City leaders praise success of Vestavia Hills Listens

When Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry took office in 2017, he wanted to increase transparency and communication between the city and the public.

Now, almost two years later, Curry said the city has come a long way with the use of Vestavia Hills Listens and the city’s Action Center.

“I think it’s gone well,” Curry said.

Vestavia Hills Listens was launched shortly after Curry became mayor, and is intended to provide city residents an online forum to post questions and comments on city business and interact with city leaders as they seek public input on various projects, like the Community Spaces plan.

City Manager Jeff Downes said as the city was initially focused on recreation in developing the Community Spaces Plan, but online feedback showed infrastructure was very important to residents, and the city widened their focus. Moving forward, Downes said he hopes to see even more input from residents.

“The main challenge is to stay vigilant in efforts to utilize the tool,” Downes said.

One of the benefits of Vestavia Hills Listens, Downes said, is everyone is equally represented.

“You don’t have one loud voice that might be overwhelming others,” Downes said. “Everybody has a proportionate share of a voice on an issue. You also can analyze whether the issue or the opinions related to it are geographically driven. Is this an issue for those who live in Liberty Park, or is this an issue for those who live on the western side of our city?

“The ability to provide an objective forum for people to contribute their thoughts is something that’s valuable,” Downes said.

There’s been more than a dozen topics discussed since the program was implemented, Downes said, ranging from big projects like Community Spaces to deciding what kind of playground equipment to put at a park. Downes emphasized the project is just one of many tools, and that it is not a voting system where residents vote on any given issue.

Council member Kimberly Cook said she thinks Vestavia Hills Listens has been a success.

“We have over 6,000 public engagements,” Cook said. “... The ability to survey people in the room … is huge.”

Cook said she and fellow council member George Pierce used the tool when the council was considering changing legislation pertaining to AirBnb, and the public gave them feedback about city codes related to short-term rentals.

“I really encourage open communications,” Cook said.

The trick now, both Cook and Curry said, is to encourage people to move away from relying on social media to go to Vestavia Hills Listens or, to report a problem, to the city’s Action Center.

Not everyone is on Facebook, Curry said, and instead of passing along rumors, he encouraged residents to utilize the Grapevine tool on Vestavia Hills Listens, where residents can ask city officials about rumors going around town and get an official answer.

“I don’t know how much more forthcoming we can be about what’s going on in the city,” Curry said. “If people don’t look at the website, they don’t read the Vestavia Voice or the Community News [from the Chamber of Commerce], and they don’t come to the open meetings, … if you’re solely relying on Facebook for your information about the city, you’re going to be woefully ill-informed.”

As the program grows, Curry said he expects it to become more user-friendly, and complimented the work of Downes, as well as administrative assistants Joanie Alfano and Melissa Hipp.

“I feel like we are doing more with less people,” Curry said. “I think the city is doing great.”