By BETH CHAPMAN / Community Columnist

Dr. Brenda Bell Guercio is the mayor of quiet, quaint Indian Springs, home to the nationally- renowned Indian Springs School.

She earned her B.S. degree from Emory University and her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is certified by the American Board of Radiology and has worked at hospitals in Dothan, Jasper, Montgomery and Birmingham.

She served as a city councilwoman for Indian Springs from 2004-2012, then was elected mayor in 2012.

She has been named one of “America’s Top Radiologists,” and received a Physician’s Recognition Award from the Medical Association of Alabama.

She retired from practicing radiology in 2007 “to be the nanny” for her five granddaughters all under the age of 6.

She is an active member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, is a board member for The Remy Foundation and a Hospice Volunteer in her spare time.

If that isn’t enough, she has four rescue dogs, two horses and one parrot, who is 43 years old.

She enjoys animals, reading novels, going to movies and chocolate — a woman after my own heart.

When asked what makes her city so special she said, “Indian Springs Village is a very special city. It captures the beauty and peacefulness of a rural setting while offering all the amenities of a much larger city, such as good schools, good law enforcement and fire protection, easy access to the interstate and good restaurants, shopping, and entertainment.”

She said they have a true Town Hall form of government with “give and take” between the Council and residents at their meetings. The Mayor and Council are elected, but are not salaried. “We volunteer. We have no sales tax. We are fiscally responsible. We are not in debt, and we actually have money in the bank! It is an honor for me to serve as Mayor.”

Guercio and her husband, Jake, have three children between them: Dr. Emily Bell Casey, Bobby Bell and CJ Guercio.