The Mobile City Council opened the first full week of January 2015 with a packed agenda that touched on city contracting policy, tourism data and a controversial proposal affecting the city’s flea market, offering a snapshot of the issues shaping local government early in the year.
Chief among the items was a proposed ordinance, sponsored by District 1 Councilman Fred Richardson, that would require companies and individuals contracting with the city to report workforce data, including total employee counts along with the ethnicity and gender breakdown of their staffs. The measure, first raised during a work session the previous November, was expected to come up for consideration, but Council President Gina Gregory said the city’s administrative services committee had not yet reviewed it because of the holiday schedule. Councilman Levon Manzie asked that the item be held over for several more weeks to allow for proper committee discussion, and the council agreed to postpone action.
Council members also spent time discussing the economic impact of the city’s New Year’s Eve MoonPie Drop, a signature downtown Mobile event that kicks off Mardi Gras season each year. Richardson expressed frustration that no official attendance count was yet available, noting that reliable numbers are needed for the city to compete for tourism accolades and grants from groups such as the Southeastern Tourism Society. He estimated the crowd at roughly 80,000 based on his own observation, though city officials confirmed no formal count exists. Al Hutchinson, head of the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, said preliminary reports suggested all four of downtown Mobile’s major hotels sold out over the holiday weekend, with restaurants reporting long waits. Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s chief of staff said responsibility for collecting future attendance data would be assigned going forward so the city has hard numbers to work with.
Richardson also floated the idea of adding a small parade to future MoonPie Drop festivities, arguing that distinctive local traditions help draw visitors and set Mobile apart from other cities’ New Year’s celebrations.
Later in the day, the council’s public safety committee relocated its meeting to a larger auditorium to accommodate a large crowd expected for discussion of a proposed ban on selling live animals at the city’s flea market. Council President Gregory said the session would be for listening only, with no vote expected, and that the issue would likely require additional committee meetings before any recommendation reaches the full council.
The council additionally approved a rezoning request eliminating split zoning on a parcel needed to complete a new parking lot for McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, a routine but necessary step for the west Mobile school’s campus expansion plans.
Together, the agenda items reflected the range of everyday governance questions facing Mobile’s council early in 2015, from equity in city contracting to tourism promotion and animal welfare regulation.