ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — As Gov. Robert Bentley was speaking Monday to civic and business leaders, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon thought he was about to see a different side of the state’s leader.

It turns out he did, but not the one he was expecting.

“He was going through that long soliloquy, I thought he was fixing to drop the hammer on me and us for doing what we did,” Kennon said. “I had no idea what to expect, but I think it was good for everybody.”

What the mayor had done, at the suggestion of his wife Paula, was put signs up during the traffic nightmare weekend of July Fourth urging those stuck in traffic to call the governor’s office to solicit help. The signs at City Hall on Alabama 161 and the one at The Wharf on the Foley Beach Express carried the message.

“Well the governor went into great detail to talk about the growth that we’ve had here and how good it is for the economy and some of the challenges,” Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft recalled Monday afternoon. “He said we’ve got challenges with traffic, we’ve got challenges with a lot of other things. And he said ‘it’s more than I can deal with.’”

Bentley said he had the perfect individual to help him solve the traffic woes and other challenges.

“I want to choose someone to represent the governor’s office who will take care of those complaints, someone with a special personality to fill the position,” Bentley said. “Someone who never gets upset and can handle complaints with dignity.”

That’s when Kennon expected the hammer to come out. It did.

But when it did, it was a humorous blow the governor struck with it.

“We’re going to put these all over the County,” Bentley said, pulling out a sign that read: “Complaints? Call Mayor Tony Kennon. 251-981-6979.”

It was then that Kennon saw a side of the governor he’d never seen. The men shared a laugh and an embrace and Kennon had him autograph the sign for him.

“It was absolute classic, the governor delivered it perfectly and Tony was very gracious and accepting,” Craft said.

The end result? A forged friendship between the two and starting the steps necessary to address island traffic woes.

“That was part of the governor’s personality I had never seen,” Kennon said. “The governor was very gracious and very engaged and when we went behind closed doors with him he said ‘we really want to work this out and help y’all get everybody to the table and see what we can come up with.’ We’ll see.”

Kennon also told the governor he was just doing the job he was elected to do.

“I said ‘governor, my job is to get your attention',” Kennon said. “‘We’re fighting Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville for all that money in Montgomery. I have an unorthodox way of doing things, but I think I got your attention, didn’t I?’

“He said yes and you’re my friend and I appreciate you. He was real good about it.”

Councilman Al Bradley had another take on the whole situation.

“Thanks to Paula Kennon for the idea of putting that sign up there saying call the governor,” Bradley said. “It worked.”

Now, Kennon says, he hopes to start preliminary talks with those who have promised money for the project and get some engineering started on the Wolf Bay Bridge.

“Within four to six weeks we will know if everyone who was willing to partner and chip in is truly going to partner and chip in, how much the state is going to put in and possibly begin to look at the engineering phase,” he said. “From what I understand, the bridge itself is 18 to 21 months. They were guestimating a three-year total to do the bridge and all the connectors. It would go to 95, then to 20 and back over to the Beach Express.”