Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle hinted in a post on Twitter that Mac McCutcheon’s time as Alabama Speaker of the House will help McCutcheon in his new role as Madison County Commission chairman.

District 2 Commissioner Steve Haraway expressed the same thought during McCutcheon’s first meeting as chairman.

“There are things in Montgomery that we’ve tried to open the door on,” Haraway said. “We’re hoping you’ll help us do that.”

McCutcheon – who acted as an observer at his first meeting while waiting to take the oath of office – said afterwards he believes that will be the case.

“I think that the fact that you build relationships with state government officials is always helpful from a local perspective,” said McCutcheon, who retired from the legislature last year. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for our local elected officials and the work that they do, because to me they’re boots on the ground. They are on the front lines. As our local officials work to take care of the people, there are issues they face on the local level which goes down to the state level, which need to be addressed.”