“Hardest Working Elected Official- Eastern Shore.”
The mayor of Fairhope, Karin Wilson, is living up to her promises to the citizens who elected her. She has been assailed by her critics from day one. The city council has taken on an obstructionist position towards the mayor and has even refused to mediate their differences, through attorneys, claiming they are the mediators. Problem with that is, they are not mediating a damn thing, and the city is the loser.
Many people do not realize that the mayor elected to accept only the salary allotted for the mayor. In the past the mayor held two positions and received two paychecks, Mayor Wilson felt this was not ethical and refused the second position in spite of it reducing her pay by 60,000 dollars. That is called ETHICS. The council refused to consider a fair salary for the mayor, that is being obstructionist and unfair.
In spite of efforts by fired and disgruntled employees, those facing ethics investigations, and employees who have quit, the mayor has pressed on.
She has not shied away from broaching issues considered sacred cows in the past, such as the airport, marina, library, infrastructure and growth. In the last 16 years Fairhope citizens knew little of any of these subjects, especially financial information.
A major accomplishment is the restructuring of the planning department and planning and zoning. I will be first to tell you that I did not think she could accomplish such a feat in 2 or 3 years much less 8 months. This is a huge win for the citizens of Fairhope as most of the more serious litigation the city has faced in the past all originated from planning and planning and zoning. A new planning director and operations manager is another win. Planning and zoning has been restructured with new members and hopefully the foolish and bias decisions of the past are history.
This has been accomplished under the most stressful of circumstances with the council fighting any change. Those that lost their jobs, quit or face ethics charges brought that on themselves and have accomplished nothing more than holding the city back.
Is the mayor going to make mistakes, stick her foot in her mouth or make some bad decisions, you bet. But her toughest critic is herself, and they will be HONEST mistakes. Her opponents want to throw her out of office without an election or just cause, while ignoring the first “fair” election in Fairhope.
The major obstacle Mayor Wilson faces is cooperation from the council, however this will not stop her from representing the citizens as she promised. Please try and separate the petty rumors from facts, and the mole hills from mountains, that are circulated by her opponents.
It is hard for some to accept the fact that Fairhope is becoming a level playing field and business as usual stopped with the last election. Mayor Wilson is honest and will not sell her soul or betray Fairhope citizens.
Fairhope is changing for the better, get involved with city government contact your council and tell them to do their job and let the “Hardest Working Elected official- on the Eastern Shore” do her job.