This election is about changing an old, stale, tired and stagnant politics into a new vibrant energetic visionary leadership. Generations to come will be affected by what happens and who wins. I believe many people think like I do and know something has got to give in Florence. We have a Golden Opportunity staring us in the face. Let’s don’t blow it.
FOUR MORE YEARS? OF THAT? NO WAY!
We are smarter than that. VOTE for me on Tuesday. It will make all the difference in the world. Thank you.
Get everybody you can think of to go vote on Tuesday. It is critical that we get out the vote. We can WIN! We will win if our people VOTE and I am convinced it is going to happen. We are going to win. BELIEVE.
We have run a strong, effective, smart, and WINNING Campaign. Everybody knows it. Friends are thrilled. Foes are worried.
Thanks to everybody who is helping make Florence history. There are so many of you working so hard for this. Karla and I are so very grateful and it will make a huge difference in our City for generations to come.
You are not just doing this for me, but for yourself, your children, grand-children, your City. That is inspiring. It is something we all can cherish. Thanks so much, and now GET OUT THE VOTE!
Once again the Sales Tax Holiday on school supplies was a success. The first weekend in August brought out many of our citizens to take advantage of a “holiday” on the sales tax on certain items. It gives already stressed families a break which is even more needed in the tough times we are all experiencing right now. It also is a boost to businesses taking part.
I was happy to bring this to Florence as it was my resolution that the City Council passed three years ago to enable it to take place here in Florence. I got the idea from the Governor’s office as they wanted to promote it around the state.
It took local action to make it happen though and I decided to present the idea here in Florence. I commend the City Council for passing it unanimously. It will be annual event and I want it to stay. It helps our people and that’s what it’s all about.
Very well done
I write this to commend the city of Florence for its handling of an accident I was involved in recently. It was a fender-bender on Royal Avenue. Along with the other party, we pulled into Royal Suds parking lot to call the police.
After a while, we noticed they had not arrived, and right about this time a gentleman pulled in and asked if he could help us. We told him what was going on. He said to hold on, and then he made a call.
Within minutes a policeman arrived. The policeman handled the scene very well, and was professional and courteous. I can’t remember his name, but he represented the FPD well.
The gentleman who took the time to help us was Scott Carrier, who is an elected official in Florence. He stayed with us until the policeman took over at the scene. We were all impressed how much he cared, even though he knew we were not from Florence. He was respectful and nice to us. We talked about it.
The policeman and Mr. Carrier did us, and the city of Florence, a favor that day. Their attitude and actions speak well for the whole city. It certainly made a very positive impression on us. They made an automobile accident as pleasant as could possibly be expected. Very well done, indeed.
Kara Sams
Muscle Shoals
Florence needs a mayor with vision. A vision our citizens can understand and share and believe in. I want a thriving, prosperous city with opportunity for every citizen to succeed. I want our visitors to find a unique, lovely, and welcoming city – a place they enjoy visiting. A place where they want to stay.
Here are three traits a mayor needs:
Leadership. Florence can and must grow, but it won’t happen with just a few of us. It will take all of us. The mayor has to bring all of us to the table. We must grow or we stagnate. Our children and grandchildren leave if we don’t show some progress. We can grow and prosper and still maintain the beauty, safety, and uniqueness that make Florence special. When I am Mayor we will work together to give Florence a great identity that is known everywhere for it’s energy, life, vitality, and creativity.
I can see it now.
Honesty. We have to open up the city government and hold it accountable to the people. The days of secrecy must end. A mayor must have the backbone and courage to speak the truth, and do the right thing – even when doing so leads others to attack. With-holding information and misleading statements will have no place in the Carrier Administration. Spirited public policy discussions will be welcomed. Personal attacks will not.
Professionalism. There’s getting a job done, and getting it done right. Florence needs a competent, honest administration to manage the day-to-day operations of the city with confidence and common sense. The city government ought to make sense to our citizens, not leave us scratching our heads.
It won’t be long now folks. Florence Independence Day is August 26th. That’s the day the People of Florence get our City back. It’s been a long time coming, but think how great we will feel on August 27th. A breath of fresh air will invigorate us. It will be so nice and liberating. I can’t wait.
My opponent has resorted to vote buying (with your money). Pandering is making election year promises to everybody under the sun in order to hopefully entice their vote.
