By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster City Manager George Henry has stepped down from his position with the city to take a new job in the private sector, and the city is planning to fill the vacancy after the Aug. 23 municipal elections.

Henry resigned from the city manager position on Friday, July 22, citing a “good opportunity to go back into the private sector.”

“I really, sincerely appreciate that I got a chance to do this and serve the public,” Henry said during a July 25 interview. “We’ve been able to get some great systems and processes in place over the past several years.”

Henry was named the city administrator in 2009, and was appointed as the city manager in 2013. Through his job with the city, Henry helped the mayor with day-to-day operations, supervised department heads, coordinated city projects, worked with the city’s website and coordinated budget preparation.

Henry holds a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in business administration, both from Samford University, and operated his own brokerage agency before coming to the city in 2009.

Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon said she and City Council President Scott Brakefield have decided to wait until after the Aug. 23 municipal elections to address filling the position.

Five of Alabaster’s seven City Council seats and the mayor position are contested in the upcoming election.

“(The city manager) is a position that reports to both the City Council and mayor,” Handlon said. “I talked with Scott, and we said it would be in the best interest of the city and that position to wait until after the election to fill it.

““I’m certain the leaders we have in each of our departments will be able to maintain services and customer service to the citizens of Alabaster without interruption,” Handlon said.

Handlon said the City Council will appoint an acting City Clerk to fill in until the position is filled permanently, and said the city is looking to “cast a wide net” when searching for Henry’s replacement.

“He made a big contribution to the city during his seven years here,” Handlon said of Henry. “We are going to miss George and the contributions he makes on a daily basis to Alabaster.