Baldwin County Commission worries needed measures will fail on election day

Voters confused by amendment language

Staff Report
Posted 10/21/22

FAIRHOPE — Baldwin County commissioners said a local government amendment needed by the county is facing opposition because voters don't understand the proposal.The commission voted Tuesday, …

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Baldwin County Commission worries needed measures will fail on election day

Voters confused by amendment language

Posted

FAIRHOPE — Baldwin County commissioners said a local government amendment needed by the county is facing opposition because voters don't understand the proposal.

The commission voted Tuesday, Oct. 18 to endorse a proposal for the "Alabama Limited Self Governance Act" to become effective in Baldwin County. The action would give the commission the authority "to adopt ordinances on public welfare, health and safety issues related to the abatement of weeds, the control of animals, the control of litter, the control of junkyards, and the abatement of noise nuisances, unsanitary sewage, or pollution," according to the resolution.

Commission Chairman Jeb Ball said the amendment is needed to allow the county to enforce actions such as noise regulations or animal complaints, but some residents feel that the move is an effort to increase government power.

"Everybody in the public that's looking at that thinks that we're trying to take over their life in the county," Ball said at a work session Monday, Oct. 17.

"People don't understand it. The naysayers are getting behind it with 'it's total government control'. They're not going to be able to shoot fireworks. They're not going to be able to shoot guns in their yard. It's a total snowball effect," Ball added.

Commissioner Charles "Skip" Gruber said the wording on the ballot confuses some voters.

"If you look at the ballot, it's very poor, very, very poor and people don't know where to go to find out where stuff is," Gruber said. "I've talked to people out there and there is a lot of support for it out there."

Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack said the amendment would give deputies some of the same authority as city police officers to answer calls such as noise complaints. He said one subdivision in Gulf Shores provided a good example of the difference. Most streets in the subdivision are in the city, but one street is in the county jurisdiction.

"The people that live in that subdivision have been calling Gulf Shores Police Department complaining about a certain circumstance of gunshots being fired and Gulf Shores says 'we're sorry, you're not in our jurisdiction that's in the county's.' And, of course, we responded. It was not necessarily about a noise situation. It was more along the lines of a safety situation. But we can't enforce the municipal ordinance. So, when two-thirds of the subdivision is under a municipal ordinance, everybody in the Property Owners Association, assumed it was covering 100% of the community and it was not. And so that's one of the trends that we can put our growth that we have in the county and different things that's usually something that comes up more often than not," the sheriff said.

Mack said that with a light voter turnout expected, the amendment could be defeated if residents do not support the measure.

"Unfortunately, we're dealing with a time," Mack said. "Right now, we're expecting less than 10% voter turnout."

The commission voted to endorse Amendment 7 and Amendment 2 on the ballot.

Amendment 7 would make several changes to local governments' economic development powers; the most important of which is clarifying that all counties may exercise these powers, regardless of whether they also have a local constitutional amendment pertaining to economic development, according to a commission statement.

Amendment 2 would authorize state and local governments to use certain public funds to incentivize broadband expansions, most notably in the rural and underserved areas of the state.

"Amendment 2 and Amendment 7 would benefit Baldwin County and the state of Alabama by prioritizing broadband expansion and economic development as we progress further into an era in which economic and technological stability are critical," the commission's statement said.