Mayo seeks to replace Greene in Hoover City Council Place 7

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Carin Mayo has had experience in municipal, state and federal government, and now she’s ready to put that experience to work as a councilwoman in Hoover.

She is seeking to replace John Greene, who is giving up his Place 7 seat on the Hoover City Council. She faces competition from Greene’s daughter, Alli Nations, and Steve McClinton in the Aug. 25 city election.

Mayo, who was born in Indiana, has lived in Alabama since she was in high school and has lived in the Birmingham area for 26 years, including the past five in the Kirkman Preserve neighborhood in Hoover.

Mayo, 52, got her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and behavioral psychology from Jacksonville State University in 1989 and worked about a year as a teacher at the state’s Holman Correctional Facility. She then worked for the Anniston Police Department about three years, mostly with the warrant division and crime lab.

She worked for a couple of law firms for several years and 12 years as a paralegal and office manager for the Birmingham office of the National Labor Relations Board.

She then went to work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and for the past seven years has been the program manager for the Department of Political Science and Public Administration.

She has master’s degrees in public administration, business administration and English and is in the doctoral program for higher education leadership at the University of Alabama.

Mayo said she wants to use her knowledge of government to help her own city move forward.

TAXES & CITY REVENUES

One of her main goals is to look at repealing some of the tax increases passed by the council two years ago, she said. The council in July 2018 voted 4-3 to raise the city’s portion of sales, use and lease taxes from 3% to 3.5% and to implement a $2-per-night room fee for lodging facilities in the city.

Mayo said some of these taxes really hurt the poor community. Some current council members have said the council needs to revisit those increases in the next term, and Mayo agrees it would be good to study the idea and see if it’s feasible.

Additionally, city leaders need to look for new ways to bring in revenue other than sales taxes, she said.

She said she is a big supporter of the arts community and believes a fine arts center would not only be a great amenity but also a way to bring in a lot of revenue.

It’s hard to figure out how to pay for something like that, but she believes it could be funded with grants and community donations. She has been doing grant writing for 25 years and would be happy to help seek grant money, she said.

The Riverchase Galleria’s reputation has been hit hard by several fatal shootings in recent years, but Mayo said some people’s calls to tear it down are just a kneejerk reaction to a handful of events. That said, she is interested in exploring new ways to drive people there, she said.

She thought the council’s July 20 approval of an “open container” entertainment district at the Stadium Trace Village was a good idea. Those kinds of things have been very successful in San Antonio and parts of Miami, she said.

Another potential for new revenue lies with Hoover’s diversity, Mayo said. She thinks the city should have a cultural festival to celebrate the city’s numerous international restaurants and businesses. “We could make money on it, too,” she said.

SCHOOLS AND POLICE

Mayo said she also wants to provide more money for schools so they can increase teacher pay, update science and language labs and make sure students and teachers have access to the latest technology.

However, the city has to make sure it has the money to do so, she said. “We just can’t spend what we don’t have.”

Another goal would be to lure more businesses to fill the many empty storefronts in various shopping centers. If that’s not possible, some of those centers may need to be redeveloped for another use, she said. She would love to see Hoover grow its technology sector.

Some people in Hoover have been calling for the Hoover Police Department to be defunded or to have some of its resources reallocated to other social services.

Mayo said “defunding” is a poor choice of words. She doesn’t believe in taking money away from police, she said. Instead, she would like to get police more resources for training, such as de-escalation techniques, especially in domestic violence situations.

Mayo said too much is expected of police, based on the education and training they have. Some calls might be better suited for emergency medical technicians, social workers or therapists, she said. That would free police up to handle things more in their wheelhouse, she said.

Mayo ran unsuccessfully for Alabama House District 43 as a Democrat against Arnold Mooney in 2018.

She has served on the Hoover School Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and Strategic Planning Committee, the board of directors for Campfire Alabama, UAB Sustainability Council, Spain Park and Berry band boosters and four years on the Kirkman Preserve Homeowner’s Association board — two as treasurer and two as vice president.

Mayo also formerly was a United Way loaned executive and served on the United Way visiting allocation team, Alabama Environmental Council board, Bridge Ministries board and with Family Promise of Birmingham. She was a den leader for Cub Scout Troop 397, Wounded Warrior fundraiser and co-chairperson of the UAB Benevolent Fund campaign, and she is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and Cathedral Church of the Advent member.

She and her husband, Randy, have a son who is an incoming freshman at Spain Park High School

For more information about Mayo’s campaign, go to Carin Mayo on Facebook.

See the complete list of candidates for Hoover mayor and City Council.