Christy Bobo becomes Northport City Council president after Jeff Hogg's resignation

With the Thursday resignation of Jeff Hogg from the Northport City Council presidency, Christy Bobo, president pro tem, will move up to that key role.

That leaves her pro tem position to be filled, said Glenda Webb, Northport city administrator. Remaining council members — Jamie Dykes, Woodrow Washington III and Karl Wiggins — will vote from within the ranks to elect the new pro tem.

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The council will also begin the processing of filling the District 5 seat being vacated by Hogg.

“State code section 11-44G-1 states that anytime there is a council vacancy in a Class 7 or Class 8 municipality, the vacancy is to be filled by the City Council within 60 days,” Webb said.

“In the event that the vacancy is not filled within 60 days by the council, then each council member and the mayor (John Hinton) may submit a name to the governor (Kay Ivey) for appointment.”

The next general election won’t be until August 2025 for mayoral and council seats with those terms continuing through 2029.

Hogg resigned in an email shared with media by Webb, following several months of rancor and dispute between the council and some citizens arguing against projects and plans. Debate grew heated both in the Northport City Hall chambers, where the council meets every other Monday, and over social media.

“While so much input to me has been incredibly positive, over the last six months, my family and I have encountered physical threats, death threats, and harassing communications,” Hogg wrote in the email, which also included a list of what he deemed the council’s chief accomplishments under his leadership.

“These actions have also had an adverse effect on my career and future with my employer, who has also encountered these negative communications. This has the potential to negatively affect my family's livelihood, as well as the livelihood of the people I work with on a daily basis.”

Hogg works as an insurance agent for the Fitts Agency.

Three main topics of dissent:

• Potential sale of 70-year-old Northport Community Center Park, to condo developers. The proposal died quietly in December, after months of organized opposition.

• Disputes with the Kentuck Art Center over contractual issues, leading the nonprofit group’s board to empower staff to seek a new home for its 53rd Annual Kentuck Festival of the Arts, which will be held outside Northport for the first time in its existence, Oct. 19-20 in Tuscaloosa’s Snow Hinton Park.

• The proposal out forward at the Feb. 19 council meeting to pursue development of a $350 million, 77-acre University Beach project. Earlier, the council had floated an 11-acre recreational waterpark. The newer proposal would require 77 acres, and add a lagoon, upscale residences, dining and entertainment options, and more. After presentation of the plan, speakers came before the council to either reject outright such a major change, or put it to a public vote. That meeting ran three hours.

Hogg was elected as District 5 representative for the council in 2016. Last year, the council chose him as president.

Among the top accomplishments Hogg underlined were residential and commercial growth, including restaurants serving from steaks to doughnuts to pizza; a hotel, Courtyard by Marriott; and Northport becoming 17th largest city in Alabama by population, with 31,125 residents as of the 2020 census.

Hogg also pointed out successes including uniform garbage carts and a free citywide recycling program; financial credit upgrades and clean financial audits; acquisition of hundreds of acres for recreational and economic developments, such as the coming River Run sports complex, within the Northport Shore development; and “spearheading” the public-private partnership for the $350 million University Beach concept.

On Friday, Bobo, who was elected to the District 1 seat in 2020, issued the following statement via email:

"The news of Jeff Hogg’s resignation is concerning.

"Our City Council, while Jeff Hogg was President, worked tirelessly to increase our tax base through the pursuit of growth instead of looking to increase taxes on our citizens in order to address certain issues.

"Our council and city staff members have identified partnerships to make our investments in public infrastructure yield a greater return in quality of life, economic development, and an increased tax base. Separate private partnerships have taken on the lagoon resort and other recreational projects, reducing the city’s liability and injecting growth, jobs, and revenue into Northport.

"To promote transparency and understanding of processes, city staff has been tasked with uploading feasibility studies, impact studies, and information surrounding these projects onto our city website as they become public record.

"City Administrator Glenda Webb is assisting council and mayor in leading the charge to facilitate workshops for citizens, staff, council, planning commission, and community to gather together to voice ideas for the betterment of our community.

"The schools in our city are not adequately funded. Many of our roads are in need of significant improvement. Our infrastructure and city services demand costly maintenance and attention. The solutions to these issues come at a hefty price that must be paid for by increasing our revenue streams.

"These issues will only get worse if we do not work together to find common ground. I pledge, despite the handful of people who have encouraged discord, to continue to work to promote transparency and accountability while pursuing fiscally conservative principles. It is to be expected that we do not always agree, however, disagreement provides opportunity for betterment, and if people desire to work together, an opportunity for oneness to derive what is good for the whole.

"We persist forward, together, because we know that what we are doing is in the best interest of the children of Northport, motorists, citizens, and the great City of Northport."

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Christy Bobo succeeds Jeff Hogg as Northport City Council president