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Council divided on full-time mayor issue The members of the Jackson City Council have differing views on whether or not the city needs a full-time mayor. With Mayor Richard Long stepping down and City Administrator Jesse Miller retiring after this term, the issue has become a hot topic as of late. Currently, the council is split 4-3 on the issue, with the majority being against such a measure. Aligned against the change are councilmen Paul South, Eldridge Jackson Jr., Anthony Jackson and Mayor Richard Long. Those in favor of the move are councilmen Robert Marks, Daron Bolen and Eddie Huggins. Mayor Long issued the following statement concerning the issue: "The city of Jackson has invested greatly in building the infrastructure of the city to become a desirable location for families, business, retail and industry. The city must focus on marketing its outstanding strengths to prospective individuals and companies. "It is my opinion that the city should immediately hire a professional economic developer to successfully market the city of Jackson. Jackson is competing with thousands of other cities recruiting businesses and industries. Economic development is a big business and requires 24/7 or full-time attention and connections to be successful. I believe a full-time economic developer is the key to selling the city of Jackson in this very competitive global marketplace." Marks has been the most vocal of those favoring the city having a full-time mayor, soliciting comments from the public and pointing to the city of Thomasville as a prime example of how having a full-time mayor can be an advantage. "Thomasville is the model city in the county of how having a fulltime mayor can work," he said. "If you also look at all of the cities in north Alabama that have full-time mayors, those are the cities that are on the move. That's because a full-time mayor's firs allegiance is to his or her employers-the citizens. This is a life-changing decision for Jackson, much like the alcohol referendum. I am very much in favor of having the citizens vote on this issue." Marks said he would also like to see public hearings conducted for the citizens to voice their opinions about the question of whether or not to have a fulltime mayor. Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day said the city went through the process of deciding whether or not to have a fulltime mayor seven years ago. "We looked at this issue and needed input from the people to decide in what direction we needed to go," he said. "Being a mayor is a full-time job, despite whether it is a full-time or part-time paid position. If you don't look at it that way you limit yourself." Day said the Thomasville City Council voted to make the change after several public hearings were conducted in which a majority of the citizens attending indicated they wanted a full-time mayor. He added that since the change has been in place he has seen more and more people willing to take risks on starting new businesses and investing in projects in the city. In a survey shown of the Alabama League of Municipalities, three cities, including Thomasville, which are close to the same population as Jackson, have full-time mayors. The salary range is between $42,000 and $68,000 per year. Day's salary is listed at $60,000. Councilman Paul South, who has said he will seek the mayor's seat in the next municipal election, has stated that he is against Jackson making the move to a full-time mayor. "I have been involved in politics for 16 years," he said. "I have been in many economic development meetings and from everything I've seen, a city the size of Jackson will not support a full-time mayor. With some growth, and the addition of perhaps another 2,000 citizens, we might want to look at the issue then. What we need is an economic developer who gets up every day and is ready to cheer for Jackson." South pointed out the work City Administrator Jesse Miller has done for the city by way of attaining approximately $18 million in grant money during his 18 years with the city. "He has worked hard behind the scenes to get an average of $1 million in grants per year for Jackson. That in itself is impressive. He has always worked hard to make sure our city's budget comes out on the plus side and has kept the council in check on its spending," said South. South said he is not against holding public hearings on the full-time mayor issue, nor is he against having the people vote on it. He pointed out that in order to have a referendum for a vote of the people, one-third of the city's registered voters who voted in the last election would have to sign a petition and present it to the council. In contrast with South's view, Councilman Daron Bolen said he feels that the lack of a full-time mayor is holding the city back. "With someone there full-time, they are available to go to Montgomery anytime to work with our legislatures on getting things done for our city," he said. "Someone who is employed by another company is bound by that employer." Bolen went on to say the he would prefer the citizens of Jackson vote on such a move because it is such a critical issue. He said he has talked to a lot of people about it and has only encountered one person so far who is against it. As for hiring an economic developer, Bolen said, "We have an economic developer for the county, a regional economic development team and a state economic development office. A full-time mayor could work with them in bringing new businesses and industries to the area. I believe this would be in the best interest of the city." Councilman Anthony Jackson agrees with South's view on the matter. "I don't believe that Jackson is ready for a full-time mayor yet," he said. "We have lot of opportunity for economic development and I feel staying with a part-time mayor and hiring an economic developer who is trained and skilled in that area would be the best move for our citizens. Because whoever is elected would be new to the job, it would take him or her at least two years just to learn the mayor's job then begin taking on the role of economic developer." Councilman Eddie Huggins disagrees. "In my opinion would be beneficial to the city of Jackson to have someone working full-time to bring new businesses to the city. I think a fulltime mayor would serve that better than an economic developer. Besides, there may be other things a mayor would need to work on other than economic development. The citizens would benefit from having a mayor working for them full-time." Echoing what councilmen South and Anthony Jackson said, Councilman Eldridge Jackson Jr. said, "I feel it would be better for the city if we hired a full-time economic developer rather than a making the mayor's position fulltime. Perhaps with some growth, the city could revisit the full-time mayor issue at a later time."
Jackson said he is not opposed to having the citizens vote on the issue, but if the measure were to come before the council, he would vote no.
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