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The City of Hoover was founded in 1968 as a suburban bedroom community of the Over the Mountain area. In 57 years, it has grown into one of the most prominent and prosperous cities in the Jefferson/Shelby metro area.
It is now the fifth largest city in Alabama in real population following only Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and its neighbor, Birmingham. About two decades ago, Hoover’s population had grown so significantly that the Census Bureau changed the label of Alabama’s largest metropolitan area from the Birmingham metro area to the Birmingham/Hoover metropolitan area. If current trends continue, Hoover will surpass Birmingham in population within 20 years. At that time, the Census Bureau will probably refer to the state’s largest metro center as the Hoover/Birmingham metropolitan area.
Hoover, with its large available sprawling land mass, will continue to grow and prosper as the center and heart of the state. Hoover’s per capita residential income among the top ten cities is surpassed by only Huntsville.
Hoover has been led by Mayor Frank Brocato since 2016. He is running for his third term this August. Mayor Brocato is Hoover through and through. He has a long history of service with the City of Hoover. Brocato began his career with the Hoover Fire Department in 1973, only five years after the city’s incorporation. He was the city’s first paramedic and rose to be the Fire Marshall for Hoover in 1979. After 42 years of service with the Fire Department, he retired in 2015 as the chief of operations and the fire marshall. The next year, in 2016, he was elected mayor of Hoover.
Frank Brocato and his wife Frances have been married for 50 years. They have three children and nine grandchildren. Frank and Frances are both natives of Jefferson County and have called Hoover home for five decades. He loves his city, and it is obvious when he talks about Hoover’s amazing growth and success.
Mayor Frank Brocato realized that the key to success for a prosperous and robust city are good schools, a good police department and a good fire department. From his first year in office, Mayor Brocato demonstrated a deep commitment to the Hoover City Schools. Recognizing the critical role education plays in the community’s success, he took bold actions to support students, teachers, and administrators. He doubled the city’s annual contribution to the Hoover City Schools. He made sure that school resource officers were assigned to all 17 schools.
Mayor Brocato is a frequent visitor to all of the city schools. He looks forward to these visits. Under Brocato’s leadership, Hoover schools remain among the top school systems in the state with two of the premier high schools – Hoover High School and Spain Park High School.
Hoover has long been considered one of the safest cities in the state. The city has consistently been rated as the number one police/public safety department in the state, as well as the highest paid. The Hoover Police Department has achieved CALEA accreditation, a distinction held by only five percent of police departments nationwide. Under Brocato’s leadership, the City of Hoover opened a $4 million state-of-the-art training facility that trains not only their officers, but other departments throughout the state. The Hoover Fire Department is also considered the best in the state. Hoover’s Fire Department maintains an ISO Class 1 rating, the highest possible ranking.
Hoover, under Brocato, continues to be a mecca for sports tourism. The Hoover Met Complex hosts numerous events, including the SEC Baseball Tournament. This event, alone, drew 180,000 fans in 2023 and 200,000 in 2024 to the Hoover Met.
Under Frank Brocato’s leadership Hoover remains one of Alabama’s most vibrant and thriving communities. It is celebrated for its excellent schools, premier and robust public safety and family friendly amenities. The city has seen substantial but measured and well-planned growth. Under Frank Brocato’s mayorship, the city has grown in population from 85,000 in 2016 to 93,000 today.
See you next week.
