Tim Hawkins - Realtor Pell City Pell City Real Estate

A study released on Monday by the Talladega Superspeedway stated that the raceway has a $407 million yearly impact on the state’s economy and the track directly provides nearly 8,000 jobs annually for residents. The revenue from events at the speedway account for 11 percent of all tourism revenue the state brings in each year. That is impressive for something that only takes place 2 weekends a year.

ALL CANDIDATES

“We at the News-Aegis have confirmed that there is a plan in by some seeking city office to replace the current City Clerk and the current Police Chief. I ask each of you, if elected do you plan to replace either Greg Turley as Police Chief or Jennifer Brown as City Clerk? This is a yes or no question.

— All candidates present answered no.

DISTRICT 1

“As a challenger to an incumbent, you certainly have a reason for running. You think you can do a better job, you don’t like the job that is being done or you just have totally different ideas. Can you tell us why you feel like to should replace Mr. Gossett?

Bob Watson (District 1 Challenger) “I would have made different decisions than my opponent. I would have voted for the bridge over I-20 because that is the largest shopping center in St. Clair County which provides a great deal of money for our schools and the city. My opponent was one of two that voted against the bridge. I’m for progress in Pell City; I’m not for backing up. I’m not for standing still. Yes, we had to put out some money but that money will come back in the revenue generated. We would not have gotten Home Depot if we hadn’t widened the bridge. We would not have gotten the movie theatre if we had not widened the bridge and there is no possible way we could have the hospital, the VA home if we were not forward thinking in what we do. My opponent seems to be satisfied to let things go the way they were. He was opposed to this beautiful building we are in. In fact, he said he would never set foot in here and when they had a city council meeting in this building he refused to come.”

Greg Gossett (District 1 Incumbent) “The reason why I voted against the bridge is that if you know anything about your tax dollars, your gasoline tax dollars go to do highways and bridges. The bridge was one million dollars this city did not have. We borrowed the money and we’ll be paying this money back in 20 years. That’s a million dollars over 20 years for a bridge you do not own, you will never own it and it was coming anyways. As Mayor Stocks said in the meeting when I voted against it, it needed to be put on the fast track and be done before we’re out of office. As you well know if you’ve been over there, it’s not even half done. That’s a million dollars that could’ve been used in any district. The whole city has roads that are in bad shape. We have ditches that need piping, we have many other things we could’ve done with that money rather than give it to the state of Alabama.

“In reference to this building, I never made the statement that I wouldn’t come in here. I’ve been opposed to this building because of the expense it was costing and the way the construction was done. Mr. Carter and I have walked through this building when it was under construction and we found some very poor construction and I voiced my opinion on that. The reason why I’m running again is because I love this town. I’ll be here until I go to the funeral home and I want to be your councilmen for the next four years. I have nothing against growth but we have to get controlled spending on our budget.”

DISTRICT 2

You have served on the council before and since then Mr. Carter has served on the council as well. Can you give us an idea of some things you would like to see happen in the district as well anything you might do differently?

James McGowan (District 2 Challenger)

“One of the things that I think I could do a better job of than what I’ve seen in the past is being able to work with the citizens and if I get a call, I’ll return that call. Another thing is that I’m a people person. When you serve in this capacity you have to be able to serve the public and deal with different people. You should always have a positive outlook. I always did when I served. When I first served I got in there and thought I could burn down the woods but it doesn’t work like that, you have one vote. If you get in there and let the other people you serve with see how energetic you are, you’ll be able to help them accomplish things in their district. I feel like with my experience over the last 20 years, I was very active, I didn’t miss a meeting and I always wanted to go forward. Our city has always had something to offer and we still have something to offer. The next four years will be years where we have to push the city forward. If I’m elected I’m going to try to get more things for the kids to do in our city.”

Can you share with us the fundamental things that you think are needed in your district and how you plan on moving forward to bring those things about?

J.T. Carter (District 2 Incumbent)

“One of the things I’m looking forward to is paving. One of the reasons why I’m seeking re-election is that we have the opportunity to pave every street in this city. The present council committed two million dollars to paving. Once we do that we can correct some of the problems we’ve been having with the sewer system. Most of the people have been led to believe that the city is going to correct everything. We’re doing smoke testing now and what we’re going to find is that most of the problems are going to be on the owner’s side. We’re trying to get a grant to help owners pay for correcting that. Once we get the grant it is going to save the owners close to $2,500 to fix the water infiltration that’s getting into our sewer system. Right now the treatment plant has enough capacity to take care of everything we have coming online, but that’s going to be our problem once we get that water infiltration and it rains, the system has to shut down and that’s what causes the flooding and overflow because we can’t run that waste through the system. This problem is going to affect the entire city. I don’t want to deceive the citizens in thinking they are going to escape it but we’ll all have to play a part.”

