By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
In the early 1880s, David Ruf’s ancestors settled in Limestone County, and have been a part of life in District 1 ever since. His people brought with them a Bible printed in German that they were given in 1882 as a wedding gift, and to this day, that Bible remains a family treasure. It reminds David of where he came from, who he is, and why he does what he does. It was with his hand on that Bible that David was sworn in as Limestone County District 1 Commissioner in the presence of his family and friends, shortly after Governor Kay Ivey appointed David to the position in January. He never had any intention of getting involved in politics, but after serving as honorary pallbearer at the funeral of the late Daryl Samett, David had the strong impression that he needed to step into the gap left behind by the District 1 Commissioner, and to continue the work.
Prior to his appointment, David was interviewed by Governor Ivey’s office, who opened up the conversation by asking him what he was passionate about. Here is his response to that question and some further thoughts:
- Doing the very best that I can in everything. My name and my reputation [is] the only thing I will be remembered by.
- Teaching kids about the negativity of drug use. Taking the fight to the classroom and field days. The youth of our community and country are our future.
- I believe in transparency in our local government. I am not saying it is not at the moment, but want to ensure that it is.
- I am for the good of my district, my county, and my state.
- I am confident of God’s plan and purpose for my life.
In order to understand what the statements above actually mean and what makes David tick, here is a bit of background. He has always been involved in farming, and has also bought property as well as farms, helped to start businesses, worked in fabrication, been employed by Redstone Arsenal, and more. His wife’s name is Allison (Gilbert), and her people have been here a long time as well. The Ruf’s have two daughters, Ashlyn and Avery, and Ashlyn recently married Hunter Newby.
David and his family have raised prize-winning Angus cattle and have a diversified farming operation, which includes corn, cotton, soybeans, cattle, poultry houses, and a trucking company. The Rufs have weathered literal storms and personal ones, and it has been the “root structure” of faith, family, community, hard work, and perseverance that has kept them going. “Honestly, I was content just with farm life. Life was good and I felt blessed,” he told me. But something happened inside when he was asked to take the position that caused him to realize that he wanted to do all he could to help prepare us for the future. That meant managing growth well and investing, especially in the lives of kids.
As a commissioner, David knows that roads and infrastructure are at the top of just about everyone’s list of things that need to be improved. “At some point we moved away from the number of roads along with their actual mileage in our district, and on to population numbers when it comes to appropriations for roads.” He showed me that even though District 1 has nearly one hundred more miles of roads in it than another district, each district gets the exact same amount of money for maintaining them. If elected, he is planning on going to Montgomery and Washington, D.C. to try and secure more funding for roads. This includes both maintenance and repair, along with building new roads as needed.
David said further, “I believe we are called to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money, and that’s what I pray to do. I don’t ever want to be tied to anything that is not good.” Roads are complex, and building them from the ground up in order to handle increased traffic takes time. “I would rather build them well than have to turn around and go back and fix them,” he said. Infrastructure goes hand in hand with roads, and because David knows that growth is coming and is unstoppable, there has to be not only a plan but action taken if we are going to get ahead of it.
David understands the impact that programs such as 4-H can have on kids. The 4-H program teaches life skills, and he knows it works. He is happy that the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office is going to be able to bring back the D.A.R.E program, and while we were conducting this interview, David showed me a text he had received from a constituent that said that his wife was grateful for having the program when she was in school. There is actually “opioid money” that we have available to bring back the D.A.R.E. educational services, have a D.A.R.E-logo wrapped Tahoe to get the message out, the special training for the officer, and have a second officer available in the summer time when school is out.
We took some time to talk about a passion of mine, which it turns out is one of David’s, too, and that is human trafficking. He wants traffickers to be brought to justice, and is 100% behind Operation Millstone, which is our county’s inter-agency program to find and prosecute traffickers and trafficking in all its forms.
“I want law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Department, first responders, fire fighters, and volunteer fire fighters to have everything they need,” David said, and went on to his third point: Efficient government. David has two daughters, and he has worked hard, while teaching them to work hard, to live by sound economic principles. “I want my daughters to have what they need from me when I pass, and I don’t want our county to leave them a mess. I used to tell them, ‘What you do today you’ll sleep with tonight.’”
If these sound like the values and experience you want for the District 1 Commissioner, then David Ruf would appreciate your vote on May 19.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
