelsea Municipal Elections is Chelsea City Hall. 

In Hoover: Most people will vote at the same place where they vote during other elections as long as the voting location is in the city limits, City Clerk Margie Handley said.

People who normally vote at a polling place outside the city limits will be reassigned to another polling place for the municipal election, she said.

Handley said she plans to mail out forms to registered voters informing them of their polling places, but residents also may call the city clerk’s office at 444-7500 for election information.

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WHO

Chelsea:

• Mayor Earl Niven- retiring
• Council Member Juanita Champion- retiring
• Council Member David Ingram- running for re-election
• Council Member Allison Moore Nichols- running for mayor
• Council Member Tony Picklesimer- running for mayor
• Council Member Dale Neuendorf- running for mayor

Hoover: 

• Mayor Gary Ivey- running for re-election
• Place 1 Councilman Joe Rives- running
• Place 2 Councilman Gene Smith- running
• Place 3 Councilman John Lyda- running
• Place 4 Councilman Jack Natter- running
• Place 5 Councilman Jack Wright- running
• Place 6 Councilman Brian Skelton- undecided
• Place 7 Councilman John Greene- running

Registering to run:  Before registering to run for public office, a potential candidate must meet certain qualifications.

In the state of Alabama, a potential city council or  mayoral candidate must be at least 18 years of age, a resident of their city for 90 days prior to election and a registered voter.

Candidates can begin qualifying to run as of July 5. To qualify, they must stop by Chelsea City Hall to fill out the qualifying forms with City Clerk Becky Landers. There is also a $10 qualifying fee. The deadline to qualify is July 19 at 5 p.m.

Hoover candidates can qualify to run for Hoover City Council between July 5 and July 19. 

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HOW

Registering to vote:

• First time:  Applicants who are registering to vote for the first time must complete a State of Alabama Voter Registration Form and submit it to the county where they live. The applicant must provide a physical address — not a P.O. box — as well as their date of birth and an original signature. A State of Alabama Voter Registration Card will be mailed to the voter, and that will show the voter’s polling location.
• Finding forms:  Voter registration forms can be found at the office of the Board of Registrars, satellite licensing offices in Inverness and Pelham and public libraries. It is also available for download at shelbyal.com.
• Verifying information:  Voters who are already registered to vote should make sure their information, including name and address if there has been a recent change, is up to date. Voter registration does not transfer between counties even within the same state, and any voters who have moved into Shelby County will have to complete a new registration. Name changes and changes of address within the county must be made in writing and forwarded to the board of registrars. Voters can check that they are registered to vote by entering their last name, county and date of birth at alabamavotes.gov.
• Qualifications:  To vote in a municipal election, such as the Chelsea election, a voter must live in the city for 30 days before registering to vote. Applications sent by mail should be postmarked before Aug. 8 and sent directly to the board of registrars.

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THE ISSUES

In Chelsea:

As candidates make campaign promises on what they plan to change or improve, residents oftentimes have a few issues they would like to discuss. Chelsea residents note traffic changes, business growth and neighborhood annexations as a few items they would like candidates to address.

1. Traffic changes: Chelsea is a city that has an interstate running through it, and the presence of U.S. 280 has continually caused concern. Residents have noted the speed on U.S. 280 — which ranges from 50 to 65 miles per hour within Chelsea city limits — has led to several car crashes, some of which have resulted in deaths. 

The city has asked the Alabama Department of Transportation to decrease the speed limit, but it did not receive the degree of change it had hoped. The council approved a change to the speed limit at its April 5 meeting, and that change dropped a 1.1-mile stretch of U.S. 280 to 50 miles per hour. During that meeting, Mayor Earl Niven noted they had asked ALDOT for a greater decrease in speed over a larger area. 

Citizens have also petitioned for a traffic light on U.S. 280 by the Chelsea Park neighborhood. The intersection has had several vehicle accidents, and congestion during peak traffic hours presents a danger, they said. Niven said he has presented ALDOT with this request previously, but the department’s traffic studies have found that a traffic light is not needed at this time.

2. Business growth: The city of Chelsea has no property tax at this time, and most of its revenue comes from sales tax. There have been steps taken toward bringing more businesses into the city, including looking into services that help organize and present information on retail spaces to potential businesses, but citizens have noted they would like a greater variety of business and restaurants in the area. 

3. Neighborhood annexation: Some Chelsea neighborhoods are caught in limbo between Chelsea and Pelham city limits. For some residents, they are grandfathered into Chelsea zoning and their children attend Chelsea schools, but if they sell their home, the future owners would be zoned for Pelham. The somewhat complicated nature of city lines is an issue citizens would like to see addressed.

4. Creating a sign ordinance: Resident Danny Brewer said on Facebook he would like to see Chelsea take on a sign ordinance like the one in Riverchase in order to prevent so many banners and signs cluttering the city.

