Meet District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams
By Cody Owens
So for those who aren’t familiar with you, why don’t you tell us where you grew up and went to school?
Williams: I was born in Birmingham and grew up here. I went to college at Southern Methodist University in Dallas where I majored in finance. After I graduated I moved back Birmingham where I bought a house in Crestline and I’ve lived there ever since. This was around 2009.
As far as your career is concerned, what did you do for a job after college?
Williams: I went to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Academy where I am still a sergeant over the reserve unit. I also worked in insurance for a little while. I then started my own company about three years ago that provides medical services to hospitals.
How do you think your prior work and your educational background in finance will help you during your time on the Birmingham City Council?
Williams: Obviously having a finance and business background will help me to make prudent fiscal decisions in terms of the way we budget going forward. I think that we’ve done a lot of things well but there are certainly some areas where I think we can improve upon.
What are some of those areas you’d like to see improved and what are some of the personal goals you’ve set for yourself?
Williams: For my district and really the city as a whole we have a infrastructure problem. It has been a platform issue of both my campaign and the incoming mayor’s campaign that we focus on the infrastructure in all 99 neighborhoods. I think that it should be budgeted out of our annual general budget and not one-time bond issuances. We have approximately a $428 million budget yet we’re not budgeting any money toward street resurfacing and as a result we have roads that need fixing as many residents will attest to.
What do you think are some of the biggest issues facing your district and how do you hope to address those?
Williams: Not to be a broken record but infrastructure is definitely a huge issue. I’d like to work with the mayor and have an actual infrastructure program put together.
We have to do something with Banks High School and find a way to work with our state delegation and the Jefferson County Commission to champion for Ruffner Mountain. We need to make sure what happened on the Irondale side with the J&S International happen on the Birmingham side. I think that Ruffner Mountain is a very unique resource and it could really become a destination if everyone worked together.
Banks High School has been an issue for some time. What would you like see done there?
Williams: One thing that we’ve started to do is reach out to the neighborhoods leaders and get their input. Instead of me just deciding what should be done about it I’d like for the neighborhoods, South Eastlake and Roebuck Springs to have as much input as possible because at the end of the day it’s in their backyard and it could be a major asset for the community.
I would like to see a place in that community for kids to have athletic fields or somewhere safe to play. I feel like that area lacks that. We’re starting to have a lot of young families starting to move in to the area. Right now, as far as a place like that is concerned, we have a void.
How would you characterize your outlook on being able to work with the council and the new administration?
Williams: I could not feel more positive and energized about working with the council and the new mayor. I feel like I have great relationships with the other eight councilors. We can pick up the phone and talk without and hesitation. The same goes with the new mayor. It’s a very easy line of communications; I think it’s going to really benefit the city over the next four years.