DISTRICT 3

Dot Wood (District 3 Challenger)

“District three has a lot of different problems. I’ve lived here for 21 years. I went to work for Mr. Harvey, as the chief real estate appraiser for St. Clair County, so I’ve been around here along time and tried to do everything I can for my community because I love my city like everyone else running. The Lord and the city have blessed me. I have a great business here and always have. I’ve been on the Planning and Zoning Board for five years. I am a past vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and treasurer. I’m a member of the BPW (Business Professional Women). We put on the fashion show every year to donate money to our girls’ scholarships. I’m sure a lot of you attend that. Governor Riley appointed me to the real estate appraisers board; it took me a few days for my feet to hit the ground after that one. One of the reasons I’m running is I want to do something for the police and fire departments. We need these people, and I hope we can increase their pay. Personally, I feel like when we train these people and spend all this money and then they leave for better jobs, I’m hoping we can keep them here.”

Ed Pennington (District 3 Incumbent) and David Crane (District 3 Challenger) were not present.

DISTRICT 4

Can you share with us how you feel you can do a better or different job than the incumbent and things you see that could be improved upon?

Sharon Thomas (District 4 Challenger)

“I work in Pell City and I am here seven days a week. I am not a judge of Mr. Todd’s performance. I respect that he has a job that takes him away from town a good bit but I also feel strongly that this is a position where attendance is very, very important. We have issues such as streets that need to be looked at; it’s just been a long time coming. One person can’t resolve these issues, it takes teamwork and it takes a representative that will be readily available.”

Donnie Todd, Jr. (District 4 Incumbent)

“Sharon and I are friends but I will have to respond to that. I’m not out of town a lot. After I sold the company I’m getting paid to do my hobby, flying. This week I haven’t been out of town a single day, last week I was out of town two days, next week I think I’ll be out of town two days but I’m in the phone book and as Councilman Gossett said earlier, if you call you can get me on the cell phone. I can be reached when I’m out of town.”

DISTRICT 5

What are the top issues in your district and how might you go about solving those problems?

Donnie Guinn (District 5 Challenger)

“The biggest issue that continues to be brought up to me in the district is the sewer issue. To those of you who don’t know, we are under a consent order from Alabama Department of Environmental Management. I understand that we are working toward completing five projects but we will need an additional 14 million dollars to complete the project. For those of you who want to see the figures, they’re a matter of public record and you need to see them yourself. I know this is not a popular issue because you can see it; its pipe underground. Everybody wants to see building and everybody wants to see roads. For our community to continue to grow we’re going to have to bite the bullet, accept this and get it done. Where is the money going to come from, I don’t know? I’ll say this too, the Pell City outstanding bond debt for the water and sewer, we are in debt in bond issue money until the year 2036. That’s not right. Our kids and grandkids are going to be paying for our mistakes as citizens. The bottom line is we are going to have to step up to the plate and get this done.”

Mack Abercrombie (District 5 Challenger)

“One of the top priorities in my district and the whole city is the stability of the sewer system. The sewer has that water infiltration running into it and I’ll tell you, I knew about that when I was the mayor. We tried to correct it. We borrowed seven and a half million dollars with bond issue money. The money was to go to the Eden Fire Station, the parks and recreation department and to the sewer plant. All of that has been done except for the sewer plant. I don’t know of one dime that has been spent on the sewer plant with that money. We figured out with the past engineer how to fix the problem for less money, but somewhere along the line the plan got disbanded.”

GCW pro wrestling is having an event to benefit the family of office Greg Surles on Saturday night August 23rd at zamora temple in Irondale/Birmingham at 7:00pm. You can purchase tickets here http://www.gcwpro.com/

This event will have 7 matches and Ric Flair will be in attendance, i dont' know if he'll be wrestling but he will be there.

Alabama state regulators approved St. Vincents Certificate of Need this week, The proposed new 40-bed hospital would be a two-story structure with approximately 58,000 square feet, on 35 acres situated just west of the Jefferson State Community College campus.It would also have an estimated 60,000-square-foot professional medical office building attached as a separate partnership with physicians. Looks like good odds for us getting a new hospital and along side it is going to be the new VA nursing home, these 2 together is going to be the largest economic development in our counties history.