Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville City Council, with a 4-2 vote Tuesday, agreed to hire Dr. Amy Hilliard as the new Economic Developer for the City.
Hilliard secured the position as the economic development director and department head for the newly created director position. Hilliard was in a similar position several years ago with the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce before leaving for a position in Auburn. Her name at that time was Amy Brabham.
“I’m excited about the opportunities of what we have to do. Industrial growth is primary for me, retail and commercial as well, but industrial and filling that South Industrial Park will be our number one strategy,” Hilliard said.
However, the position sparked controversy at Tuesday evening’s city council meeting, Councilman Michael Whaley speaking respectfully in opposition and Councilman Marcus Jackson posing questions from his constituents. Councilman Robert Strichik spoke in favor of the hiring of Hilliard and the resolution.
Before the vote, Whaley stated that he understands that this is a budgeted position for the executive department, and it’s customary to fill vacant positions. However, he had two main concerns that he voiced to the council and the public.
The first concern was the pay for the new position, and how quickly the position was filled. The job listing was posted July 19th of this year .
Whaley stated that the job listing was posted with a salary range of $105,787.32 to $125,747 annually. Whaley went on to state that the suggested salary for this position is $149,474.71.
The EAN confirmed that the dollar amount for this position at $149,474.71 correlates to the Fiscal Year 2025 City of Prattville Budget Detail – General Fund document, sent to EAN by Prattville finance director Daniel Oakley. It lists the Economic Development Director’s salary at the $149,474.
Other department head’s salaries are listed in the 2025 City of Prattville Budget Detail with positions such as the city engineer 1 bringing in a salary just over $111,000; and parks and recreation director at over $113,000. The next highest paid department head is the police chief position at over $130,000.
“This is roughly $24,000 more than advertised. I understand that we may have received a candidate that exceeds the posted qualifications in their education and experience but there could have been a plethora of candidates with similar education and experience had the different salary ranges been posted,” Whaley said before the vote. “My question is what does this say to our other department heads in the city? I know this is an important position, but I would venture to say that our chief of police and the fire chief hold important positions as well and their positions require them to manage over 100 employees each who are charged with protecting our lives and our property.”
Whaley’s second concern related to the economic strategy. He said he’s concerned that the city hasn’t seen the return on investment of bringing the position in house from the Prattville Chamber of Commerce to the city.
“I would love to see a collective effort to bring the City of Prattville, Autauga County, Elmore County, and our Chamber of Commerce together to work for us in an economic development authority. This would allow us as major stakeholders to reach more prospective economic development opportunities and ensure that we receive the information that we need in a constructive manner,” Whaley said.
Councilman Robert Strichik spoke in favor of hiring Hilliard stating that she has been extremely successful before. Strichik went on to state that she is someone who gets the job done and has the skills needed in grant writing and bringing her economic development experience from Auburn and the Prattville Chamber to the table.
“She has been in our community before and has been very successful at what she does. She is one of the topnotch economic development people in the state of Alabama,” Strichik said.
Jackson also addressed the council and stated he has worked with Hilliard and stated that she is awesome and very talented. However, Jackson said his constituents posed the question of who Hilliard would report do, and would she have the autonomy to do her job.
“I love Amy, she’s worked with me and done a great job. I know what she’s capable of. But these are just some of the questions that my constituents are concerned about,” Jackson said.
The resolution was passed in a 4-2 vote with Jackson and Whaley voting the against, and Council President Lora Lee Boone, Tommy Merrick, John Chambers and Strichik voting in favor with councilman Albert Striplin absent.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Prattville resident Jon Lee Finnegan spoke during the public comments in opposition to the hiring of Hilliard.
“I cannot believe the salary you will be approving tonight for the new economic development director, $149,475 is the same amount Robbie Anderson, the city engineer, who has been with the city for 33 years, makes. Are you friggin’ nuts? All of these actions (from the August 20th city council meeting) and more have me thinking what word would best describe what I believe we have in this town. The word that came to mind is cabal,” Finnegan said.
Regardless of all the pushback from residents and the council regarding Hilliard’s position, Hilliard told the EAN that she is excited to get started and help progress the City of Prattville.
“I was here from 2014 to 2019. I’m really excited to see the progress that has happened but also see the opportunity that still exists. Bringing some of the things that I’ve learned with the city of Auburn as well will be beneficial back to this community, so I’m thrilled to get started in about 30 days,” Hilliard said.
