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City of Irondale

April 21, 2011

 

 

 

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MESSAGE FROM YOUR MAYOR 
TOMMY JOE ALEXANDER


       

Greetings:

 

It is hard for me to believe that this is my 7th year as Mayor. When I first became Mayor, my goal was to change how we conducted business in the City.  My vision was to create an open door policy, for business leaders and citizens alike. In other words, if you want to see me, my door is open.  At this point, I believe you all know that my door is always open.

 

During my tenure as Mayor, we have had some good times and some bad times.  There is no way for me to sugar-coat the worst economic recession in American History.  The Federal Government, the State Government and the County Government are all broke, but the City of Irondale is not.

So, I guess the obvious question is  . . . what makes Irondale so special?   Well it begins with fiscal responsibility.  We take a conservative approach to our budget. 

Our budget is prepared by revenue projections provided from our City Clerk.  That information is then turned over to our finance committee so that they can review the information and then allocate the departmental needs and lastly it is approved by our mayor and council. 

All of these budget meetings, are open to the general public and we would love for you to join us when we start the preparing the 2011-2012 budget meetings.

So very briefly, I will highlight our city budget beginning with the Police Department. As a former police officer, I realize that your safety and the safety of your family is your number one concern and mine too.  We are currently full staffed with 32 sworn police officers which provide you around the clock protection.  Recently I have instituted a policy which requires all of our officers to make a minimum amount of contacts  a month just to people like yourselves.  I know for a fact that your eyes and ears are an important component in your overall safety program.  If you see something that does not look right it probably isn’t.  So please call us.

Another chief component of our city’s budget is the fire department.  We have without a doubt one of the best staffed fire departments in Alabama.  Currently we have a total of 41 paid officers and no less than 25 are full pledged EMT parametics.  Last year we responded to no less than 1,640 calls.  Of these 1,205 were paramedical calls with 751 patient transports. 

We are currently looking at purchasing a new ladder truck to service our commercial and industrial needs through out the city.  Finally, you can rest assured that if you need medical attention we will be there.

Another major component of our budget is the Public Works Department.

Currently, we have almost a half-million in gasoline tax money that is earmarked for paving of roads.  With this in mind, we plan an aggressive paving project starting this month.  Bids should be going out and we should be signing a contract very shortly.

Also, we understand the bottle neck problems along Grants Mill Road, when the Church of the Highlands holds services.  I am pleased to report that the Church has committed 1 million dollars to help alleviate this problem.

We are currently working with Mr. Wayne Sullivan who is the Director of roads and transportation in Jefferson County along with County Commissioners Knight and Carrington to fast track these improvements. You will see these improvements begin no later than late summer.

Next up is our Public Library, it is 60 years old this year, and while that may seem like a long time ago, (and it was) I can assure we have all the bells and whistles from Lap top computers and Internet service to the latest novels from the best sellers list.

We also have a wonderful collection of CD’s and DVD’s for all ages.  Our summer reading program is just around the corner and I know Del and her staff will have plenty of activities planned for the children, and if you are in need of a job check in with her and she can tell you about the Internet job fare which will take place on April 26th.

The folks over at our Senior Citizens Center, they may not need a job but we are definitely keeping them busy.  If you are over 55 years of age like me, then chances are you will find something fun to do here in the city or a great day trip. Check in with Joyce and she will be glad to send you the latest information for the seniors in our community.

I would like to give you some information concerning the new Census Data released this month.  Irondale’s population has increased 26% from 2000, 9,813 to 2010, 12, and 349.  An increase of 2,531.  Irondale is listed 49th in population out of 460 cities.

In 2010 and so far in 2011 we have attracted 65 new businesses.

I wanted to say that we are a long way from settling our lawsuit with Trinity Hospital. Our original court date was set for Monday of this week.  I don’t have to tell you that did not happen. We are confident that when this case does go to trial we will be successful.  At this point Brookwood Hospital, Saint Vincent’s Hospital and the City are suing Trinity Hospital.  Now let me clarify that.

There are many good and decent people who work everyday at the hospital.  Unfortunately when Baptist got out and Community Health took over things changed.  That’s really all that I need to say about that.

In closing, from our house to yours, we wish you a blessed Easter.

Tommy Joe Alexander
Mayor of Irondale Alabama