Despite public safety and economic growth topping the issues in Mobile’s mayoral race, a packed crowd at a Midtown church Tuesday turned out to hear seven candidates weigh in on historic preservation, trees, and neighborhood ordinances.

The forum, held just over three months ahead of the Aug. 26 municipal election, highlighted issues central to the city’s oldest neighborhoods and remained mostly civil, with minimal sparring between candidates.

“These are some of the most politically energetic people in the city,” said Bill Boswell, senior advocate with the Government Street Collaborative. “They will get out and vote. That’s the message we wanted the candidates to take away.”

For many in the audience, it was their first chance to hear directly from the candidates.

Criticism of current administration

In the last forum on May 6, former Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s name wasn’t mentioned once by the seven mayoral candidates. Stimpson is retiring from office this year after opting not to run for a fourth term.

However, candidates at the latest forum did direct a few more criticisms at the administration under Stimpson’s leadership.

Former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine said there needs to be a reduction in the size of the mayor’s staff. He said there doesn’t need to be the position of executive director of public safety, a position that has long been debated in Mobile.

“It’s up to you, the citizens, to get engaged in your community to say enough is enough,” Nodine said.

Former Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine called the city’s streets as “atrocious,” and said the future mayor should focus the budget more on road improvements rather than improving parks and other amenities.

“They have not been addressed,” said Prine, who has butted heads with Stimpson and the city council over policing and who was fired from his job as chief last year. “My commitment to Mobile is to address the fundamental role in what local government is and that is public safety, workforce development, and infrastructure.”

He urged for a comprehensive assessment of city needs with a focus on drainage issues that cause flooding.

Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson said she didn’t understand why city leadership hasn’t established incentive programs to deter blight and to make sure minimum building code standards are enforced.

“When you hold property owners responsible, you’ll see changes,” she said.

‘Childish’ comment

The only moment of confrontation between the candidates on stage Tuesday involved a closing remark rebuttal by former Mobile County District Judge Spiro Cheriogotis in correcting a comment made earlier in the forum by Nodine over the word “childish.”

Nodine’s reference was a criticism of comments Cheriogotis made in 2022. At the time, Cheriogotis was a judge who criticized Stimpson and Prine, then the police chief, for holding a press conference and blaming the criminal justice system for a rise in crime.

Stimpson and Cheriogotis have since become political allies. The mayor endorsed Cheriogotis as his successor during a news conference on May 7.

“I didn’t call our mayor childish,” Cheriogotis said, then directing his criticism at Prine saying that he called the “act of a police chief, and shirking a responsibility” as childish.

Streets and trees

Infrastructure improvements within the oldest neighborhoods of Mobile, where flooding is common after heavy rainfalls and protecting massive heritage oaks have long been sticky issues

State Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said the city has to allocate more than the approximately $48 million a year that it does on its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). She encouraged more collaboration with county government and utility companies “so we can restore and revive” the older neighborhoods.

She also called herself a “tree hugger,” and urged a replanting program.

Burrell said that street flooding and dim lighting in the city as “one of the biggest failures of the status quo.” He urged for a comprehensive assessment of city needs with a focus on drainage issues that cause flooding.

Former Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste, who was also the former executive director of public safety, urged a precision approach toward improving streets and other infrastructure.

“We have to be prepared to have a real conversation at the council level and the people in the community most likely impacted by the funding we spent,” he said.

Preservation and Blight

Some of the candidates vowed to enforce ordinances already on the books to protect historic properties and address blight.

Prine said he believes it’s a “systemic problem” that the city doesn’t follow up on ordinance violations, and vowed “relentless follow-up” if he’s elected mayor.

“That would be my commitment to the historic districts,” he said.

Hudson said she would like the city to create a registry to identify blighted properties, and then implement incentives such as waiving fees or receiving grants to make improvements.

“This is a public safety issue as much as anything when you have blighted properties, those minimum requirements of needing to make sure they have roofs, doors, windows … those things that must be taken care of by the property owner,” she said. “Why we’ve gotten to this point for so long and this hasn’t been handled, I don’t understand. When you hold property owners responsible, you’ll see changes.”

Cheriogotis and Nodine also agreed that maintaining a registry is important. Nodine, however, said that creating a new registry represents a “duplication of government,” and one that he doesn’t support.

Cheriogotis said he would like the city to enforce building codes addressing facades so that vacant buildings are not in a state of visual deterioration. He said there are other downtowns with vacant buildings “that look nice,” and said that enforcing existing ordinances will help “draw people to the city.”

Homelessness

For the second forum in a row, the issue homelessness entered into the debate. Candidates agreed that it’s a top issue, but differed on the best way to address it.

Burrell vowed to address the issue with a comprehensive strategy and long-term plan that includes the city’s faith communities and city departments aimed at delivering the resources and job training to the homeless.

Drummond, a board member of McKemie Place – a homeless shelter for women in Mobile – advocated for a master plan that would address affordable housing, transportation and mental health needs. She also said the city should team up with non-profits to develop a comprehensive facility addressing the needs of the homeless.

“I do not think we can criminalize homelessness,” Drummond said.

Prine said it’s up to the mayor, as the city’s leader, to “set the vision for the city” and to bring non-profit organizations together to address issues like affordable housing and job training.

He also said the city, overall, needs to add more police officers.

“We are budgeted for 489 and now with annexation, we should be around 600 to 625 police officers,” Prine said. “That shows you how woefully unprepared we are.”

Battiste said Mobile cannot “police our way out of the homeless issue.” He urged for a collaborative approach in addressing a lack of affordable housing.

New opportunities

Some of the candidates offered up new and unique ideas if they are elected.

Nodine said he would like to see Black history highlighted within the historic districts that are traditionally linked to Midtown.

He cited historic Africatown, north of downtown Mobile, which is evolving into a cultural heritage tourism site following the 2019 discovery the hull of the slave ship Clotilda.

“We have a unique opportunity now with our Black history and with the Clotilda and what Africatown offers and combine these efforts with the increase in (lodging tax) money to encourage our historic districts to market themselves in a unified way,” Nodine said.

Cheriogotis said that public transportation in Mobile needs to be reimagined. He cited the concerns over the existing bus system, Wave Transit, in which the union representing the bus drivers engaged in a public spat with management earlier this year.

“For $10 million a year, which is what we are spending, we can do better,” he said.

Cheriogotis highlighted his plan to replace large buses with “nimble trolleys that harken back to a different time.” He said the trolleys will be smaller and cheaper to operate than larger Wave Transit buses.

Hudson was the only candidate to briefly mention addressing issues surrounding the city’s animal shelter. She said including the shelter among her priorities would be part of a 100-day focus is she is elected.