MUMBLINGS May 26, 2005

Most Baldwin County citizens could care less about the mayor's and city elections in Mobile. However, several have asked about them.

Thousands of people in this great county are interested whether that "big aircraft company" is coming to Mobile. Might as well mention both.

One mayor and seven city councilmen are to be elected there in August. There's practically no interest here in who's going to be councilmen. The interest, if any, is in the mayor's race. The long time popular mayor, Mike Dow is not running, so the interest is unusually high about who their new one will be. Presently, there are four candidates.

The leader in the race agreeably at this time is Sam Jones, who has served well on the Mobile County Commission for several years. Most everyone agrees he is capable and some think he is the most powerful political figure in that county. His popularity and ability are not in doubt by the voters.

However, Jones being a minority, some say will have an uphill battle, assuming there is a runoff. The main issue there is the annexation of west Mobile and many seem to think that Sam's election might eliminate this from happening. Of course this is an unknown factor at this time. 60% of the voters are white and 40% minority.

His three opponents are all white and vying to be the person to run it off with Jones. Of the other three, one is a gentleman and two are ladies and all have held public office. All three are well known and at present, it seems that they are bunched up for second place.

Ann Bedsole has been a former state senator and is well known, not only in Mobile, but also throughout the state because she ran a good but unsuccessful race for governor a few years back. Her ability is not questioned and she will have plenty of money to spend on spreading her message. Money is not everything, but it is important.

The other lady is Bess Rich, who has served on the Mobile city council and is presently a member of the Mobile Water and Sewer Board. She ran against the incumbent mayor four years ago, but lost. However, she is an attractive, intelligent person and if she can get enough money, will demand high consideration for running a successful campaign. However, most people think she will not make the runoff, but she strongly feels otherwise and is working hard. If she could get plenty of money she could be formidable, in my opinion.

The other gentleman is John Peavy. He is presently serving on the City Council and at one time, served on the Mobile County Commission. John too, is well known and right now is considered the man to beat for the second spot in the race.

It's not often I could make such a statement but frankly, any of the four candidates would make a good mayor. They're all aggressive, want to do things and in general, have the ability to do a good job. The polls will be coming up soon and perhaps we'll know more about how each candidate is faring. More of our citizens will become interested before election in August.

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Several things must happen before Mobile will be selected by the aircraft plant. It is EADS American Inc., a European conglomerate which is vying for the Air Force contract to assemble aerial refueling tankers. The contract will be worth billions and long-lasting.

It is a $600 million dollar aircraft assembly and engineering center and will employ 1150…all high-paying jobs.

First thing that must happen is for the company to win the huge contract. The competition is Boeing Aircraft of Seattle, WA, which is one of the biggest airplane manufacturing plants in the world. It would seem that Uncle Sam would lean toward selecting Boeing since it is an American company, but there are many other considerations, which may make it an even fight.

Assuming EADS wins the contract, then Mobile must compete with three other states to land the plant at Brookley Field. Those involved feel that Brookley is by far the best site. The others are located in Mississippi, South Carolina, and Florida.

Baldwin County leaders are heavily involved in working with the Mobile leaders in trying to obtain the facility. It will cost a lot of money to compete, but to my way of thinking, we should give whatever it takes to win, because the economic value to this area would be astronomical. Besides the main plant with the thousand plus employees, other factories would be placed in and around Mobile and Baldwin. The total economic value is huge.

However, not everybody is for it. At least ten percent of the people are usually against anything, regardless of how good and important it is. A lot of people opposed Alabama paying millions of dollars to obtain the four or five automobile plants for the state. But whatever was paid, is paying off in increased tax revenues, good jobs, and will continue to do so for years to come.

It has been estimated that almost 100,000 jobs have resulted from the installation of these automobile plants. Unfortunately, none of them are very close to our area.

If Baldwin and Mobile can win this prize, it'll be a great catch. Whatever it takes, let's do it.

See you again soon, I hope.