PEOPLE POWER

For those who wish for a little good news from the Ripp Report I am pleased to tell you the Fairhope Work Session and City Council Meeting last night was a testament of what we as citizens desire. The Mayor and Council showed respect for each other and genuine cooperation. If last night’s meeting is any indication of the future, Fairhope is finally on track to accomplish great things. The makeup of this council shows great promise. All three of the new councilmen are professionals in their field and appear dedicated to their position of representing the public.

The past four councils debated and fought each other on who had power. A weak Mayor, strong council or a strong Mayor weak council has always been the argument. As soon as you debate power and start pounding your chest the other side begins to undermine you. For 16 years we have been in this situation and the results have always been the same, stagnation and good ole boy deals. The other result was the voting out of councilmen, councilwomen and ultimately the Mayor.

So if you are confused as to who should have the power just look at the history of the last 16 years. You the people have far more power because you can vote them out.

This will be, I pray, the first Council and Mayor that truly is in sync with one another and appear to be putting a power struggle aside for true cooperation. If this turns out to be only wishful thinking or a dream,then in 4 years we use our POWER to vote them out again.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY