Well, another beautiful weekend weather wise. Got the camper setup at West Point Lake and letting some friends use it Saturday and Sunday night to celebrate a birthday. Probably spend the night up there on Monday before binging the camper back home for a few weeks. Apparently, the place to see folks in Opelika is the irish Bred Pub. At least one City Councilman made it thru after the Auburn game today. And there were other celibs too, but they have asked me to be silent on their outings, for now. More, later, the weekend is still young and we have another football game and race to finish.

From a Press Release on Tuesday… The City of Opelika officials were shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Dr. William Lazenby following an accident at his home on Monday evening, June 14th.

On a personal note:  Dr. Lazenby and I had served on the Keep Opelika Beautiful board  together.   He’s always been one to be involved in the community to levels greater than many people will ever know.   He loved his family, and also loved the city and it’s people in a special way.  He will me missed.  I’m glad that I was able to meet one of the good guys along the way.

I ran into Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller over the weekend at the Arbor Day event in downtown Opelika. We were discussing a letter he had just written to the OA News about the Editorial against the Pay Raises voted in recently by City Council. The vote was 3-2 In Favor of the move, that I personally agree with.  The raises don’t take effect until the next term, which probably will bring back all current Council members.  He’s a copy of what the Mayor had to say in the letter as it appears in the Jan 28th edition of the OA News.

 I was surprised and disappointed in your February 14 editorial “Proposed raises for Opelika leaders go through the roof.”   First, your comparison with council salaries in Auburn which has eight members plus the mayor who serves as president of the council:  total compensation for that body currently is $73,600 annually.   Total compensation for the five members of the Opelika council, including the president, is $39,600.  Beginning with the next term the total for the Opelika council will be $61,200.  The Opelika mayor and the Auburn city manager have almost the identical duty which is being responsible for the proper administration of all the affairs of the City.   The Auburn city manager earns about $160,000 and the current salary for mayor of Opelika is $52,000.  We have a city administrator who is a subordinate of the mayor and reports to the mayor.  Auburn has an assistant city manager who reports to the city manager.  The position Mayor Ham holds and the position I hold is substantially different.  We do share in common “ceremonial” duties such as ribbon cuttings, ground breakings and so forth.  Mayor Ham presides over the Auburn Council meetings and can vote.  I’m just an invited guest to the Opelika Council meetings and cannot vote.  It is really not fair to compare the two cities based on salaries for public officials and employees.  Auburn is much larger, population and revenue wise, than Opelika.  In fact, it’s hard to compare cities in Alabama.  Salaries and compensation for officials are all over the board as are different support staff levels.   You stated that “other city employees work full time and may never see such a large increase in pay.”  Here are the facts: in Opelika, since 1992, the police chief’s salary has increased 80%, the fire chief 85%, the human resource director 90%.  Other department heads have earned similar increases.  Employees such as a driver for solid waste earns 83% more today than in 1992, a clerical supervisor earns 92% more and a clerical employee earns 51% more. 
 
Our population has not decreased.  We are currently working with the Census Bureau on the July 1, 2007 estimate which our planning director believes will be slightly over 27,000.  We’ve permitted and built over 700 single family detached houses just in the past three years.  We’ve added 1284 new high paying jobs in the past three and a half years with a capital investment of over $279 million dollars.
 
I’ve publicly said that if I’m re-elected this August that I would give the net increase in salary to local non-profit organizations such as NeighborWorks Opelika, United Way, Boys and Girls Clubs and others.  Each year I will make those amounts and organizations that receive them public.  I’ve challenged Ms. Jones and Mr. Harris, who both opposed the increase, to do the same.  I don’t believe they’ll follow my example.
 
I pledged four years ago to run our government in a business like fashion and I’ve done exactly that, with the help of the majority of the city council, department heads and our valued city employees. – Mayor Gary Fuller

Mayor Fuller has been out there for months now pounding the campaign trail for re-election, with no obvious canidate against him. Rumor on the street is that may change.  I won’t jump the gun, but folks that know - know and those that don’t – don’t. Canidates have about 100 days to qualify to run for Mayor or City Council in Opelika’s Political Races.  Watch for an announcement soon!

No word on City Council Seats.  I understand that Doctor Lazenby’s wife wants him to remain active on council and keep out of the house. We can all benefit from that, as he may be one of the more articulate members of the group.

And In a surprise move today, I think I’ll appoint myself “Councilman at Large” and begin to vote on issues before August.  Please, feel free to address me as Councilman Katz on the street. Heck, maybe it could stick.

(Photo Credit: www.opelika.org)  

Okay, so I had the first “Obama” sticker on a pickup truck in Opelika, if not the only one. And I live in Alabama, and oh yea, I’m an old fat grey haired white guy.  So, on Thursday Night, MSNBC project him to be the winner in the party in Iowa!  I know, a republican at heart is what I’m suppose to be, but this race points out some important stuff.

American’s are ready for a change. Does he or she have to be the most experienced in the political game, probably not.  So, in the grand plan, someone is going to replace the current president. He can’t run again, for legal and understandable reasons. I’m okay with that. But there is a lot of good dialogue going on out there. Whether it’s from a republican like Huckabee or a democrate like Obama. We’ve got some big Ron Paul fans in the office, and he’s saying some important stuff too.  It’s time for American’s to listen to all the canidates and make an informed choice. Let’s not just let the party run the show.  

Can a White Guy in Alabama vote for a black man for President. I think so!

Can Black Voters in Opelika vote for a white man for City Council. It could happen!