Photo by Neal Embry
Vestavia Hills City Attorney Patrick Boone, center right, stands with Mayor Ashley Curry, members of the City Council and his family while receiving a plaque honoring him for serving as city attorney for 40 years.
In the past 40 years, Patrick Boone has worked with 11 administrations in the city of Vestavia Hills, along with numerous school superintendents and board members, and has played a part in the city’s growth, from the inception of the school system to the annexations of Cahaba Heights and Liberty Park.
“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been a member of a team that’s helped many, many others make this city a better place to live,” Boone said.
Boone’s service to the city began in 1972, when he was elected to the City Council, a seat he won again in 1976. But toward the end of 1977, then-city and school board attorney Bob Vance was appointed as a judge to the U.S Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and Boone was asked to take his place.
“It was a tough decision to make,” Boone said. “... I was perfectly happy being a member of the City Council.”
Boone accepted the position, and began serving both the city and school board on Jan. 1, 1978.
Boone attended Shades Valley High School and later Cumberland School of Law, living in the Vestavia area for most of his life.
Boone recalled at the time of the city’s incorporation in 1950, the town had about 600 people.
“This area was a wilderness,” Boone said.
But with the construction of U.S. 31 in 1954 and the work of developer Charles Byrd, the city began growing, especially after the school district was established in 1970. Now, the city is home to roughly 35,000 residents, sustained by the annexations of Cahaba Heights and Liberty Park, both of which Boone helped turn into a reality.
Liberty Park, annexed in 1992, needed to be in a municipality that offered a school system, but because Liberty Park was not geographically adjacent to Vestavia, the legislature had to agree to allow the annexation. The decision was later challenged in court but upheld by the state’s Supreme Court.
In the Cahaba Heights case, the legislature also approved the annexation contingent upon the approval of voters in Cahaba Heights, which came in 2002.
The support of the voters, as seen in the Cahaba Heights annexation, has helped the city schools continue to improve over the years, Boone said.
“Not one single time have the citizens ever voted ‘no’ on an ad valorem [tax increase] when the money was earmarked for schools,” Boone said. “... The residents believe in a good education system.”
In addition to serving as the city’s legal representation, Boone spends his time reviewing and preparing contracts, handling resolutions and ordinances and helping advise the city and the schools.
“He understands the subtleties of the way Vestavia Hills works as a community,” City Manager Jeff Downes said of Boone. “... It would be hard to ever replace Pat.”
While Boone is renowned for his legal expertise and knowledge of city government, Downes said Boone has a “kind spirit” that often goes unnoticed.
“He does so many things quietly for people all over the community without anybody asking,” Downes said.
Mayor Ashley Curry said Boone brings “unparalleled service to the community” and is the “smartest, most well-versed city attorney” in the state.
When Curry took office in 2017, he decided to collect the facts on each city employee before re-appointing them to their respective positions. He asked a few knowledgeable people about whether Boone should be re-appointed, all of whom told Curry not re-appointing Boone would be the biggest mistake he could ever make.
“I can’t tell you how much we rely on Pat Boone,” Curry said.
Boone often refers to Vestavia as the “best-kept secret in America” and said he’s been fortunate to play a part of the city’s history alongside others who, like Boone, are “part of the team.”
“Vestavia is a great place to live, and it’s great because the people who live here work for the city; they work to make it great.
“I wouldn’t live anywhere else,” Boone said.
