By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster City Council during its May 21 meeting likely will appoint a person to fill the council’s vacant Ward 3 seat after council members interviewed three candidates for the position during its May 17 work session.

During the work session, council members interviewed Suzanne Clemons, a math teacher at Thompson High School, Scott Long, the owner of E21 Realty and the Property Management Group Birmingham, and Stacy Rakestraw, the children’s director at Evangel Presbyterian Church and an employee at Judy’s Plantscapes.

The candidate chosen by the City Council will fill the Ward 3 seat left vacant when former councilman Adam Moseley stepped down to accept a seat on the city’s first school board. The new Ward 3 council person will fill the remainder of Moseley’s term, which will expire in November 2012.

Long praised the current council members for “setting things forward in Alabaster” over the past several years, and said he want to take an active role in the city’s legacy.

“I’m really concerned about the legacy of Alabaster. I’d like to have a say-so about what goes on here,” Long said.

He said he would like to draw more development to the city, and said it is important to ensure the city’s new school system “comes off in a positive manner.”

Clemons said she would like to see the city establish more teen-oriented events, and said she “sees both pros and cons” of the city forming its own school district.

“I still have some reservations (about the Alabaster school district). I don’t want us to jump in before everything is in order,” Clemons said. “There are a lot of boxes we need to check off.”

Rakestraw said she would like to create an “adopt-an-intersection” program, giving businesses the opportunity to adopt and care for certain areas of the city. She also said she would like to see more city support for small businesses.

Rakestraw suggested possibly forming an Alabaster chamber of commerce, and said she would like to see the city better support school athletic programs.

The City Council’s May 21 meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Alabaster City Hall Annex.