DAPHNE, Ala. — With qualifying for municipal candidates closed this week, three candidates have entered the Daphne mayoral race to challenge incumbent Mayor Dane Haygood in the Aug. 23 city election.
Longtime City Councilman John Lake, businessman Tim Swanson and newspaper publisher Ben Cruitt are seeking a four-year term leading one of the fastest-growing cities in Baldwin County.
John Lake
Lake has represented District 3 on the council for 24 years. He said he had considered running for mayor several times before but never felt he could do a better job than the other candidates. This year, he said, he is confident he is more qualified and knowledgeable than the others in the race.
“I know I am the right person for the job this time,” Lake said. “I’m a certified municipal official with emeritus status, one of only three in the state, and I know the laws about what the mayor’s duties are and are not. I am confident I can lead the city effectively and efficiently and spend the taxpayers’ money wisely.”
Lake said his administration would be transparent and accountable. He said he would encourage the growth of citizens’ committees and listen to the advice of citizens’ groups such as the Daphne Beautification Committee.
“There won’t be any backroom deals,” he said. “If the city is doing something, the people will know about it.”
Tim Swanson
Swanson ran for mayor in 2012. He said he believes he lost that race because he had lived in the city only a few years and lacked name recognition. This time, he said, people know him because he has been involved with city government for some time.
Swanson said he has 30 years of experience as a management consultant for Fortune 500 companies, along with other corporate experience. He said that background would benefit Daphne city government, which he said lacks a long-term vision.
“When you look at the backgrounds of who is on the City Council, none of them have corporate experience working with Fortune 500 companies,” Swanson said. “It is important that someone in city government have a deep understanding of high-level business in the corporate world. You need someone like that in leadership when big decisions come up.”
Swanson’s platform includes eliminating the city’s 2 percent sales tax on groceries, rebuilding the relationship between the mayor’s office and the City Council, engaging city officials without micromanaging and adopting a code of ethics for city officials.
Eliminating the grocery tax is one of his top priorities. Daphne residents pay a total of 9 percent sales tax on groceries: 4 percent to the state, 3 percent to Baldwin County and 2 percent to the city.
“When you look at cities, counties, states and countries that reduce taxes, you almost always see unbelievable growth,” Swanson said. “The grocery sales tax is a regressive tax that hurts families the most. We need to help those families instead of hurting them.”
Lake said eliminating the grocery sales tax sounds like a good idea, but that the city could not do it without a constitutional act by the Legislature. He called the idea a “dead horse” and said it would likely never happen.
“Almost all the power the city has is given to it by the Legislature,” Lake said. “If we want to do things like that we have to get their approval, and I don’t see that happening.”
Ben Cruitt
Cruitt, the former publisher of a Baldwin County newspaper, said he has attended “hundreds of city meetings” and that it is the right time to run. Baldwin County probate records show Cruitt ran unsuccessfully for the Baldwin County Commission in 2002.
“I’ve been in the newspaper business for about 17 years and been to hundreds of city meetings,” Cruitt said. “When it looked like the right time I decided to throw my hat in the ring.”
Dane Haygood
Although he has been in office since 2013, this will be Haygood’s first campaign for mayor. After winning the District 7 seat on the Daphne City Council in 2012, Haygood was appointed mayor in early 2013 following the death of then-Mayor Bailey Yelding.
In a previous interview, Haygood said he has enjoyed serving as mayor and has “unfinished business” he would like to complete in another four-year term. He said he wants to be in office when the city completes its long-term goal of extending sewer service to everyone in the city, along with citywide recreation upgrades.
City Council races
All seven Daphne City Council seats will also be on the August ballot.
- District 1: Willie Williams, a late qualifier, is challenging incumbent Tommie Conaway.
- District 2: Incumbent Pat Rudicell faces Larry Chason, Thomas M. Walker and Clay Covert.
- District 3, the seat Lake is leaving: D. Joel Coleman faces Harold D. Johnson.
- District 4: Incumbent Randy Fry faces Sean Gibbs and Doug Goodlin.
- District 5: Phillip Ellis is challenging incumbent Ron Scott.
- District 6: Craig Rhodes is challenging incumbent Robin LeJeune.
- District 7: Joe Davis qualified late to run. Incumbent Angie Phillips withdrew from the race.
Qualifying for the Aug. 23 municipal elections ended at 5 p.m. July 19.
