Candidate for mayor wants city to see more business

TUSCUMBIA - Randy Stone is ready to see business move into Tuscumbia, rather than out of it.

"Its seems like all the places are moving to Florence," Stone said.

The 55-year-old lifelong resident of Tuscumbia has announced his 2008 candidacy for mayor.

Stone, a 1970 Deshler High School graduate, is the frozen food manager at Foodland Grocery in Tuscumbia. He also is a certified nursing assistant who has worked at area nursing homes.

"I've always had an interest in running for mayor, but the opportunity had never presented itself in the past," said Stone, who has been with Foodland for 15 years.

Stone is the first Tuscumbia mayoral candidate to officially announce his plans to run. The municipal elections are Aug. 26.

He said Tuscumbia needs to increase its revenue base, and the path toward doing that is along the portion of U.S. 72 that's in the city limits.

"It would be good if we had more business on U.S. 72 to bring more tax revenue in," he said.

Stone said he also believes he would bring new life into city hall. "For too long, the city has been stuck in the politics of old."

Another issue Stone notes is the city's audit. During past years, Tuscumbia has not always had a regular audit.

He said he also wants some of Tuscumbia's roads repaired. There are a number of potholes, but city leaders say the city doesn't have the funds for that purpose without taking money from other city services.

Stone also is concerned about city emergency workers leaving for other jobs that pay more.

"The city of Tuscumbia is kind of down, as far as the pay scale for our police officers and firefighters, who put their lives on the line every day," he said. "A lot of police officers have gone to other cities because they pay more."

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@timesdaily.com.