By 
October 2, 2026
The story is something of a legend around Huntsville City Hall. It’s a good story, Shane Davis loves to tell it and it also says a lot about his career serving Huntsville residents.
That career is over now. Davis retired from the City on Sept. 30 after almost 26 years.
But, first, the story.
Mayor Tommy Battle presents an Award of Appreciation to Shane Davis at his retirement celebration.
“I didn’t know what the job was,” Davis said of his arrival at City Hall. He was working in the private sector at the time, traveling more than he wanted and thought this would be a nice resume builder for a couple of years.
“And back then you didn’t have online job posting,” he continued. Former Planning Director Dallas Fanning had nudged Davis toward a job with the City, “And he said, if you’re interested, go see HR. So I go to HR and filled out an application.
“And lo and behold, not what I thought it would be. It was at the sewer department. And they were hiring their first sanitary engineer.”
The significance of sewers
A side note that Davis would eagerly tell you is that the sewers are a critical piece of City infrastructure. It only makes sense. Sewers have to go where the people are.
“I’m managing two new construction crews,” Davis said. “My first day on a job, I showed up in khakis and a dress shirt. I was handed a two-way radio and told to go to Monte Sano.
“My crew was waiting on me. And it was like 17 degrees. And we started unloading pipe off an 18-wheeler, stringing it up on Monte Sano Boulevard. About froze to death.
“Came back to work the second day with a pair of coveralls. Because I knew what my role was going to be.”
Yep, good story. But that’s what Davis did – whatever was needed. He answered the City’s call to serve the public.
Over the years, you’ve probably heard his name. He eventually became the City’s director of urban and economic development. That translates, in part, to attracting business and industry to Huntsville – a task that always included making sure a sewer line was nearby. Davis was a point person on economic wins such as Mazda Toyota, Polaris, Aerojet Rocketdyne. And Eli Lilly and Company, a $6 billion capital investment that’s the largest private investment in Alabama history.
Creating a culture
But as he reflected on his career with the City, Davis talked about other things. More important things.
Davis observed the tone set by Mayor Tommy Battle and wanted to amplify it.
“I saw the opportunity in the mayor’s structure to go create a culture, create a family-like atmosphere,” Davis said. “It’s like, we’re all in this together. I know there’s an organizational chart, but let’s forget about it. We’re all professionals.”
Shane Davis, left, receives the Distinguished Service Award from Huntsville/Madison County Chamber Board Chair Sameer Singhal in 2025.
It’s at this point, listening to Davis speak, that it’s clear this needs to get down in black and white for everyone to see.
“Do not say no to each other,” he said. “Help each other. And let’s go do what we’re supposed to do.”
In short, that’s the mission at City Hall.
“And I always had two simple sayings. Everybody, when I say it, kind of grins. Because at first, it kind of sounded corny, but I’ve just preached it, preached it. Really, for the last 18 years (as he supervised nine City departments), it’s two things.
“First, know what right looks like. If you know what right looks like, stay firm and get it done. Perform at a high standard for the taxpayer. And then the second thing that comes to economic development or anything we do, such as improving an intersection or getting a road built that helps somebody’s community, our job is go create a positive environment for somebody we’ll never meet.”
‘Make a positive impact’
That is public service.
“You know, if we go improve an intersection, somebody’s commute got a little easier, got a little safer,” Davis said. “Go make a positive impact on somebody we’ll never meet. And I said that if we go take those two principles and we serve with humility and work hard, the odds of success get pretty high.”
In recent years, you rarely saw Davis in coveralls. But the work ethic never changed from that blustery day atop Monte Sano.
“I always told the Mayor, I said, ‘Look, I’ll give you everything I’ve got every day,’” Davis said. “I was only going to stay with the City for about two years and go back to the private sector. But what wound up happening was I really fell in love with the city.”
Almost 26 years later, yes, that is public service.
