EXPANDING POPULATION AT ROOT OF GLOBAL WARMING, PAGE 4
Weekend The Outlook
NEW CHAMBER VP
Meacham to head business development, Page 3
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
June 27-28, 2015 • Vol. 123 • No. 128 • www.alexcityoutlook.com
.5% of our sales tax paves local roads
How can Alex City change its government? By Mitch Sneed
Steps toward
Changing government For Alexander City to change its form of government, the following must happen: ■ City Council must pass a resolution asking its state representatives to pass an act creating the government structure. ■ A bill must passed by House and Senate and signed by the governor. ■ Voters in Alexander City must approve the act with more than a 50 percent vote.
State law requires council vote, legislation, voter approval for switch
Outlook Editor
Recent questions and perceived irregularities with the way that municipal pay increases have been handled in Alexander City have again raised the question of whether it may be time to bring in a professional manager to handle the day-to-day business of the city. Elected city officials and employees face hurdles as they must keep up with the changes to state law and local ordinances and procedures. Every day brings new court decisions, new laws and new regulations that increase
their duties and responsibilities. When it comes to the office of mayor, a person is elected and then inherits the operation of a $47 million corporation and is expected to operate it flawlessly without a hiccup. Is it fair to expect that kind of performance from a person who may or may not have any type of public administration experience, let alone working within a budget of that size that comes with intense governmental regulations? Probably not. Some cities have gone to a system with
a city manager to handle the administration of municipal affairs. When that happens, it’s called a council-city manager type of government and cities have that option. In the council-city manager form of government, the city council oversees the general administration, makes policy and sets the budget while a professional city manager carries out day-to-day administrative operations. A mayor is still elected at large and is a voting member of the council. According to the National League of See CHANGE, Page 3
Who will be downtown’s Missing Piece Coffee Corner, ACT II or Upcycle? You decide By David Granger Outlook Staff Writer
Court: Same-sex marriage legal in all states, even Alabama By David Granger and Mitch Sneed Outlook Staff Writers
T
he U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, ruled Friday that all states must recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry, drawing mixed reactions locally and throughout the state. The court’s vote in the case – Obergefell v. Hodges – pushes aside state prohibitions of same-sex marriages in 13 states. Alabama is not included in the 13 since a federal judge struck down its prohibition, but the judge put her ruling on hold pending the Supreme Court decision. The five-justice majority – justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor – was represented in the Court’s
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
489.49
opinion by Kennedy, who penned the opinion and who many saw as the swing vote on the same-sex marriage issue. “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family,” Kennedy wrote. “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves.” See MARRIAGE, Page 8
Editor’s note: Tallapoosa Traveler is a weekly column that shares some of the special treasures tucked away in our county. Today, we look at the Daviston Country Store.
M
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
Today’s
Weather
84 66
6
Low
54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
8
See MISSING, Page 5
Fond memories to be found in remaining country stores
Reported on 6/26/15 @ 3 p.m.
High
Alexander City Theatre II. The Coffee Corner. Upcycle Down. One of these is Alexander City’s “Missing Piece” and will soon be the city’s newest downtown business. And it’s up to you to decide which one. Since applications were first accepted on April 10, the MainStreet Restructuring Committee has worked to whittle down the entrants into the city’s “Missing Piece” competition. Four finalists were announced on June 1. Now, there are three. “Personally, I feel that either one of the three finalists would make a great addition to Alexander City and to downtown,” said restructuring committee member Stephanie Smith. “We’ve been told by all three that they plan to open even if they don’t win and we hope that turns out to be the case. We would love to have three new businesses downtown.” Smith said the voting will be done via ballots in The Outlook, the MainStreet website (MainStreetac.org) and Facebook page and The Outlook website (alexcityoutlook.com). Voting on Alexander City’s “Missing Piece” is open now on the The Outlook’s website and a ballot is included on page 5. Here’s a look at the three finalists.
Shannon Taylor looks over the Daviston Country store earlier this week.
any of us remember the days of riding around CLIFF the countryside WILLIAMS with grandpa or Staff Writer daddy stopping in little stores from time to time to pick up a little snack – soda, peanuts, the pickled egg. These stores were never flashy. You would not find much neon beyond that for adult beverages. But they were always the hub of activity and communication in the days before the internet and See STORE, Page 8