Mod Mobilian |  Notes on Mobile Government

Notes on Mobile Government

Mobile Demographics

  • As of July 2007, the City of Mobile had a population of 191,411
    • That figure represents a loss of more than 7,400 since 2000. Mayor Sam Jones said the loss was due to movement into Mobile and Baldwin counties.
    • Mobile gained an estimated 1,435 residents annexation in 2007, which would show an increase to 192,846.
    • Baldwin County has grown by more than 30,000 residents since 2000, according the U.S. Census Bureau. From 2000 to 2007, Baldwin led the nation in growth among micropolitan statistical areas.
    • Recent numbers indicate that boom may be slowing, with Baldwin’s population increasing only 3,500 from 2006 to 2007. Its population is 171,769, as of July 1, 2007, according to a census estimate.
    • Mobile County has seen modest population gains since 2000, from 399,843 to 404,486.
  • As of the 2005 the Mobile metropolitan statistical area (MSA) had a population of approximately 401,427, and the Mobile-Baldwin combined statistical area (CSA) a population of 564,013. It is the 70th largest MSA in the nation 
    • The Mobile MSA population grew by 13.3% between 1990 and 2000.
    • From 2000 to 2006, Mobile County’s population increased by 1.1 percent and Baldwin’s increased by 20.5 percent.
  • The racial makeup of the city is 50% White, 46% Black, 1.5% Asian, and 1.4% Hispanic. 
  • The median age is 34 years.  
  • For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83 males. 
  • The median income for a household in the city is $31,445, and the median income for a family is $39,752. The per capita income is $18,072.  
  • 21% of the population is below the poverty line
  • Mobile’s cost of living is one of the 10 lowest out of the 80 largest metro areas in the U.S., according to ACCRA’s Cost of Living Index. 

  

Mobile Government

Mayor: Sam Jones (2005-present)

City Council District 1: Fred Richardson (1997-present) (Vice-President)

City Council District 2: William Carroll (2005-present)

City Council District 3: Jermain Burrell (2009-present)

City Council District 4: John Williams (2007-present)

City Council District 5: Reggie Copeland (1985-present) (President 2001-)

City Council District 6: Connie Hudson (2001-present)

City Council District 7: Gina Gregory (2005-present)

  • Councilman Fred Richardson created a controversy when he wrote a letter on city stationary asking the school board to reinstate a Murphy High student who had been expelled for videoing the assault of a Murphy teacher 

Budget

  • The City Council passed a $242 million budget for FY 2008
  • Moody’s recently increased the city’s credit rating from A2 to A1, and Standard & Poor’s increased its rating from A+ to A-. The ratings are for both the city’s current $185 million debt and the $56 million bond issue the city plans to to finance its contribution to the ThyssenKrupp AG steel mill.
    • Both agencies cited the city’s growing reserve fund, which has about $18 million — or about 10 percent of the city’s annual budget — in it. City Finance Director Barbara Malkove said the city wants to increase the reserve to have about 17 percent of the budget, or enough to run the government for two months if disaster strikes and revenue disappears.
  • Mobile will issue $97 million in bonds to refinance $80 million of existing debt and pay $13 million for new projects, such as renovations to Ladd-Peebles Stadium and the Alabama Cruise Terminal. – PR 7/19/08
    • City bond adviser Louis Cardinal said he wanted to price the bonds because he believes the city can get the best deal in interest rates now because of a turbulent stock market and a dearth of other Alabama bond issues. Mayor Sam Jones also said he wanted to sell the bonds before Aug. 1, when Jefferson County was expected to make an announcement on its debt problems.

