Mobile city government moved on several fronts in mid-January 2015, launching a redesigned website for its Urban Development department, advertising openings for municipal judge positions and setting a public hearing on a contentious above-ground petroleum storage tank issue.
The city’s Urban Development department unveiled its new website on Jan. 16, designed to give businesses a more user-friendly way to access permitting information. Mayor Sandy Stimpson said in a prepared statement that the site represented an important first impression for companies looking to set up shop in Mobile and was part of a broader effort to streamline the permitting process for new businesses. The redesigned site offers downloadable applications, codes and forms for the public, along with updated contact information for staff who handle code enforcement, permitting, planning and property maintenance. City officials said the new site was built at no additional cost to Mobile taxpayers.
Separately, the city announced it was accepting applications for one full-time and two part-time municipal judge positions. Interested candidates were required to submit resumes to the city clerk’s office by early afternoon on Feb. 20 to be considered for the openings, giving the city several weeks to build a pool of qualified applicants for its municipal court system.
Mobile’s Planning Commission also set a date for a long-anticipated public hearing on above-ground petroleum storage tanks, a topic that had drawn sustained community interest and debate. The subcommittee studying the issue scheduled a 2 p.m. meeting on Jan. 29 in the Government Plaza auditorium to hear public comments. Anyone wishing to address the subcommittee had to sign up with staff stationed at the auditorium entrance, and each speaker was limited to five minutes. Officials said the meeting would run no later than 5 p.m., and if not everyone on the sign-up list got a chance to speak, a second meeting would be scheduled to accommodate the remaining speakers, though no new names would be added to that follow-up session.
On a lighter note, Mayor Stimpson used his office to proclaim January as “Mentoring Month” in the City of Mobile, aiming to spotlight the value of mentoring relationships in the community. Stimpson pointed to organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Alabama as examples of groups working to improve outcomes for local youth, and he also praised the Mobile Police Department’s “You Have a Choice” program, which builds relationships between officers and young people. The mayor encouraged residents to seek out opportunities to serve as mentors, saying the relationships could help steer young people away from life-altering mistakes.
The flurry of municipal activity came during a busy stretch for Mobile city government, which was simultaneously weighing proposed upgrades to Hank Aaron Stadium and continuing work on a comprehensive planning process for the city known as One Mobile, underscoring how multiple, wide-ranging initiatives were moving through city hall at the same time.