Sun Neighborly news & entertainment for Hoover
Volume 5 | Issue 1 | October 2016
SCHOOL FUNDING:
What do superintendent, incoming mayor plan to do? By SYDNEY CROMWELL and JON ANDERSON
E
ducation was, in Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy’s mind, the issue that defined the 2016 Hoover municipal election. With Hoover City Schools facing an expected $11.4 million shortfall in its 2016 budget and projected $1.9 million shortfall in 2017, school funding was on the minds of both candidates and voters in the weeks leading up to Aug. 23. “I don’t think there’s a bigger thing we could talk about,” Murphy said. It’s only one of the many priorities Mayor-elect Frank Brocato is thinking about in the weeks before his inauguration in November. As he is not yet in office, Brocato did not talk a lot of specifics. However, education was Murphy one of the main points in his campaign — along with public safety and creating a city master plan — and he said nothing about that has changed since election day. “We’re going to work with them to get them in the black, and I committed that to them,” Brocato said. “What that number will be? I don’t know yet because I have seven council members there, and they are committed to doing the same thing.” The Board of Education in September approved its budget for fiscal 2017, and Murphy
Mayor-elect Frank Brocato listens as Deer Valley Elementary School students explain a project they are working on in their STEM class Sept. 13. Brocato says he is prepared to work with the school system to solve its funding issue. Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
INSIDE Sponsors .......... A4 News.................. A6 Business ........... A11 Community .....A15
The 18 candidates for Hoover mayor and City Council seats prepare to answer questions from the public at an Aug. 9 election forum at Shades Crest Baptist Church. Photo by Jon Anderson.
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home & garden
Sports .............A20 Events ............... C7 Real Estate...... C17 Calendar ..........C18 With the change in seasons comes home and landscaping improvements. Check out this guide to point you in the right direction.
See page B1
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Election takeaway: Transparency, schools, planning among priorities By JON ANDERSON
American West inspires Hoover man to create hand-stitched leather goods.
See page C1
See FUNDING | page A26
When Hoover residents went to the polls Aug. 23, they spoke clearly and loudly about their support for schools, more transparency in city government and better city planning, numerous residents say. But others say it’s tough to pick out clear
messages. While a new mayor and three new council members have been elected thus far, voters also returned three incumbents to the council. Councilman John Lyda, one of those incumbents who won re-election, said there was a message of
See VOTERS | page A25