Restaurant Owner & Community Convenor Bo Hicks Enters Race for Vacant Tuscaloosa City Council Seat
A Tuscaloosa restaurant and brewery owner is now the third candidate to enter the race for the City Council seat Kip Tyner held for 30 years before his death in September.
Bo Hicks, who has lived in District 5 for 16 years, said he is running to continue the work Tyner started in East Tuscaloosa.
Hicks joins Erica Grant, who represents District 5 on the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education, and Al Sommerville, who owns a trucking company, in the field.
From Brookwood to the Brewery
In a Monday interview, Hicks told the Thread he grew up around what is now Lake View and Abernant and graduated from Brookwood High School in 1998. He came to Tuscaloosa for school, got into the local music scene and service industry, and eventually started his own business, Druid City Brewing Company.
The craft beer hub opened off of Tuscaloosa's 15th Street in 2012 after the state legislature legalized breweries and taprooms 15 years ago. Since then, DCBC has expanded into a new, larger space, added the Ell's Kitchen restaurant side of the business, and hosted hundreds of events that convened countless groups under its room.
“I really strive to provide a place for the community to become involved, whether that’s comedy shows, live music, forums where community members can voice ideas, English department readings, the ukulele club, you name it.” Hicks said. “I want to function as a place where people feel safe and welcome, and to help grow several different communities in Tuscaloosa.”
No Filling Kip's Shoes
After being a small business owner, raising a child in the Tuscaloosa City Schools and serving as such a strong convener of different groups, Hicks said he has decided to run for the seat Tyner's death left vacant and represent the people of Alberta on the Tuscaloosa City Council.
Hicks said the three candidates in the race share a goal.
“I believe all the candidates who have announced so far want to do their best to continue what Kip did for East Tuscaloosa and the city as a whole,” he said. “I want to help businesses thrive in East Tuscaloosa. I want to continue the capital projects and the infrastructure improvements. I want people to feel safe and be able to walk wherever they want to go.”
He did not claim he could replace Tyner.
“Under Kip’s stewardship, District 5 has been amazing. He was a true force and one of a kind, and I don’t believe any of the candidates will truly be able to fill his shoes at first,” Hicks said. “But I would like to think I’m going to do my best to make him proud and continue the work he started.”
Halfway Round the World on City Sidewalks
For the last years, Hicks has spent serious time walking around the city of Tuscaloosa, both near DCBC around the Alberta district where he lives. He told the Thread he has logged roughly 35 miles a week for each of those years, which works out to about 12,700 miles. He joked that he's moseyed about half the circumference of planet Earth, which is just under 25,000 miles around.
That habit shapes how he talks about the ongoing $27 million reconstruction of University Boulevard East, Tyner’s signature project, which broke ground in January and is expected to finish in spring 2027.
“The capital improvements through there, the sidewalks, are going to be awesome for the walkability of the neighborhood and for other businesses to come in and thrive,” Hicks said. “It’s a little bit of a headache right now, but I think it’s going to be worth it.”
He said the walking is also how he campaigns.
“I find that actually getting out in the community and listening is invaluable,” Hicks said. “I don’t pretend that I’m the smartest person in the room, but what I do believe is that I care about what the people of District 5 want, and frankly all of Tuscaloosa, because it’s so interconnected. A lot of things that happen in District 5 have ramifications throughout the city.”
Hicks has a daughter who is a senior at Paul W. Bryant High School and is applying to colleges.
“She’s got an eye on staying in Tuscaloosa, and hey, if that’s what she wants to do, I want to see her grow and thrive,” he said. “And even if she goes to school somewhere else in the state, whenever she visits Tuscaloosa, every time she does I want our community to be just a little bit better.”
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