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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Over the course of the next six months, members of the Alabaster Government Academy will have the chance to get an in-depth look at how the city of Alabaster is operated.

On Friday, Sept. 12, the city of Alabaster kicked off its fourth annual Alabaster Government Academy at city hall as the newest members were introduced to the program and received details from city administrators and officials.

“It’s been awesome,” Alabaster Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner said. “We just welcomed them to the program and gave them an overview of most of the departments in city hall.”

During the kickoff, Alabaster Mayor Scott Brakefield welcomed the 35 members of the class before passing off the microphone to City Administrator Brian Binzer, Human Resources Director Tracy Worley, City Clerk Mark Frey and Wagner.

The next Alabaster Government Academy meeting on Thursday, Sept. 25, will be focused on the Alabaster Fire Department and will provide an overview of the services that they provide residents. The Alabaster Government Academy will continue to meet twice a month until early February.

“We try to alternate between some of the offices that are a little less hands-on and then in between those do the police department, fire department, library—where they get to go on-site and see an in-depth view of what those departments do,” Wagner said.

The very first edition of the academy initially came about thanks to the efforts of Wagner as well as Binzer after they were inspired by other municipalities. The program was created to inform residents on how the city government works.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s our fourth year doing this,” Wagner said. “There weren’t really a lot of cities in Alabama that did stuff like this. Brian (Binzer) had seen it done when he was working over in the Atlanta Metro Area for several years before he came back here. It was something that we kicked the idea around and decided we wanted to make it happen.”

Wagner said that most people don’t know about all of the various departments that are necessary to make a city function or how their local government operates.

“Most people have absolutely no idea what their city does and everything that the city is involved with,” Wagner said. “So, it’s a good way for people who want to learn more about their city to be able to do that because we go to every single department in the city and then we also have a night that they’ll hear from the Alabaster Water Board and then we have an Alabaster City Schools night too. So, it’s an all-encompassing look at their city.”

In addition to being a way for the public officials to connect with residents, Wagner shared that the annual government academy allows the city to train up residents who might be willing to serve their neighbors.

“It’s a two-way street,” Wagner said. “They learn more about the city, but over the years, we’ve gotten some great ideas from people and then it also helps later on down the line when the City Council is looking to fill vacancies on boards.”

Applications for the 2026 installment of the Alabaster Government Academy will open summer 2026.