Photo by Jon Anderson
Umang Patel has been named the city of Vestavia Hills' director of administration and innovation and will assume the city clerk duties of Rebecca Leavings, who is retiring at the end of January.
The city of Vestavia Hills has hired Umang Patel to fill the shoes of retiring City Clerk Rebecca Leavings, City Manager Jeff Downes announced at Monday night’s City Council meeting.
Patel, who has been Vestavia Hills’ court director since 2018, will have a new title of director of administration and innovation, but the role will encompass the city clerk’s duties, Downes said. The job description has been expanded to include the responsibility of leading innovation in a variety of ways across all city departments, Downes said. Patel has shown a knack for innovation in the municipal court and already has helped other departments latch on to some of his innovative ideas that can be utilized in multiple departments, Downes said.
Leavings is scheduled to retire at the end of January, so the two will work side by side for a month prior to her departure to aid in the transition, he said.
Patel was born in Troy, moved around the country a lot as a young child but spent the majority of his childhood in Selma and graduated from Morgan Academy in 2007. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Alabama and a law degree from Samford University.
He began his career with the Hoover Municipal Court, first working as an intern, then in a yearlong externship and a part-time job before being hired full-time as a court analyst, helping upgrade the court’s technology and processes. He made an upward move to court director in Vestavia Hills in 2018 and has shown great promise as a leader and innovator, Downes said. Patel has been serving as the backup for Leavings during any of her absences.
Patel said he’s looking forward to his new role and hopes he can work with all city departments to look for ways to become more efficient in services delivered to the public.
