The shape of this year’s municipal election in Spanish Fort came into sharper focus as Mayor Joe Bonner signaled he was not expected to seek re-election, and instead was expected to throw his support behind City Councilman Mike McMillan. McMillan, for his part, confirmed that he planned to run for the office.
A candidate with a long civic resume
McMillan brought to the race a lengthy record of local service. A member of the Spanish Fort City Council for eight years, he had served as chairman pro tempore for the previous four. He had also been vice chairman of the Spanish Fort Planning Commission and vice chairman of the North Baldwin United Way. At the time of his announcement he served on the D’Olive Watershed Committee and on the Industrial Development Board for the five-county area of southwest Alabama, among other boards, and he was a member of the Baldwin County Republican Executive Committee.
Backed by his predecessors
McMillan’s bid carried notable institutional weight. Bonner and two predecessors as mayor of Spanish Fort were expected to publicly endorse him.
“Spanish Fort has been fortunate to have had three outstanding mayors,” McMillan said. “All three have endorsed me for this position and I am extremely grateful and honored by this.” As the field took shape, no other contenders had announced plans to run for mayor.
Priorities for a growing city
McMillan laid out a set of priorities for the fast-growing Eastern Shore community. Chief among them was moving forward with a proposed community center, complete with facilities to house the city’s administrative offices and judicial needs, along with amenities he described as long overdue — a senior citizens center and a needed library.
He also emphasized continued funding of schools, arguing that “communities are defined by their education excellence.” And he pointed to the Causeway as a unique opportunity, not only to enhance the beauty of the gateway into the city but also to develop the area into an eco-tourism district serving both residents and the wider region.
Growth with a conservative hand
McMillan framed that growth as something to be managed carefully. “With these accomplishments come growth,” he said. “We must manage this in a fiscally conservative manner that will ensure that we protect our environment and preserve our uniqueness as a community with great pride while meeting the needs of our citizens with enhanced parks and recreation.”
The message blended ambition with restraint, a common posture for candidates in a Baldwin County city that had seen steady expansion push against the character residents valued. With the incumbent mayor stepping aside and the endorsements of three former mayors lined up behind him, McMillan entered the contest as the clear front-runner, his platform tying together infrastructure, schools and a vision for the Causeway that leaned on the natural assets ringing Spanish Fort.
As the summer campaign season opened, the race offered residents a chance to weigh not just a change in leadership but a set of choices about how much and how fast their city should grow.