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FROM STAFF REPORTS

ALABASTER – On Monday, June 2, Jamie Cole announced his bid for reelection to Ward 5 on the Alabaster City Council.

“Looking back on my campaign goals from my very first term in elected office, I’m excited to see what has been accomplished, but there is still work to do,” Cole said. “I’d be honored to serve the citizens of Alabaster for another term and continue the good work we’ve started.”

Taking care of Alabaster’s first responders was high on Cole’s list of campaign goals. A new city ambulance service—online since January 2025—is a part of that.

“Keeping our city safe and protected and equipping our first responders with the tools they need to succeed was one of my highest priorities,” Cole said. “Our residents deserve the best ambulance service, and I’m proud to continue casting votes to fund and equip this effort.”

Safer streets and traffic flow were also a high priority. Within a year of taking office, new traffic mitigation was in place at Kent Dairy Road and Highway 17, and engineering is completed on a reworking of Kent Dairy Road at State Highway 119, with a grant supplementing the budget to improve and make safer that highly trafficked intersection as well.

A diversity of arts and cultural events was also a goal, and Cole was instrumental in the building of a state-of-the-art amphitheater facility on the municipal green that has already begun hosting events. Meanwhile, arts funding for events like Alabaster CityFest along with scholarships and grants for local artists has more than doubled during his term.

Cole has worked to maintain a healthy relationship with Alabaster City Schools.

“I am proud that we have a strong relationship between city government and the city schools,” Cole said. “We have come together in a lot of significant ways.”

Working closely with Alabaster City Schools and other regional agencies was crucial, for instance, in flood mitigation in the wake of historic floods in 2021 that especially affected Ward 5.

“It was a true crisis situation, and having close relationships with the schools and the county helped us find and execute engineering solutions to flood mitigation, including new retention areas on ACS property,” he said.

Cole also tackled the city’s rebranding project right out of the gate, leading the internal PR and Marketing Committee and managing relationships with resident panels and outside agencies to change the city’s logos and imaging, which is now reflected all over the city.

Cole serves on the Public Works Committee as the city’s services evolve with the realities of changing waste management.

“We are always mindful of how to be efficient, economically sound and environmentally responsible,” he said. “It is a tough balance that is always challenging.”

Currently, Cole is anticipating the start of the new city center project, which will create a community recreation center and a new library on the site of the old Thompson High School property.

“The start was purchasing the old THS property and the refurbishment of the stadium and fields,” Cole said. “It’s being developed smartly with the new rec center, library and amphitheater close together, making it all walkable and improving the trail system throughout Ward 5 and beyond. It’s creating something Alabaster has never had—a place where you can go and do everything you need without going anywhere else. And it’s anchored by the amphitheater, which I’m so passionate about.”

Cole has lived in Alabaster for 27 years. He and his wife, Charissa, have been active in the community. They have a son, Sullivan “Sully” Thomas, a student at Thompson High School. The family lives in the Lake Forest neighborhood in Ward 5. Charissa Cole serves as the principal at Creek View Elementary School.

Cole has served as a member of the Alabaster City Schools Foundation Board of Directors, and is currently serving as vice president of the Alabaster Arts Council. He is one of the key organizers of Alabaster CityFest, and has also worked to bring other cultural events to the city, such as symphony concerts and Jazz in the Park.

Cole is an accomplished journalist, and spent the first 12 years of his career at Birmingham-based Progressive Farmer magazine, where he was the managing editor. Cole was the director of the magazine’s Best Places To Live In Rural America program, which highlighted America’s top rural towns and counties. For the past decade, he has been a partner for the small business Red Barn Media Group, which creates media for agricultural companies. He is a worship leader and musician at Mountaintop Church, along with his wife. He is a graduate of Jacksonville State University and the University of Alabama and taught journalism at both.