Residents cast vote of confidence

TUSCUMBIA - Tuscumbia's three city council members who ran for re-election Aug. 26 won. A fourth ran unopposed.

Mayor Bill Shoemaker followed the incumbency train to four more years in office Tuesday by receiving the majority of votes in the mayoral runoff.

A lot can be said about the amount of votes this or that candidate received, but members of the current - and next - administration say there is one single vote that speaks loudest to them: The vote of confidence.

"That's what we heard over and over from people, is we deserve another term to see what kind of progress we can make," Shoemaker said.

"It means the voters and citizens of Tuscumbia feel like we're on the right road," Council President Bobby Mitchell added.

Mitchell, who represents District 5, joined District 2 Councilman George Johnson Jr. and District 4 Councilman Richard Coates in winning re-election in August. District 3 incumbent Martha Smith was unopposed.

This will be the second term for Shoemaker and those council members. District 1 Councilman Steve Finch did not seek re-election. Veterinarian Randall Davis ran unopposed in that district and will occupy the seat when the administration takes office in the first week of November.

Shoemaker said the council will have a tremendous advantage in the fact that all but one member has four years of experience. He said Finch was an excellent councilman who will be missed. Shoemaker adds, however, that Davis is bright and highly thought of and will serve well on the council.

The sweep is far from what occurred in 2004, when each member of that administration who ran for re-election lost. Much of the dissatisfaction from residents seemed to involve in-fighting among the council and mayor.

The 2000 election brought similar results, with in-fighting also blamed.

Shoemaker didn't comment on problems involving the 2000 and 2004 administrations, instead saying that residents often have expressed gratitude to the current council for working together.

"The residents want to see four more years of that cooperation," he said. "We don't always agree on every item, but we are close friends and can respectfully disagree. We respect one another's opinions."

He also points out that the city's debt has decreased during the past four years, which was a goal of the administration. The mayor hopes additional tax dollars will allow the city to pay its employees more and pave additional streets.

Mitchell said the council realizes there are tremendous challenges ahead.

"We've got a lot of problems to overcome in this city, and with the present council getting re-elected, the voters said they trust us to move forward," he said.

Mitchell added it is important to put additional infrastructure in place along U.S. 72 in an effort to entice businesses. "We need to plan that. We don't need to go wholesale and just put lines out there. We've got to have a plan and stay with it."

Mitchell also wants improvements downtown, where many buildings sit empty.

"If you have the right kind of specialty shops, you'll get people coming in," he said. "We need a cluster of them to draw customers."

Those also are goals for Shoemaker, who was pleased to see an upscale antiques store open downtown and a restaurant open along U.S. 72 a week ago.

"We're talking with potential developers and businesses about the highway," Shoemaker said. "We just need to see some growth and new sales taxes come into the area. If we can just see this financial crisis across the country - and really, across the world - settle down, we can all move forward and do business."

"We look forward to the next four years together," Mitchell said.

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