One of Birmingham’s longest-serving elected officials recently announced her retirement.

City Councilor Valerie Abbott, who has represented Birmingham’s District 3 since 2001, said she plans to step down after her current term ends next year. She has served six terms, with each term lasting four years, and worked with six mayors beginning with Bernard Kincaid in 2001 through the current mayor, Randall Woodfin.

Her 24 years on the council at the end of this term is second only to William Bell’s 25 (1979–2001 and 2005–2008) as far as longevity of public service in the City of Birmingham.

“It’s time for me to step aside and let a younger person begin the public service journey,” she said. “It takes a couple of terms to really learn how the public sector functions, because it’s not like the private sector. I have been searching for a successor for several years now, because I can’t leave in good conscience unless District 3 is in capable, honest hands.”

Abbott serves as chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee and is a member of the Administration, Budget and Finance, Governmental Affairs and Public Information, Public Improvements and Beautification committees.

She is a former council president who worked for AT&T Services for nearly 45 years before retiring in 2018. The Birmingham native, who grew up in Glen Iris, served as a neighborhood officer for around 19 years.

She was first inspired to run for City Council after seeing the work of former District 3 Councilor David Herring. “I just admired the way he handled it,” she said in an interview and recalled that Herring was professional and “very careful” about spending city money.

Abbott decided she would run for the City Council when Herring retired.  She faced Jimmy Blake in the 1993 municipal election and lost. She lost again four years later.

“The next time I ran I thought, OK, third time is either a charm, or you are going to take the hint,” Abbott said. “And I won.”

Abbott developed a reputation for seldom missing council or neighborhood meetings or city events and regularly stayed in touch with her constituents. She said she is told all the time that she is the “voice of reason” on the council.

“I think that is going to be on my tombstone – the voice of reason,” she said, “because so many people say that.”

This article was originally published by The Birmingham Times.