Robin LeJeune has served as mayor of Daphne since 2020. Prior to being elected mayor, LeJeune served as president of the Daphne City Council and represented District 6 for over eight years. He is credited as a founding member of the Daphne Optimist Club, and his family used to own the restaurant Market by the Bay until 2022.

Daphne, the largest city in Baldwin County, has undergone tremendous growth in the last ten years. In 2010, the population of Daphne was 21,851, and in 2021, the population of the town is 28,777, according to U.S. Census data. Here, LeJeune discusses how the growth touches all facets of life in Daphne, from an animal shelter, to schools, to roads.

Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

Tell me what you think the biggest issues facing Daphne are right now.

The biggest issue, of course, is growth. The amount of growth we’ve had in the last 10 years, it’s just been unbelievable. And how do you work through that, a lot of times, we do things that are reactionary, because you just don’t know what the future holds. And so one of the things we’re doing right now is our 20 year comprehensive plan, which is the next 20 years, “Envision Daphne 2042.” One of the things when I was on the council that we started doing was we started setting aside $1 million a year for road re-pavement, to keep up with infrastructure.