Mobile Annexation

  • Efforts to expand the city west of Cody Road have failed repeatedly over the last 20 years 
    • Voters in an area north of Airport, which included Mobile Terrace, rejected annexation by one vote in 2002. Voters in an area south of Airport that straddled Grelot Road rejected annexation by 48 votes. Voters in various areas west of Cody Road had also rejected coming into the city in 1992 and 1993. A vote to incorporate a city of West Mobile in 2003 also failed.
    • Mayor Sam Jones’ attempt in 2007 to have the Mobile Regional Airport brought into the city limits by state legislative action also failed. The two Mobile County commissioners opposed Jones’ effort.
  • There were four elections in September 2007 for annexation in an area roughly bounded by Zeigler Boulevard, Cody Road, Hitt Road and just west of Schillinger Road. – PR 8/9/07, 9/18/07 
    • Voters in Section “A”, Mobile Terrace and surrounding areas, voted “yes” to joining the city of Mobile by 29 votes, bringing in tax-rich commercial areas along Schillinger Road and Airport Boulevard. Areas B, C, and D voted no by a 9-to-1 margin.
    • Opponents, organized as the Committee of Citizens Against Annexation, said they thought the overall margin 61.7 percent of voters in the four areas combined voted against joining the city — showed that people west of Cody Road reject city taxes and regulations.
    • Annexation supporters formed the Mobile Area Citizens PAC. MACPAC Host Committee
    • The city will use a law that offers at least five years without city property taxes to those who annex in, and would reduce business license taxes during that period.
    • City sales tax will increase immediately from 7.5 to 9 percent. Based on 2006 numbers, the city projected that it would collect another $10.1 million in sales tax revenue from the area each year.
    • Newly annexed property owners will begin paying, with no five-year delay, a school property tax that is assessed in Mobile and Prichard. Those taxes would add $80 to the bill of a house assessed at $100,000. Jones said the benefits of garbage collection, as well as every-other-week collection of curbside trash, would more than offset the additional cost of city property taxes when they kick in.
    • Mobile County Circuit Judge Rick Stout dismissed a lawsuit by the the Committee of Citizens Against Annexation over alleged voting irregularities and claims that the city’s annexation lines creating unincorporated islands were illegal. The plaintiffs appealed and are waiting to see if Alabama Supreme Court justices will hear the case. – PR 9/29/07,11/3/07, 8/24/08
    • Annexation Voting Map
    • Mobile subsequently annexed the Mobile Regional Airport at the request of the Airport Authority. Because the authority owns the property, the City Council approved the request without an election. The annexation became possible when section A voted to enter the city, making the city limits touch airport property. Purchases made on airport property would be subject to 9 percent sales tax, instead of the current 7.5 percent. Tax rates on car rentals rose by 2.75 percent – PR 1/30/08
    • The annexation pushes the city’s 5-mile planning jurisdiction as far west as Newman Road and Airport Boulevard, as well as taking in a sliver of territory west of Big Creek Lake to within about five miles of the Mississippi state line.
  • Mobile Mayor Sam Jones announced plans to set up early October 2008 annexation votes in four areas: a section of Theodore and Tillman’s Corner, a subdivision and commercial stretch along Moffett Road, two subdivisions along Snow Road, and the Windmill Place subdivision just west of Cody Road. – PR 8/16/08
    • The Moffett Road annexation area, which includes the area Wal-Mart, is angering some in Semmes, where several people have been working to incorporate the community.
    • In order to hold an incorporation vote, residents must gather the signatures of 15 percent of voters in the proposed area and owners of 60 percent of the land. The petition also must include four voters living on every 40 acres in the city. The petition must be submitted to the Mobile County probate judge, who would then set a date for a referendum.
    • The annexation areas were also criticized by Mobile County Commissioners Stephen Nodine and Mike Dean.
    • Mobile Proposed Annexation Map 8/08

Mobile Housing Board

  • Mobile Housing Board Website
  • Incorporated in 1937, the Mobile Housing Board (MHB) has a five member governing Board of Commissioners who are appointed to five year terms by the Mayor.
  • The majority of funding for MHB is provided by the federal government though the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
  • Through the traditional Public Housing and Section 8 Housing Programs they provide housing or housing assistance to over 7,000 families.
  • Renovations include a HOPE VI grant to establish an assisted living facility at our Central Plaza Towers Development.
  • The Mobile Housing Board works in collaboration with the City of Mobile to administer the Community Development Block Grant program.

Mobile Homeless

  • Mobile and Baldwin counties on average have a homeless population of 621.
  • 15 Place at the corner of N. Joachim and St. Francis streets care for the homeless during the day. The facility first opened in 2000 with an effort by the Homeless Coalition backed by then-Mayor Mike Dow who signed on to the Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. Seven agencies collaborated to form 15 Place. – Kevin Lee, Lagniappe, 5/6/08



  



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