By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
Mayor Ronnie was just back from an annual event known as Electric Cities, and it had been held in Gulf Shores. He, the people who run Utilities, and our whole city council had attended, and that is in part because of the unique way our Utilities Department was set up long ago. “The City of Athens and the City of Florence own their utilities departments,” he said. “Everyone else has a separate board that does the managing, but we are different,” Mayor Ronnie added, and I know to him that is something about which we can rejoice. “Our electrical department is at the table, and trying very hard to build for the future.” While it is true that this means everyone in city government has some extra responsibilities as compared to other cities, it also makes for much better communication and transparency.
About 150 people were at the State Lodge in Gulf Shores, and they wrestled with pressing subjects such as alternative sources of power, the daunting task of how to deal with AI centers, gas lines, and more. “We are in good shape in North Alabama when it comes to power supply. Part of that is because we don’t have to deal as much with providing power in places that are mountainous,” he said.
Senator Tuberville was in attendance, and they heard a keynote speaker by the name of Jonathan Turley. Turley is in a class by himself when it comes to the history of the Revolutionary War, and during a break Mayor and Coach had a conversation that went something like, “How did he just do that? How did he speak for an hour and tell us so much important stuff that we never knew?” Their basic reference was the absolutely critical role of Thomas Paine as it pertains to the founding of our country. Thomas Paine and his pamphlet “Common Sense” are not just a footnote amongst the Founders. Turley brilliantly makes the case that we would not be “us in the U.S.” if Thomas Paine had not been such an out-of-the-box thinker. This pretty much made him come to America because no one knew what to do with him. Turley’s inarguably chewy book, Rage And The Republic is on our list to read, and their take-away is that our country has always been in a state of revolution, and that is essentially what makes it so remarkable.
The Houdini movie crew wrapped up production, and they love us so much that they will definitely be back. There were undeniably “summer-in- the-small-town-South” things to celebrate—a grandson discovering brand new baby kittens in a storm pipe on the edge of Sunrise Park and finding them homes as well; champion softball and baseball tourneys with a custom T-shirt presented to Mayor Ronnie by the Athens All-Stars. Then there is the rain, and no one remembers such a wet summer. “Rejoice in all things,” said the mayor, even when it seems that North Alabama has been kidnapped and taken against its will to some steamy place at the Equator. “We ain’t in a drought,” I said, as it was raining bats and cats outside in that very moment. The mayor returned in perfect English, “No, we are not.”
Our current book is the In The Pursuit Of Happiness, and there was a quote that stood out: “Understand that you don’t choose your signals, but you choose what you do after you get a signal.” In other words, stuff is going to happen and some of it can be really bad, for sure. But as humans, we get to choose what we are going to do with the rough stuff.
So, that was some of what we prayed about, really living out of choice, and we prayed for our town as well, as we have for the last 15 years. And then it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
