Hoover’s newly appointed City Council member, Khristi Driver, said some of her most important priorities are community redevelopment, making the city more attractive to young people and making a city performing arts center a reality.
The Hoover City Council on Nov. 21 chose Driver, a 47-year-old attorney from The Preserve community, to replace Mike Shaw on the council.
Shaw was elected to represent Alabama House District 47 in the state Legislature on Nov. 8 and had to resign his post on the City Council immediately.
Driver, who is associate general counsel for Southern Nuclear, is the first woman on the Hoover City Council since Mari Morrison, also an attorney, lost her seat to John Lyda 10 years ago.
Driver, who has served as president of the new Downtown Redevelopment Authority since it was created last year, said one of her priorities as a councilwoman will be to aid in redevelopment efforts in places such as Lorna Road and U.S. 31 in the Green Valley area. Bluff Park and Meadow Brook could use some redevelopment, too, but to a lesser extent, she said.
Also, while different parts of Hoover have different styles and purposes, it could be helpful to have some architectural guidelines that help give Hoover communities a more cohesive look, Driver said.
Second, Driver said she would love to see Hoover become a more attractive place for young people, so they’ll want to live and work in the city when they finish their education.
There are some projects already in the works, such as the Village Green amphitheater and entertainment district at Stadium Trace Village, that should help in that effort, but Hoover needs more things like that, Driver said.
It would be nice to have more entertainment options, such as the former Galleria Fun Country complex, which decades ago offered a go-cart track, carpet golf and batting cages at its location on Alabama 150, she said. “It was a really fun, cool place for teenagers,” she said. “A safe thing for them to do.”
Third, Driver said she would love to see the idea for a citywide performing arts center become a reality and be executed in a responsible way.
“That helps build community and provides an opportunity for us to bring in entertainment, music and other performing arts,” she said. “Both of my children are musicians, so this is something that’s near and dear to my heart.”
When asked how she feels about taxes, Driver said she doesn’t like paying them but knows they are necessary. She’s not prepared to say she would never support new taxes or an increase in an existing tax, she said.
“There are a lot of factors that go into thinking through those kinds of decisions,” she said. If additional taxes are ever needed, “we have to make sure that’s done in a prudent way and in the right time,” she said.
On the flip side, there may be some taxes that should be lowered at times, she said. A lot of people are challenged with current economic conditions, and some people are calling for some relief from grocery taxes, she said. She would want to examine that idea more closely, she said.
Hoover officials also in recent months have been talking about possibly going back to the bond market to borrow additional money. Driver said she’s not opposed to debt when it’s done in a responsible way and with a strategy in place that’s good for the bottom line of the city and could pay for itself over the long term. She would have to study any such proposal before coming to a conclusion, she said.
With schools playing such a big role in the Hoover community, Driver also was asked what her criteria would be for choosing school board members.
She said she would look for people who are thoughtful and listen to a variety of perspectives before making decisions and who are willing to be creative and compromise on issues when necessary to achieve the greater good.
She would look for people who are willing to ask hard questions and challenge proposals brought before them to make sure the ideas will help achieve desired results, she said. As a council member, she won’t try to dictate results on particular issues but instead would look for people who have good, analytical minds to make the best decisions as they come up, she said.
