State of the County 2011

Good afternoon and welcome to our annual state of the city and county luncheon. It is my privilege to speak on behalf of the mobile county commission which includes my colleagues, Commissioner Connie Hudson and Commissioner Mike Dean. It is also an honor to share the stage with our mayor, Sam Jones, who serves this community so well. Greetings to the Mobile City Council, mayors and city council members from our neighboring cities other elected officials from throughout our county and to all of you.

Each year at this time we look back at our accomplishments and look ahead to our challenges and our opportunities.

Yet--too often we define ourselves by what we do and what we accomplish as a community, not by who we are. It is who we are that determines our values-those values guide every other decision.

They are shaped by what we've been taught, what we've experienced-and sometimes the tension between the two.

Overlay our culture, our geography and our history and who we are becomes even more diverse.

And how we identify ourselves as residents of Mobile County runs the gamut.

But we are so much more than brass bands, gumbo and Mardi Gras.

As the three County Commissioners travel the length and breadth of Mobile County, it is our privilege to meet and to work with people who represent the rich mix of individuals living in this county.

Our strength springs from this variety of backgrounds, of talents, of occupations. They are the measure of our vitality and our resilience.

Jay Higginbotham, our local historian, reminds us that when we were a frontier society, we drew on each other's strengths.

Whether European, African (both free and slave), or Native American-they leaned on each other and understood their shared destinies.

This cultural mix continues even today- with an even richer mix of people from all over the world-all of who join us in the work of our community, from shucking to shipbuilding.

Today Mobile County celebrates all our new arrivals and the breathtaking advances in our economy.

But even more than that--- today, we highlight some of the other industries and ways of life that are foundational in sustaining our economy.

Now, please turn your attention to the video.

These people, these hardy people, are the backbone of our community.

This is the very foundation that engages and appeals to those who seek to make Mobile County their home.

As Mobile County Commissioners, we are both privileged and challenged to meet the needs of a diverse population with its varied interests.

Some of the industries visited today in our video are under stress. We are responding with the resources at hand.

Our seafood entrepreneurs are among the many people who have had to withstand the dual assaults of hurricanes and the oil spill.

As County Commissioners, we are working with other Gulf Coast counties to ensure that local government is at the table where decisions about rebuilding the coast are being made. In fact, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force will host a listening session in Mobile this Friday.

At the same time, the county is approaching the end of $22 million dollars in grant funds which were distributed to hundreds of residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The world's tragic headlines ring close to home. The tornadoes in north and central Alabama remind us of our own vulnerability to natural disasters.

Mobile County has been assisting our neighbors to the north and stands ready to do whatever we can to ease their suffering.

Here on the home front, Commissioner Dean led the County's initiative to establish an emergency notification system.

That system has been made available to all emergency response agencies and to our smaller municipalities.

It allows all citizens of Mobile County to be notified by phone of impending emergencies.

Commissioner Connie Hudson has jumped into her role as our newest County Commissioner.

She has surveyed the many and diverse needs of her district and the limited resources available to meet those needs.

One of her priorities has been enhancing the capacity of volunteer fire departments, especially in Wilmer and Semmes.

District Two, which she represents, has grown by nearly 7,000 people since the 2000 census.

So how do we balance needs and available resources?

For the fourth year in a row, the County Commission has worked with Sheriff Sam Cochran, Judge Don Davis, Marilyn Wood, Revenue Commissioner, Kim Hastie, License Commissioner, and Al Sessions, County Treasurer, in making the hard decisions to cut their budgets.

These austerity measures contributed to an upgrade in the County's bond rating by Standard & Poor's, which cited the County's low overall debt burden, strong financial management, and diversified economic base as its rationale.

However, this year will be even more challenging as federal and state governments slash funding. Increasingly, requests are coming to the county to fill the shortfalls left by those cuts.

The current economic crisis has accentuated the need for long-range planning.

With that in mind, Mobile County has drafted its first-ever long-term Capital Improvement Plan, a 10-year guide for setting priorities for our capital projects, many of which have been neglected due to competing operational needs.

Also on the drawing board is a long-term operational plan.

Just as we are doing in our own homes, we are learning to do more with less. Several strategic investments enable us to work more efficiently.

• Our new and updated website upgrades our services, making it easier for the public to access information and it saves the county money.
• The new Spay and Neuter Program will reduce the number of unwanted animals in the county. Last year that number topped 8,000. Starting this year, animals must be spayed or neutered before being adopted from the shelter, at no cost to the county.
• Government Plaza Annex opened -on time and under budget, consolidating all of Probate Court's functions under one roof. New offices for the Revenue Commission, License Commission, the Board of Registrars and the Barber Commission are located there as well.

Above all else, we continue to build and maintain infrastructure throughout the 1,600 square miles of Mobile County.

Last November, voters once again demonstrated their faith in our Pay-As-You-Go Funding Program.

It is the linchpin of our forward momentum.

In North Mobile County, those funds have been targeted for road improvements and upgraded intersections in anticipation of commercial and residential growth.

Additionally, a brand-new east-west corridor between the Citronelle area and Highway 43 is under construction.

In South Mobile County, Pay-As-Yoy-GO is transforming the landscape.

The Nevius Road connector linking I-10 and West Mobile at Hillcrest Road is complete, providing ease of travel for almost 7000 vehicles per day.

Talk of Mobile County's first roundabout initially raised grave concerns.

Now, that circular intersection at Grelot Road and Dawes Road is a welcome addition to our road network and provides a connector to Mobile Regional Airport.

Once it opened to traffic, the public registered near unanimous approval.

Two critical corridors in District 2 are moving toward completion: Airport Boulevard and Highway 98-- both to the Mississippi state line.

Federal grants have enabled the county to purchase more than 600 acres of land along the Big Creek watershed, a move intended to protect the quality of Mobile's main source of drinking water.

A grant funded the purchase of four acres of sensitive waterfront property on the western end of Dauphin Island. That land was turned over to the Town of Dauphin Island to preserve for generations to come.

The County is also awaiting final approval on another grant that will be used to build a wastewater treatment plant in the Town of Mount Vernon, to spur commercial and residential growth.

Challenges remain for our growing county.

According to the 2010 Census, the population now exceeds 412,000 residents.

That growth is largely in unincorporated areas where the only resource is the County.

District 3, represented by Commissioner Dean grew by almost 17,000 residents.

This challenge creates a disconnect between Mobile County's status as an urban county and the state laws that treat it as a rural community.

This becomes even more critical when those laws impair the county's ability to respond to emerging needs.

Our smaller cities are feeling the same economic strain being experienced throughout the country. They are struggling to maintain basic services.

Challenges, notwithstanding, we can overcome any hurdle that lies before us. We have done it before - over and over again - it is who we are!

From Semmes, our newest city in northwestern Mobile County, to our communities to the south still reeling from the 1-2 punch of hurricanes and oil, to North Mobile County, which eagerly awaits its predicted economic boon, we are one people-an American quilt, as Rev. Jesse Jackson once said.

"...many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread."

That common thread is "who we are"- many people but one community.

Describing our nation George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, once said " we are a nation of communities-paraphrasing I would say...we are a county of communities...a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.

In 2012, Mobile County will observe its Bicentennial. A group of citizens from throughout the county have come together to plan events throughout the year. We will celebrate our towns, our cities and our hamlets --- and their contributions to the development of Mobile County.

In closing, I believe absolutely in the strength and power of our diversity. It defines us, it sustains us...

Like George H.W. Bush...

"I take as my guide the hope of a saint:
in crucial things, unity
in important things, diversity
in all things, generosity.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the State of the County!