J.T. Smallwood has announced his candidacy for Trussville mayor.
J.T. Smallwood, Jefferson County’s longtime tax collector and a Trussville resident since the 1990s, announced Thursday he is running for mayor in the city’s upcoming municipal election.
His entry brings the candidate total to three, joining Trussville City Council members Lisa Bright and Ben Short, both of whom launched their campaigns earlier this year. Incumbent Mayor Buddy Choat announced last October that he would not seek a third term.
Smallwood, now in his fourth term as tax collector, said entering the race wasn’t part of his original plan.
“I truthfully — I had no intention of running. I’m in my fourth term at Jefferson County, serving as tax collector, and I had intention to serve my time out there,” Smallwood told Gary Lloyd on “The Writer’s Block” podcast. “But this is my hometown. I love Trussville, and I want to see the best for Trussville.”
He said he was approached by residents who urged him to consider running, pointing to his long background in public finance.
“I was asked by a lot of people, ‘Hey, would you consider running because you have a financial background?’” he said.
First elected in 2002, Smallwood has overseen the collection and distribution of tax revenues across Jefferson County, including funds directed to cities, school districts and fire departments.
“My job now — we handle — I handle — I’m responsible for about $800 million a year that we collect from about 350,000 residents — Mountain Brook, Avondale, Homewood, as well as every other city, school, garden,” he said. “We invest those monies, and then we remit those every 15 days back to the municipalities, the fire districts, school districts. We’re the funding mechanism for a lot of those entities.”
In addition to his time in county government, Smallwood has worked as a teacher, raised money for Trussville City Schools, and held advisory roles with the University of Alabama School of Law, as well as a state tax policy commission under former Gov. Bob Riley. He holds degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Birmingham School of Law.
Asked what ultimately changed his mind about running, Smallwood pointed to recent financial decisions in city government, including the failed ad valorem tax referendum and ongoing discussion about proposed garbage fees.
“This was not a good climate to raise taxes in. Just wasn’t,” he said. “We’re expected to live within our own financial budgets. Government must lead by example and do that as well.”
He said the city’s approach to growth and development has outpaced its infrastructure and essential services.
“Without a smart growth approach, it’s mismanagement,” Smallwood said. “So we got ourselves in this predicament, and we need to manage ourselves out with wisdom.”
“We’ve used the state highway narrative as a convenient excuse not to manage smartly,” he added. “We knew the restrictions on that highway, but yet chose to build high-density, high-volume neighborhoods — which is a mistake.”
Regarding the proposed garbage fee, Smallwood said the service should be considered fundamental.
“We’ve lost our definitional understanding of what basic and essential services are,” he said. “Police, fire, garbage — it’s embedded in there as well. Roads, schools and parks are part of a city’s basic and essential services.”
He also called for increased transparency in city decision-making.
“We have to have greater transparency in our transactional dealings,” he said. “People have a right to know and to hear and to see what’s going on. They’re entitled to that.”
Trussville’s municipal elections are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 26, and will include the mayor’s race and all five at-large City Council seats. A runoff, if necessary, would follow on Sept. 23. The new mayor and council take office Nov. 3.
Candidate qualification runs from June 10 through June 24. Prospective candidates must be registered voters and have lived in Trussville for at least 90 days before the election. More details are available through the city clerk’s office or alabamavotes.org
You can watch the full interview with Gary Lloyd of the Writer's Block here:
