MONTEVALLO, Ala. — Before residents ever discussed housing, jobs or downtown development, they started with a simpler question: What makes Montevallo worth celebrating?
Participants scribbled answers on notecards: the people, the small-town atmosphere, the local organizations and businesses that make it feel like home.
“People here are really so proud of their small town,” said Chauntina Whittle, program and outreach coordinator at the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. “The conversations were really insightful as people talked about what Montevallo used to be, what is now, and what it could be in the future.”
The exercise kicked off “What’s Next, Montevallo?” – a series of community conversations organized by local groups including Montevallo Main Street as the organization celebrated its 10th anniversary and the nation prepared to mark America’s 250th birthday. Inspired by the National Issues Forums Institute‘s new “What’s Next, America?” initiative, residents gathered throughout June to imagine what they wanted their city to become and how they might help get it there. In the town of roughly 8,000 people about 35 miles south of Birmingham, organizers hosted three adult sessions and one youth session of about 25 participants each.
“Seeing ‘What’s Next, America?’ we immediately jumped on it because we saw it as this first spark of something that could turn into something really great,” Whittle said.
Meeting residents where they are
The conversations didn’t happen by accident. Local organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, churches, the David Mathews Center for Civic Life and Impact Montevallo, each reached out to their own networks through personal invitations and social media. Whittle walked from one downtown business to another, handing out flyers and chatting with residents.
“You can’t do this work by yourself,” said Herman Lehman, an organizer and former city clerk.
“And find those trusted people in your community who will send those invitations out themselves,” he added. “You need to go the extra mile to reach out to people and make sure they know that their voice in particular is one you want to hear as part of this conversation.”
The conversations brought together residents with different political views, racial backgrounds and other identities. Even the city’s mayor and Council members joined. Whittle admitted she found herself holding her breath as more polarizing topics surfaced.
Instead, she watched people listen.
Residents discussed hopes for a more vibrant downtown entertainment district, housing that could accommodate growth without sacrificing Montevallo’s character, expanded economic opportunity, youth programming and more gathering spaces for community events.
A tradition of deliberation
For many communities, this kind of public conversation might feel new. Not in Montevallo.
Long before becoming chair of the National Issues Forums Institute, former Montevallo Mayor Hollie Cost spent years swapping traditional town halls with deliberative forums where residents sat around tables, talked through difficult issues and searched for shared solutions.
Those forums tackled issues ranging from food security and recycling to housing, public safety and LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections. After two young men were murdered in the community, residents gathered in the very space where one of them died to discuss safety while honoring both victims.
As Montevallo’s Hispanic population grew, Cost helped organize a forum conducted in Spanish, providing childcare and food while English-speaking elected officials listened through interpreters.
“For many of these families, this was the first time they were in a room where elected officials were sitting and listening to them directly,” she said.
Perhaps the most lasting impact came from students. Cost organized a yearlong series of youth forums asking students what would make them want to stay in Montevallo after graduation.
The conversations led to the creation of a Junior City Council in 2013, which still exists today through a city ordinance. Students successfully advocated for new baseball helmets for local athletes, organized mayoral candidate forums, launched a campaign that helped bring a Taco Bell to town and partnered with local businesses to create student discount programs that boosted downtown commerce.
“This showed the kids that they can have civic agency and civic efficacy at a young age,” Cost said. “It sends the message that they’re not powerless.”
Many of those students have since become lawyers or civic leaders themselves, she said.
More recently, Cost has hosted community health conversations throughout Alabama and forums around supporting previously incarcerated residents. She calls the work “transformative” and “more important now than ever.”
From conversation to action
Organizers say Montevallo’s newest conversations are already beginning to produce results. A local church leader who attended a forum has already convened a meeting focused on housing action.
“It’s a way of activating your civic infrastructure toward common goals,” Lehman said, urging Alabamians to try the “What’s Next, America?” format. “You need that community buy-in, people excited and energized to get things done. That’s the magic of it. You never know where it’s going to go and who it’s going to inspire to take action.”