…but not so much downtown.

15 mph is slow enough.

CAMPAIGN BLOG

  • The Farms

    The most popular book in our house right now is “Go, Go, Tractors!”. In fact, every other book is tied for number two. We are using “Go, Go, Tractors!” to try and teach someone to talk. We point to the pictures and repeat words like “cow” and “silo” over and over again. I am looking forward to the day when our family is out driving down Dairy Road, and my little pupil points at this scene –

    and shouts “silo!”

    One of my biggest fears is that those silos will be gone before I ever get to hear that shout.

    There seems to be some confusion regarding my position on agricultural land around Fairhope, so let me be clear.

    I don’t want Baldwin County to lose another square foot of farmland to development.

    Farmers struggle with bad weather, market volatility, high taxes, children who grow up and leave, and a million other heartaches that would break most other people. We should support them any way we can. Go to our Farmer’s Market, buy local, and learn about groups that are trying to help.

    There is not much farmland within the city limits of Fairhope, so the Council does not have a whole lot of control over this issue. But we are not without power and influence. I will gladly be a voice and a vote for protecting the rural character of this corner of the county.

    By the way, in the Napa Valley, the minimum parcel size to build one house on agricultural land is 40 acres. That’s some serious preservation. I’m not sure how well that would go over here, but I’m willing to push hard for a debate and see what happens.

    It may or may not be true that these views are extreme. I guess we’ll find out on Election Day.

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  • Fairhope’s factions

    These days Fairhope is more divided than… well, I don’t know what.

    In an earlier post I mentioned the importance of the City Council as a whole being on the same page as most of our population. With the exception of a few eccentrics here and there, every single person in Fairhope needs to know that at least one Council member understands their concerns, will speak up for them, and vote for their interests. It worries me that barely a week into the election, lines were drawn, sides were chosen, and a “slate” was announced. When I look at that “slate”, or when I see yards full of all the incumbents’ signs side by side, I wonder what these people are thinking. This isn’t the Alabama – LSU game. These are your friends and neighbors, and a lot of them are very worried about what is going on in our town. Is it really possible that if some of my fellow candidates win in a sweep, they will ignore the concerns of their opponents’ supporters, even if those voters make up almost half of Fairhope?

    I used the word “factions” in the title of this post. From the very beginning of our country, George Washington, James Madison, and the other Founding Fathers were deeply worried that selfish factions would undermine the new system they had created. It appears that they were right to be afraid.

    Looking out my kitchen window, I can see one of my signs in a neighbor’s yard next to one of Corey Martin’s. This is alright by me. Mr. Martin is a great guy, devout and devoted. I’ve also met and spoken with Josh Gammon. He is super smart and wonderful to talk to, and I hope to see some of his signs next to mine around town as well. I would be honored to serve with either one of these men. If every incumbent and challenger on the ballot next month could somehow find a way to put Fairhope’s interests ahead of their team’s, we’ll all be fine.

    Anyway, pulling this town back together can’t possibly be harder than rejoining the halves of my ’63 Ford tractor. I had to split it to replace the ring gear and clutch plate. It was a big job for one man, but it was the kind of job I like, and it all turned out really well. The tractor wasn’t good for anything though, while it sat there divided in two.

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  • 13 foot ceilings

    When I was a kid, all of the houses, including ours, had 8 foot ceilings. It was the standard. The only exception I knew of was my grandmother’s house in Jackson, Louisiana. It had 13 foot ceilings. This bothered me. “Why doesn’t everyone’s house have high ceilings like Nana’s?”, I would ask. “Nobody builds houses like that anymore”, was the reply, which wasn’t a very satisfying answer. As I got older, I saw more and more new houses being built with ceilings up high like Nana’s. Now it’s all I see. It’s like they forgot how to build houses and then they remembered.

    What bothers me now are the subdivisions. Not the people in them, who only want and deserve what everyone wants – a clean, safe place to live and raise a family. My wife and I often drive through Fairhope’s subdivisions and think that the people living here probably socialize and have more fun than those of us in the Fruit and Nut. At least in the subdivisions, the construction is over and they can enjoy their lives in peace. In my neighborhood, the chainsaws never stop buzzing and the 18 wheelers and concrete trucks never stop rattling our windows.

    No, what bothers me about our subdivisions is that when I ask, “Why don’t they have their own downtowns with cafes, a hardware store, and churches you can walk to?”, the response is, “Nobody builds towns like that anymore”, which is not a very satisfying answer. We need to think bigger and remember how to make real towns. Ernest Gaston didn’t get people to come to Fairhope by saying, “Amenities include a fitness center”.

    A lot will be said in the next few weeks about growth and development. We should all keep an open mind about what’s possible. Nothing is inevitable.

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  • Role models

    These three seem to have it pretty figured out. This picture was taken years ago in my old neighborhood in İstanbul. Let’s all pray that the upcoming campaign will be as friendly and peaceful. Happy Sunday everyone, back at it tomorrow…

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  • The chickens

    We can certainly all agree that Fairhope’s Domestic Poultry Ordinance is a great thing. So, imagine my excitement when I found out that there is also a Mobile Bay Area Backyard Chicken Club (MBABYCC), with almost four thousand members. Seeking the club’s endorsement, I called the founder of the club, Ed Williamson. Alas, they do not endorse political candidates. We had an enjoyable conversation nonetheless, in which I learned the history of the club, and of the issues most pressing to the club’s members. While it’s true that my platform lacks a Rooster plank, I promise to always do what’s best for the fowl of Fairhope. MBABYCC will have a friend in me on the Council, and I will fight tooth and nail to defend our poultry ordinance from any threat.