5. Developing a work order system: Resident Dawn Wilson said on Facebook she would like there to be a way residents can submit work orders for needed projects or improvements around the city.

6. Emphasizing accountability: Wilson also said she would like to see a greater emphasis for tracking city projects and utilizing donated materials that have been left unused.

In Hoover: 

1. Education funding: School funding likely is the hottest topic. Liz Wallace, a Russet Woods resident and former president of the Hoover Parent Teacher Council, said many people are getting re-educated about city funding cuts to the school system, which started more than a decade ago.

The City Council in place in 2004 voted to quit giving Hoover schools 16 percent of the city’s sales tax revenues and instead provide a flat dollar amount. At first, it was about $2 million a year, but parents protested and funding was bumped up to $7.1 million in fiscal 2006 and then $7.5 million in 2007 and 2008.

But in 2009, the City Council cut the school contribution back to $2 million, and it remained at that level through fiscal 2015. Over the past 14 years, city funding cuts have cost the Hoover school system more than $78 million collectively, city financial records show.

The City Council in December decided to increase its annual funding for schools by about $1.3 million. The superintendent said she appreciated the increased funding and hopes school and city leaders can continue to look for more ways for the city to support the school system.

Some people say the school system is still in good shape for right now, thanks to $85.6 million it received from a Jefferson County bond issue in fiscal 2007. School officials have been relying on that money to cover budget deficits and say that pot of money eventually will run out.

Superintendent Kathy Murphy said there must be a significant increase in revenues or a significant decrease in expenditures, or some combination of the two, to avoid a crisis. But others note the school system’s overall fund balance still was at $93 million at the beginning of this budget year.

Murphy and the school board are cutting staff and certain electives for the coming school year, which upsets some parents who believe Hoover schools should not have to experience such cuts.

Other parents are concerned about school crowding and say the school system will soon need much more money to build a third high school.

“I don’t think ignoring that problem is going to be good in the long run,” Wallace said.

David Bradley, a former Hoover councilman, said he thinks the group pushing for more education funding is small and that most people are happy with their city government.

However, “the way I see it, the city is not satisfied with the amount of [school] funding either,” Bradley said. “They just don’t seem to have enough money to go around.”

So much of the city’s budget is tied up in personnel and capital indebtedness, Bradley said. It’s tough to come up with large amounts of money without raising taxes, he added.

“I’m eager to learn how much the schools would need,” Bradley said.

2. Sportsplex and development: The push by Mayor Gary Ivey and the City Council to build a $76 million Sportsplex next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium also is an issue.

Many people involved in the parks and recreation programs say they are thrilled to see the city spending money to build a sports complex, which they believe will help relieve overcrowded city sports fields and bring in revenue from athletic tournaments.

But numerous residents have expressed frustration with how the council went about the project, providing just a few days’ notice to residents before a vote on the project.

“I’m just appalled that they would even consider that kind of debt without a lot more public input,” Wallace said.

The sports groups were notified about the project in advance and were lined up there to support it, but the rest of the public was “blindsided” with it, Wallace said. “We felt kind of railroaded.”

And numerous residents have expressed frustration with the rate of residential growth in Hoover, saying it is overburdening schools and city roads.

“It’s not the builders’ responsibility to worry about whether city infrastructure can support those homes, but it is the city’s responsibility to make sure we can support more children in schools, more people connected to the sewer system and more cars on the streets,” Wallace said. “City leaders act like they’re helpless to do anything about those issues.”

Bradley said Hoover needs the growth.

“I realize that as a city so dependent on sales taxes, we’ve got to find ways to get more people into the city,” he said. Maintaining the status quo in city government is not an option, he said. “You’re either going to grow, or you’re going to die.”

Plus, “I don’t know how you can really stop development in Hoover,” Bradley said. “You can’t refuse a property owner a building permit.”

He believes people are willing to have controlled growth and that the best solution is to try to find a way to make the schools whole, he said.

3. Picking council seats: Bradley said one of the most interesting aspects of this year’s election is trying to figure if all the council members will seek office again. Six of them have said they plan to run, but Councilman Brian Skelton, who has battled health issues, said he is undecided.

Many of the challengers have not declared which place on the council they will seek. Hoover is not divided into geographic districts, so all seven of Hoover’s council seats are elected at large, with every resident voting for all seven council seats if they are all contested.

Bradley said he went to a campaign school 30 years ago and learned that if you’re going to defeat an incumbent, you have to give the voters a reason for a change.

“No matter how good the candidate is and even if the candidate would do a better job than the current official, the voters are not going to give them that chance if they run what I call a “me-too” campaign,” he said. “Unless these challengers present a significant reason to change, then it’s going to be tough to defeat the incumbents.”

Candidates can qualify to run for Hoover City Council between July 5 and July 19. The election is Aug. 23, and any needed runoffs will be held Oct. 4. The new term for elected officials officially begins Nov. 7.