Spanish Fort’s City Council has chosen local businessman Bill Menas to fill a vacant seat representing District 2, following a selection process that included interviews with three candidates vying for the position. The appointment fills a hole on the seven-member panel that opened this fall and restores full representation for the northern section of one of Baldwin County’s fastest-growing cities.
The council voted unanimously on a Monday in early December to appoint Menas, a Realtor with Bellator Real Estate & Development, to the seat vacated in October by former Councilman Dennis Dismuke, who stepped down after accepting a job transfer to South Carolina. Dismuke’s departure left the district without a sitting councilman for roughly two months while the city screened applicants and scheduled interviews.
Menas was chosen over two other finalists: Robert Cummings, an engineer who serves on the city’s Planning Commission, and Sandy Cooke, a sales professional known for her volunteer work on the Eastern Shore. Council members interviewed Menas and Cummings in mid-November, followed by a separate interview with Cooke later that month.
Mayor Mike McMillan said afterward that all three candidates impressed the council but that Menas ultimately stood out.
“He just rose to the top within the council,” McMillan said.
Why Menas Won the Vote
Councilman Bobby Fortenberry credited Menas with a long track record of supporting Spanish Fort High School, where his wife teaches, calling him “highly motivated in helping Spanish Fort grow.” Fortenberry said the decision was a difficult one given the strength of all three applicants, but that Menas’ history of community involvement made the difference.
The unanimous vote was notable for a council weighing three qualified candidates, and members indicated that familiarity with Menas’ business and civic work around the Eastern Shore helped build consensus quickly once deliberations began.
A Businessman’s Résumé
Menas, 52, leads BME (Bill Menas Enterprises) LLC, a company that provides equipment and services to car dealerships, and also serves as an association director for Bellator’s commercial real estate division. The dual background in automotive services and commercial property gives him direct experience with the kinds of development questions that regularly come before the Spanish Fort council, from signage and site plans to traffic impact along the U.S. 31 corridor.
He spent 21 years with Selig Chemical Industries before retiring from the company in 2000 and moving into private business. His career since has been rooted in the Mobile Bay area, where Bellator Real Estate & Development operates offices serving Baldwin County’s residential and commercial markets.
Menas will serve out the remainder of Dismuke’s term, which runs through 2016. That timeline means he will sit for the remainder of the current term and then decide whether to seek election in his own right when the seat next goes before voters.
What District 2 Covers
District 2 covers the northern portion of the city along U.S. 31, generally between Blakeley Way and Buzbee Road, with some additional areas west of Jimmy Faulkner Drive falling within its boundaries. The district takes in one of the most heavily traveled commercial gateways into Spanish Fort, where traffic from Interstate 10 and the Causeway converges on the U.S. 31 corridor.
Residents of the district have watched a stretch of farmland and woodland transform into shopping centers, medical offices and residential subdivisions over the past two decades, growth that has made Spanish Fort one of the fastest-expanding cities in Baldwin County. Managing that growth — balancing commercial development with school capacity, drainage and road improvements — is the core work of the council seat Menas now holds.
How the Vacancy Was Filled
Spanish Fort’s city government fills mid-term council vacancies by appointment rather than a special election, which puts the decision entirely in the hands of the sitting mayor and council. The process that led to Menas’ selection began shortly after Dismuke announced his resignation in October, with the city accepting expressions of interest and then scheduling interviews with the strongest applicants.
Interviews were conducted in open sessions during November, giving residents a chance to hear from the candidates directly. Cummings brought the perspective of an engineer who already reviews subdivision and commercial plans as a member of the Planning Commission, while Cooke offered a background in sales and a long record of volunteer organizing across the Eastern Shore.
Council members in Spanish Fort serve four-year terms and receive $6,000 in annual pay. The part-time position involves regular council meetings, budget workshops and representation of district residents on matters ranging from zoning appeals to road maintenance requests.
A formal swearing-in ceremony for Menas was scheduled for the council’s next regular meeting later in December. Until then, Dismuke’s former seat remains formally vacant, and district residents with items before the council have been directed to the mayor’s office or other council members.
The Council He Joins
Menas joins a council that has guided Spanish Fort through a period of remarkable change. Incorporated in 1993, the city has grown from a small community strung along U.S. 31 into a suburban hub of more than 8,000 residents, anchored by the Eastern Shore Centre development and a commercial base that stretches along both sides of the interstate.
The council’s agenda in the coming year is expected to include continued work on road projects tied to that growth, along with the annual budget cycle and ongoing coordination with the Baldwin County Board of Education, whose Spanish Fort schools have absorbed new students with each wave of residential development. City leaders have also been working with county and state officials on improvements to interchanges and collector roads that carry commuter traffic between the Eastern Shore and Mobile.
Menas’ professional ties to the commercial real estate market are likely to be closely watched by residents who have debated the pace of development in the city. Council decisions on rezonings and site plans frequently draw crowded public comment periods, and the District 2 seat represents the part of the city where much of the remaining developable land along U.S. 31 sits.
Looking Ahead to 2016
Because Menas is finishing an unexpired term, the seat will appear on the ballot when Spanish Fort holds its next regular municipal elections. Candidates who are appointed mid-term historically have an advantage in seeking a full term, since the appointment provides a record and name recognition that challengers must overcome.
For the other two finalists, the appointment process offered a public introduction to city government. Cummings’ seat on the Planning Commission continues, keeping him involved in the development review process, and Cooke’s volunteer work around the Eastern Shore keeps her active in community initiatives that often intersect with city programs.
Mayor McMillan thanked all three candidates after the vote, noting that a competitive field for a part-time council seat reflects well on the city’s civic health. Officials have encouraged District 2 residents to reach out to Menas once he is sworn in, and his contact information is expected to be posted through city hall along with those of the other council members.
The swearing-in later in December will make the appointment official, and Menas is expected to take up his seat at the dais when the council convenes for its first regular meeting of the new year, with a full agenda of growth-related business waiting.
City hall officials said the December selection followed the same procedure used the last time a council seat turned over mid-term, when the council reviewed written applications, narrowed the field and held public interviews before voting. The consistency of the process, they noted, is intended to keep appointments transparent and to give every applicant the same opportunity to make a case to the council.
What the District Can Expect
Constituent work in District 2 tends to center on practical neighborhood issues: street lighting along the U.S. 31 frontage roads, drainage complaints during heavy Gulf Coast rains, and traffic concerns near the entrances to subdivisions that back up to the commercial corridor. Menas will also inherit the district’s seat on the council’s committee assignments, which are distributed by the mayor at the start of each term.
Residents in the affected area have been encouraged to follow the city’s meeting calendar, since council agendas are posted in advance and include the zoning cases and road items most likely to affect the northern part of the city. Public comment is permitted at regular meetings, giving district residents a direct line to the council member they helped select.
For Menas, the transition from business to public office begins with a short runway: the swearing-in in December, a budget season on the horizon, and a 2016 election cycle that will determine whether the council’s unanimous choice earns a full term of his own.
Between now and then, the incoming councilman plans to hear directly from the residents and business owners along the district’s stretch of U.S. 31, an area he knows well from his years in the commercial property market on the Eastern Shore.