People ignored or even mis-treated for the whole term in office all of a sudden get attention and all kinds promises in order to placate them come election time. It is not leadership at all. It is the opposite of it.
Pandering is also a sign of a desperate candidate who is in trouble with the voters. It is an insult to the people of Florence and even to the ones getting the promises made to them.
The person doing the promising has not suddenly started caring about the people involved, but is actually scared about his own fate and then uses these taxpayer funded promises to try to fool people into voting for him. Where has he been for the past four years? Why now?
I think the people are smarter and have more integrity than that. It sure doesn’t fool me, and from what I hear, it is not fooling many other people either. Thank goodness.
We should deal with people honestly, not use them as pawns for political purposes. I will never do that.
I am happy the Lauderdale County Commission voted to pick Keller/Lauderdale EMS and now that the Florence City Council did too. I was happy to co-sponsor a resolution to choose Keller/Lauderdale EMS and voted for them. It was the right thing to do.
Once again, the State Legislature has done a dis-service to the people.
City Council President LeLand Howard has a good idea regarding Mayoral succession should something happen to a sitting Mayor while in office.
Death, sickness, or anything else that might require a new Mayor take over during a term can happen. We went through that in the recent past when Mayor Eddie Frost passed away and City Council President Dick Jordan took over as Mayor.
Many people felt at the time, and still do, that a Special Election is the way to handle this, that automatic succession is not good. It puts someone in office that did not run for that office and the people did not elect to that office.
It is unfair to the people of the City, and even to the one who must become Mayor whether they really want it or not. It is not good public policy this way.
Mr. Howard’s idea was to change that and it passed the City Council unanimously, only to get lost in the quagmire in Montgomery. That is a shame. Now we are still stuck with the same old system and can only hope we do not get the same old results should something happen to whoever is Mayor.
It is also not the first time something of importance has been messed up there. It is awful to have to constantly go to State Legislators to get permission to do things we ought to be able to decide right here locally as a Municipal Government. It would be much more efficient and less time consuming and costly.
We need Home-Rule and we need to reform the outdated and ill-advised Alabama State Constitution of 1901 under which we currently labor and are so burdened. It is a corrupt document and a terrible yoke on the people of the State.
The United States Constitution is a great working document that serves our whole Nation very well indeed. It is a model we ought to use in revamping our’s here in Alabama.
We should scrap it and re-write a new one entirely. This should be done through a Constitutional Convention and State Legislators and their monied backers must be kept as far away from it as possible.
It should be a People’s Convention. The Special Interest “Convention” is something we already have and it’s called the Alabama State Legislature and it meets every year to mishandle State business and further entrench the problems when we need solutions.
Those who demagogue by saying it is just a way to raise taxes are wrong and do so for selfish reasons. The opposite is true. It would make it less likely that taxes would be raised because local officials would be directly accountable to the voters.
As it is now, it looks to me that they are having no problem raising taxes in the current set up. This murky system gives politicians wiggle room to spread the blame around and raise taxes without real accountability. They can hide in the bushes now.
Only self-serv ing local officials would not want this so responsibility could be ducked. Only self-serving State Legislators would not want to give up the power to do what is best for the people.
As an elected official I would welcome the added responsibility and accountability that goes with the added authority.
Mayors and City Councils must start calling loud and clear for reform of this flawed system. That would help us do our jobs much better and serve the people instead of frustrate them.
And the sooner the better.
I represented Florence at the NASA Director’s Breakfast in Huntsville the other day. It was very interesting to hear NASA’s plans and direction. Big things are happening at NASA and in Huntsville and I think Florence should and can get in on it with the right leadership and vision.
The Marshall Space Flight Center is a huge asset to North Alabama. Congressman Bud Cramer always works hard to keep that front and center. Bud will be missed and his successor has big shoes to fill. I wish him well as he moves on to the next stage in his life.
I saw folks from the Marriott and Robert Trent Jones also there from our area. I was the only elected official from Florence there. We must work closely with Huntsville/Madison/Decatur to create opportunity for Florence and the Shoals. It is there. All we have to do is find it.
I am committed to spending the time and energy and creativity needed to make innovation and progress happen right here. We can do it. The sky is the limit. Let’s make it happen.
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