Facing an $18.5 million shortfall, Mobile officials weighed pay cuts, a sales tax increase, a garbage collection fee and layoffs. Each carried a political price nobody wanted to pay.
Tag: recession
Baldwin County
Shelby Votes No on Bernanke, Faulting the Fed for the Bubble It Failed to See
Alabama’s senior senator broke with the Federal Reserve chairman he once supported, arguing that Ben Bernanke helped inflate the housing bubble that wrecked Gulf Coast home values and bank balance sheets.
Baldwin County
Baldwin School Board Sought One-Cent Sales Tax During 2009 Budget Crisis
Facing a $38 million shortfall and projected revenue losses, the Baldwin County Board of Education voted in 2009 to seek a one-cent sales tax increase.
Mobile County
Forbes Ranked Mobile Among Top Cities for Recession Recovery in 2009
Forbes placed Mobile among its top U.S. cities for recession recovery in 2009, citing projections, housing, income, unemployment and the region’s diverse industries.
Baldwin County
Fairhope Deal Website Promoted Local Savings During 2009 Recession
A Fairhope resident launched FrugalFairhope.com in 2009 to connect consumers with coupons, discounted gift certificates and local deals during the recession.
Local News
Two Thousand Gowns and a Line Out the Door: ‘Pretty in Pink’ Sends 300 Girls to the Prom
A one-day boutique at Bel Air Mall handed out roughly 300 free prom dresses to girls from Mobile, Fairhope, Loxley, Gulf Shores and as far away as New Orleans. Only five left empty-handed.
Local News
Mobile County DHR Director Tells Rotarians Poverty and Illiteracy Travel Together
Rose Johnson, director of the Mobile County Department of Human Resources, addressed the Sunrise Rotary Club on poverty and what she called its co-conspirator, illiteracy.
Baldwin County
Baldwin County Politics Stirs: A Challenger Eyes the DA’s Office, a Forester Waves Off a Draft
Attorney Russell Watson confirmed he was weighing a run for Baldwin County district attorney against incumbent Judy Newcomb, while Art Dyas said talk of a commission bid was not coming from him.
Mobile
The Bottom Came in December: A Mobile Broker on the 1974 Crash, Recovery, and a Diagnosis He Did Not Expect
In the gloom of late 1974 a Mobile stockbroker drew up two models of the future and labeled them Doom and Boom. The market gave him his answer on December 6. Then his doctor gave him another.