By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
The mayor and I met the day after Labor Day, and it was definitely one of those “hit the ground running” types of mornings with a shorter work week. Nonetheless, as has been the case for a decade, I was reminded of how blessed I am to be living in Athens, Alabama, and have the freedom and voice to do what I do, including telling Athens’s story through the eyes of her mayor.
Some of our time was spent in frustration, so I’ll get that out of the way first. As of this past Tuesday, the many inquiries Mayor Ronnie has made at the federal level regarding the immigrant influx have been met with…crickets. “I can’t get anybody to help me connect the dots! No one will call me back to tell me what is going on, and I don’t know what to tell people,” he said. I listened as he told of the swirling rumors that he encounters as his phone is ringing off the hook. Getting some accurate answers would certainly help with beginning a productive exchange of ideas as to how to deal well with the actual facts of the situation.
We discussed our mutual concern regarding trafficking, which we both know can easily happen when people come to a foreign country, and Mayor Ronnie told me a hair-raising and heart-breaking story of his years working as a DHR supervisor for the State of Alabama. We thankfully could move on to another type of “exchange,” and that was the Exchange Zone that has just been added to the services offered by Athens Police Department.
We live in a time when at worst, parental kidnapping or at the least, insecure situations in which kids are dropped off to go spend time with or be returned to one of their parents is commonplace. Amber Alerts pop up on our phones when a child has been taken, and the system was designed in 1996 when then nine-year old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. As of early 2024, more than 1,200 kids have been rescued as a result. Though her kidnapping was not parental, the purpose of the Exchange Zone is to greatly lessen the possibility of that happening. There are cameras in both marked areas of the Exchange Zone, and law enforcement is close by. The other thing that has happened is that people selling goods online are vulnerable because they are meeting strangers in order to exchange purchased goods and receive payment. The Exchange Zone ups our level of public safety, and that is the mayor’s number one concern. “Without public safety, nothing else matters,” he said.
We moved on to something truly positive, and that is the softball tournament coming up on September 14 that is sponsored by Athens Fire Department. Every holiday season, the firefighters get together to go shopping for Christmas gifts with a kid from our community. “Shop With A Firefighter” is always a big hit, both for the kids, and certainly for the firefighters. The softball tournament helps raise funds to make that event memorable for as many kids as possible. In addition, Isom’s Orchard is having their annual scarecrow contest that will benefit the Scout House, which is almost ready to make music and help kids to “get their music on.” Scarecrow set-up will be September 28-29, and judging will be October 1.
We had much to pray about, so we did, and then, once again, it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
September 6, 2024
