Prattville Mayor Byard to lead ADECA

Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr. will be the next director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

Rebekah Caldwell Mason, newly appointed communications director for Gov.-elect Robert Bentley, confirmed Wednesday that Byard would be resigning his position as mayor to join Bentley's cabinet.

Byard, a former Prattville City Councilman, has been mayor since 1999.
He will step down as Prattville’s mayor at the close of business Jan. 17 and assume his new responsibilities at ADECA Jan. 18.

Byard was first elected to the Prattville City Council in 1992 and reelected in 1996.

He was elected council president in 1996 and served until becoming mayor in 1999 after the death of incumbent Mayor David Whetstone Jr. Prior to becoming mayor, he worked for the Alabama Department of Transportation.


-- posted by Markeshia Ricks and Sebastian Kitchen