By AMY JONES / Associate Editor

HOOVER — Hoover voters decided they liked the look of the City Council, choosing to keep all incumbents save one, Mari Morrison, who lost her Place 3 seat to challenger John Lyda.

Only four council seats out of seven were up for grabs.

Place 1 incumbent Trey Lott kept his seat easily despite a challenge from DeMarcus Hill. Lott took 88.9 percent of the vote with 4,576 votes to Hill’s 567.

“I’m very excited that they gave me another four years to serve our great city. I’m looking forward to it,” Lott said.

Lyda, a member of the Hoover Public Library Board of Trustees, received 67.4 percent of votes with 3,548 votes to defeat Morrison’s 1,715 votes in the race for the Place 3 seat.

“I’m thankful to the Hoover citizens for giving me the honor to serve in the administration that has performed so well for our citizens over the last several years,” Lyda said. “My candidacy has been simple from the beginning. It’s been a candidacy of choice, not of change. I promise to bring a fresh new generation of leadership to Hoover come Nov. 5.”

Brian Skelton will add to his decade’s worth of experience on the Hoover City Council, holding on to his Place 6 seat by defeating challenger Ken Teter. Skelton received 4,403 votes, or 77.5 percent, while Teter received 1,160 votes.

“I want to say, it really has been a true honor to serve the great people in the city of Hoover, and I look forward to serving them again for another four years,” Skelton said. “I want to thank them for having confidence and trust in me, and I will do my very best to represent them in a honorable and professional manner.”

Incumbent John Greene rose above the crowd to keep his Place 7 seat, beating out Jason Cerniglia and Ken King. Greene received 2,903 votes or 57.2 percent of the vote, while Cerniglia received 1,712 votes, good for 33.7 percent of ballots. King received 9.1 percent, or 459 votes.

“I want to thank God first. I want to thank my campaign staff that worked so very hard,” Greene said. “I want to thank the voters that come out today. I just look forward to the next four years representing all the citizens of Hoover.”

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey, City Council Place 2 incumbent Gene Smith, City Council Place 4 incumbent John T. Natter and City Council Place 5 incumbent Jack Wright, council president, have already been declared winners in their races after running unopposed.