As Mobile’s department heads negotiated their fiscal year 2015 budgets with the administration, Mayor Sandy Stimpson made clear that the size of any pay raise for city employees would hinge largely on the choices those managers made.
On the surface, the approach looked like hardball. Speaking on consecutive days, Stimpson said it would be up to department heads to determine how much of a raise employees received in the budget year beginning Oct. 1. He affirmed that he intended to grant a raise; what remained unsettled was the amount.
Two possible raises
Stimpson described two scenarios, one a set figure and the other potentially twice as large. “It will be contingent upon what department heads turn their budgets in,” the mayor said, adding that even after submissions there would be room to keep negotiating. “When they turn them back in, there is nothing against us going back to them.”
The administration, he emphasized, wanted to offer the higher raise. “That’s the desire of the administration,” Stimpson said. “We can’t do it unless the money is there.” In effect, the mayor placed the ball in his managers’ court, tying the reward for employees to disciplined budgeting across departments.
Turning to blight
With litter and tall grass already addressed, Stimpson said he wanted his administration to focus next on blighted properties, calling the issue a top priority. “Blight is the biggest cancer any community has,” he said.
The mayor said the administration had spent five to six months discussing how to tackle the problem, which he described as very difficult. He anticipated rolling out a comprehensive plan soon. “We are on the threshold of rolling out a blight plan,” Stimpson said, describing an effort that would span Finance, Public Works, Legal and Public Safety. He suggested the plan would require public education and might eventually call for new legislation.
A councilman’s doubts about the I-10 bike path
Meanwhile, Councilman John Williams voiced skepticism about the bicycle and pedestrian facilities planned for the Interstate 10 bridge project over the Mobile River. He was the only council member to vote against a resolution supporting the features.
Williams predicted sparse use. “I’m going out on a stretch here that one person a month will use it on average,” he said, doubting many would cross the span in winter. Bicycling advocates countered that hundreds of thousands could use the path, and some argued the feature could become a tourist draw.
Williams said he supported bike paths generally and wanted to extend them toward Mississippi and Baldwin County. His concern was the location. He noted the bridge deck would sit higher than a 10-story building. “A casual guy is not going to get into a bike with a basket and a dog and go across it,” he said. Advocates maintained that riders of all skill levels would use the facilities.
A conversation on race
Stimpson also planned to join a representative of Mobile United to announce an initiative for a community conversation on race relations. The announcement was set for the Mobile United courtyard on St. Joseph Street.
The effort followed a divisive spring dispute over whether former Mayor Sam Jones should be added to the board of the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System. Jones was ultimately appointed after Stimpson urged the council to back the nomination from Councilman Fred Richardson. The vote had split the council, and the debate spilled onto social media, underscoring why civic leaders felt a broader conversation was warranted.
Together, the threads of the week captured a City Hall balancing fiscal restraint, neighborhood revitalization, infrastructure debates and the harder work of community trust.