    (full disclosure) There are no chickens in our backyard, which I suppose does make me a backyard chicken wannabe. When we moved back to this house a few years ago, a proposal to build a backyard chicken coop was put before the family for a vote. I voted yes, the dog and cat voted enthusiastically yes, but sadly our side lost 3 to 1. (We use a weighted voting system in our family).

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  • The Library – part 1

    Morale at the library feels pretty low. The librarian and staff are dedicated public servants. None of them are getting rich. Being in the spotlight and insecurity about funding is without a doubt taking its toll. Be sure to thank them the next time you’re in there, and if you’ve never been, go. It’s a great hangout.

    I don’t want to see inappropriate or even controversial books in our Public Library. I’ve been called a prude before and I can accept that. But it shouldn’t be up to me or the City Council to decide which books the library holds, we have a library board and a librarian for that. The way that the system is supposed to work is that the good citizens of Fairhope elect a City Council and a Mayor whose philosophy and outlook line up more or less with that of the town, and then those officials choose a library board, whose philosophy and outlook lines up more or less with that of the town, and then the library board chooses a librarian, whose philosophy and outlook lines up more or less with that of the town, and then the librarian runs the library as he or she sees fit. And the good citizens of Fairhope can go about their business, safe in the knowledge that the wishes of most of the people are being respected most of the time… mostly.

    We are where we are because that system broke down. No citizen should have to go to Montgomery to seek redress for such a local issue. The library board and the Council should not be so tone deaf that a hundred people need to crowd the chambers and yell at each other.

    Which brings me to the bigger issue.

    I DO NOT WANT TO SEE FAIRHOPE, ALABAMA IN THE NATIONAL NEWS.

    It’s clear that some of the crusaders in this battle would be thrilled to go on Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow.

    I wish they would just go sit in the car and let us settle our differences respectfully and quietly.

    More to come…

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  • A good job

    Working at the machine shop here was one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. It was dirty and noisy, boiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter, but there are few jobs I’ve ever loved more. When I started I told Mark, the owner, “I can’t believe this job exists. I thought that all of these jobs had gone to China, or were being done by robots, or were being done by robots in China.” Small manufacturers should not be a dying breed, they should be an integral part of our identity as well as our economy. My Aunt Brenda in Thibodaux still talks about driving all the way to Fairhope with my Uncle Dick to pick out a grandfather clock.

    All of our businesses need our support, from the Professional Buildings to the really great breakfast places. For my part, I plan to look out for those that make things, and teach young people the joy and satisfaction that comes at the end of a hard day’s work.

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  • The trees

    This is my corner, and I remember it looking pretty much the same my whole life. But now it has changed, the trees are all gone, and they have stayed gone since before I ran for Council last time. This was what made me get up the nerve to run for Council last time.

    Shame on the people that came here from another state just to do this. Shame on the real estate agent that didn’t steer them towards some nice, well-drained farmland and turn them away from an old, established leafy neighborhood. Shame on the architects and contractors who have never said “No” to a client.

    But “Thank you Sir, and God bless you” to the guy with the chainsaw on the boom truck who told my wife, “I tried to talk them out of cutting down that big live oak”. While the stripping of this lot was going on, Fred Jordan, my 94 year old neighbor, said to me, “Howell, tell those people that I shed a tear for every branch that is being cut on each one of those live oaks”.

    We have a Tree Committee, what do they do? If you want to see the picture of how it used to look, click here. If you don’t want this to happen in your neighborhood, vote for me.

    (By the way, Fred had a bad fall on Monday. Please, please pray for his recovery and then pray a little more. Fred is the best, and we all love him)

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  • Our Mayor is alright

    I like her. She called me a couple of weeks ago and said that she was offering a meeting and an introduction to each of the City Council candidates. Our sit down was cordial and brief, and she came across as someone with good common sense, someone who would be easy to work with. If I am fortunate enough to win the voters’ trust next month, I have confidence that Sherry would listen to their thoughts and concerns, and do her best to act on them. Speaking of winning, I was running some numbers this morning and I’m really not that much of a long shot. If I recall correctly, I got about 38% of the vote last time. I had never run for anything, not even dogcatcher, before then. That election in 2020 had a huge turnout, almost entirely because of the Mayor’s race, which people had very strong feelings about. This time the Mayor is unopposed. So, if the turnout drops back down to the average, and if I can hang on every vote I got last time, plus pick up a few more, I’ll win. It’s not going to be easy, and I’ll take all the help I can get, but I’ll keep slugging.

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  • The Sundial


    The big spherical sundial behind the library is pointing the wrong way. It points West instead of North. We are in the middle of a heated controversy about some books inside the library that are believed to be pointing the wrong way, but the sundial bothers me more. I will have plenty to say about the inappropriate book brouhaha soon, in the meantime we need to recognize a perfect metaphor when we see it.The sundial looks very scientific and cool. It certainly must have cost a lot, but it doesn’t even work. It honestly doesn’t know what time it is. Libraries have always been trusted to be centers of knowledge and learning, science and wisdom. That’s exactly the kind of place we deserve and what I want ours to be. We can start by fixing the sundial.

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