Published On: 03.15.21 | 

By: Barnett Wright

Tony Petelos announces plans to retire as Jefferson County manager/CEO

Jefferson County Manager Tony Petelos with his wife, Teresa, after he announced his retirement. (Barnett Wright/The Birmingham Times)

Jefferson County Manager and CEO Tony Petelos has announced his retirement.

Petelos was appointed as the first person to hold the position on Oct. 1, 2011. He made the announcement at the end of the Jefferson County Commission’s Committee of the Whole meeting March 9 in the downtown courthouse.

“The county is in better, better shape today than it’s been in many, many years,” said Petelos, 67, after his announcement with his wife, Teresa, by his side.

A national search will be conducted to fill the position. Petelos has spent more than 34 years in public service, including the state Legislature, the Alabama Department of Human Resources and two terms as mayor of Hoover.

Petelos is a cancer survivor who also had a bout this year with COVID-19.

“Seven years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and I had a lot of complications from that,” he said. “It was ‘touch and go’ there for a while. And with the COVID, I realized life is short and we need to enjoy it while we’re still healthy, and I’m ready to move on.”

His time with the county was eventful from the start. Two months after Petelos was appointed county manager, the county declared bankruptcy. Subsequently, there were deadly tornadoes, employee layoffs and the downsizing of Cooper Green Mercy Hospital.

The county slowly regained its footing and stabilized to the point where it came out from under one of the longest-running hiring consent decree cases in the country in December 2020.

“Helping shape and mold the role of the county manager in Jefferson County has been one of the most satisfying jobs of my entire career,” said Petelos. “While I enjoyed serving in the Legislature, DHR and as mayor of Hoover, Jefferson County had some serious challenges. I can retire knowing that I had a hand in turning the county around, and it is on the most solid financial footing.”

County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said Petelos has been the “face of the rebirth of Jefferson County” over the past decade.

His retirement is “a loss we cannot replace,” Stephens said. “We’ll do the best we can and build upon the foundation Mr. Petelos has laid for us.”

Petelos was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1986 and was twice re-elected, serving until 1997, when Gov. Fob James appointed him commissioner of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Petelos was reappointed to that position by Gov. Don Siegelman.

DHR was under a federal consent decree when Petelos assumed leadership and developed a plan that ultimately led to the end of federal oversight. Petelos was elected mayor of Hoover in 2004 and reelected in 2008 without opposition.

He and his wife, a former circuit judge in Jefferson County, have been married for 37 years.

This story originally appeared on The Birmingham Times’ website.