Weaver, AL – The City of Weaver Mayor, Wayne Willis, has announced his decision to retire from politics this year. Mayor Willis said, “After 38 years of public service I want to retire and spend more time with my family and just relax.”
Mayor Willis has been in public service for 38 years and said, “It’s ironic that my retirement will be done at the same place my career started. My first job as a police officer was with the City of Weaver and now, I will be ending my public service responsibilities by retiring as the Mayor of Weaver. I loved this city and all of the residents that have made this community great.” After his short time with the Weaver Police Department, he was hired by the Anniston Police Department where he worked his way up to the rank of Lieutenant. During his career as a police officer he was assigned to the homicide division, SWAT team, and hostage negotiator.
In 1998 Wayne Willis’s father and Weaver City Councilman, William Wills, passed away and Wayne took his seat to complete the remainder of his father’s term, which ended in 2000. Willis then ran on his own seeking to keep the city council seat and won where he remained until 2004. In 2004 Mayor Ed Kimbrough retired and Willis ran for the vacant seat as the Mayor of Weaver where he won. He served one term, but due to his promotion to sergeant at the Anniston Police Department his new schedule would conflict with the requirements needed for the position of Mayor, so he chose not to run again. When Willis formally retired as a police officer in 2012, he again ran for the mayor’s office after being approached by a group of concerned Weaver resident who asked him to run. He won that election and has served until now.
“I am proud of the things we [City Council] were able to accomplish during my time here. When I first started the city was in a deficit and now has over $1.5 million in surplus. The public works department had only one piece of equipment, which was a backhoe, and we were able to secure new equipment and upgrades to allow the department to properly service our residents.” Some of the other accomplishments that Willis was proud of were Weaver being the first city in Calhoun County to offer a skateboard park and a dog park, purchased new playground equipment for the park, added four new pavilions at the park, and that they built a playground in Buckhorn. He was also proud to manage the city through the entire pandemic without any service interruptions. Recent accomplishments such as the new splash pad and disc golf course have already proved to be a big hit with the residents and community around Weaver. “I am also happy that we were able to open the City of Weaver Meeting Center and we will be working to also make that the official polling center for all elections.”
Mayor Willis also discussed the plans to complete the new Weaver Fire Station and has determine that the project should be completed by the end of July of this year. Other projects he expects to be completed before his retirement date are the design of a new and more resident friendly website, to formally change the voting location to the meeting center due to better traffic flow and parking.
Mayor Willis had previously stated this would be his last term in any political postion. Mayor Willis has stated that his final day will be September 30, 2022. “This will give the city council time to place a new mayor and replace the vacant seat on the council that will become available. I want to make sure that the transition goes smoothly and does not cause any undue pressure to the council or future mayor.” Willis also noted that October 1st starts the new fiscal year, and he would like to ensure that the city is well taken care of when he leaves office for the last time. “I waited to make this announcement publicly until I was personally able to let all the department heads and staff know that I was going to be retiring.”
“I am deeply grateful for the years of support and feel honored to have served, in my opinion, the best city in Calhoun County.”
