For more than eight weeks, the seat reserved for Prichard’s mayor inside city council chambers has sat empty. Mayor Carletta Davis has not attended a single city council meeting during that stretch, a self-described boycott she says is a response to sessions she views as bogged down by unnecessary conflict and distraction. Her absence has become one of the most talked-about storylines in an ongoing saga over how City Hall in Prichard functions — or, in the eyes of many residents, fails to function — and it has residents openly debating whether the mayor owes the public a seat at the table regardless of how contentious those meetings get.
South Alabama News spoke with a cross-section of Prichard residents this week to gauge reaction to the extended absence. The responses were varied, but a common thread ran through nearly every conversation: people want their mayor and council working together, not apart, so the city can move past the dysfunction that has defined much of the past year.
Residents Want Her In The Room
Several residents were direct about their expectations. “She the mayor; she should be there,” said City of Prichard resident Johnnie Brown, echoing a sentiment shared by others who see attendance as a basic obligation of the office, regardless of whether the mayor holds a vote on council matters.
Resident Carlos Perkins framed the mayor’s presence as necessary groundwork for fixing the city’s broader problems. “I would say that she do need to be there just so she could try to get everything, everything right, because everything is so raggedy in Prichard,” Perkins said.
That word — raggedy — captures a broader frustration many residents have voiced for months about the state of city services and city leadership. For some, the mayor’s absence from council meetings has become a symbol of a municipal government that seems unable to get out of its own way.
A Mayor Inheriting A Mountain Of Problems
Context matters here. Davis was sworn in as mayor last November, stepping into a city already grappling with serious institutional trouble, including an ongoing corruption probe involving the Prichard Police Department. It is a caseload that would strain any incoming administration, and several residents said they recognize that reality even as they criticize her absence from the council dais.
“She got a lot of work to do,” resident Farrist Cotton said, acknowledging the scope of what Davis has had to manage since taking office. Still, Cotton was clear that recognizing the mayor’s workload does not excuse her from keeping the public informed. “She the mayor of the city,” Cotton said. “And she needs to let us know what’s going on. Just go and keep us updated.”
That tension — sympathy for the difficulty of the job paired with insistence on visibility and communication — came up again and again in resident interviews. Many said they believe Davis is doing her best under difficult circumstances, but they also said her physical absence from council meetings is not helping move the city’s problems toward resolution.
Fears Of A City In Decline
For at least one resident, the stakes of the standoff go beyond etiquette or protocol. Jason Rankin said he worries about what prolonged dysfunction at City Hall could mean for Prichard’s long-term survival as a functioning municipality.
“As a citizen, I’m scared,” Rankin said. “I’m scared of dismantling. I’m scared of the city demolishing. I’ve seen it happen, you know, with other municipalities and other agencies. But for me and my city of Prichard, I’m scared.”
Rankin also pushed back on the idea that the mayor’s role at council meetings is optional simply because she does not cast votes. “You’re supposed to show up for the citizens,” he said. “You’re supposed to show up for the constituents, the business owners, the people that brings the revenue into the city. So when you don’t show up, it’s almost as if we cannot depend on you to do anything else.”
The Mayor’s Perspective
Davis addressed her absence during a press conference held Thursday, telling reporters that she considers herself an invited guest at city council meetings rather than a required participant. Under Prichard’s municipal structure, the mayor is not obligated to attend council sessions and does not hold a vote on matters that come before the council — a point Davis has emphasized as she has stayed away from the chambers for the past two months.
Residents, however, argue that attending is about more than voting power. Many said that even a mayor without a vote has a responsibility to be present, if only to listen, stay informed and demonstrate to the public that she is engaged with the issues the council is actively debating.
Davis told South Alabama News that her recent absence has stemmed from being out of town attending to personal matters, separate from her broader decision to step back from what she has called meetings dominated by unnecessary conflict. She said she expects to be back in the office next week, where she plans to turn her attention to the ongoing issues surrounding the police department.
A Recurring Storyline In Prichard Politics
This is not the first chapter in Prichard’s recent struggles with city governance, and residents and observers alike expect it will not be the last. South Alabama News has followed the friction between Prichard’s executive and legislative branches closely in recent months, from personnel disputes to questions about transparency and oversight of the police department. The mayor’s extended absence from council chambers adds another layer to a governing relationship that many in the community already view as strained.
Whether Davis’s return to the office next week translates into a return to the council chambers remains to be seen. For now, residents say what they want most is straightforward: a mayor and council that can find a way to work in the same room, even when they disagree, so that the city’s more pressing problems — from the police corruption investigation to basic services — can move toward resolution.
South Alabama News will continue following developments in Prichard city government and will provide updates as the mayor’s schedule and the council’s agenda unfold in the coming weeks.