ORANGE BEACH — The proposal for some city properties to be transferred to county jurisdiction is a response to capacity to support growth, the city's mayor said, not a "racial animus" against children living in low-income households.

The deannexation of certain properties just north of the Intracoastal Waterway was first publicly mentioned by City Attorney Jamie Logan at a Jan. 13 planning commission meeting, where she confirmed the property owners had been notified there was "potential that this property may be deannexed by the city."

The city had previously annexed 2,500 acres north of the canal with a plan to build a Wolf Bay Bridge. Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said these properties have the "possibility to develop 1,700 homes," some of which are more than 25 minutes away from the city's schools and other infrastructure.

"There's just not a possibility to service that in a reasonable way for the city," Kennon said.

However, Kennon said, Orange Beach has been evaluating the parcels to narrow down which properties would be deannexed to manage "growth with what's fair and what's sustainable."

He said there have still been "no final decisions made" other than "no kids will be kicked out of Orange Beach City Schools" as the city is looking at the number of residents and families living on properties north of the Intracoastal Waterway.

"Unfortunately, someone filed a suit before we even made a decision," Kennon said. "He accused us of being racist and having no compassion for minorities."

The lawsuit against the city from Yates Anderson Law Firm was written in defense of Prosper Apartments Orange Beach, which is only one of the properties involved in the deannexation.

Kennon said deannexation would likely apply to more of the undeveloped properties as the city's fire, police, water, sewage, schools and other services would likely not be able to support the expected potential new developments.

He said all city services and infrastructure would have to expand to accommodate to the growth.

"These actions have been driven by city leaders' desires to exclude families from less privileged backgrounds, including single mothers, low- and middle-income families, Black families and Hispanic families from integrating into Orange Beach City Schools," the lawsuit states, claiming "racial animus" and "animus against" children in low- and middle-income families "is the city's motivation in deannexing the property."

Kennon said the lawsuit was sent to media outlets "as if it were fact," which is how "all the grief came up" during the Feb. 18 council meeting where deannexation was on the agenda for discussion. The lawsuit was sent out that morning.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE COUNCIL MEETING?

Kris Anderson, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Prosper, spoke at the council meeting, stating, "hopefully this was miscommunication."

"Let me be the first one to apologize if I did something wrong," he said.

Anderson said he believed the city would not have "backed off unless we did what we did."

Kennon said, "You think I'm going to run from a lawsuit? … When are you going to rip your shirt off and pull your cape out, Superman?"

He continued that he could not "fathom" someone doing that to the Orange Beach community and "be so wrong" as the lawsuit paints the city as a "racist community" and "tried to depict" the 49 Orange Beach City School (OBCS) students who live in Prosper "as our problem children."

Anderson said it was "nonsense" to say he was claiming that against the city, saying the allegations in the lawsuit "were not evidence that Kris Anderson or any lawyer produced."

"If anything," Anderson told the mayor, "those comments were directed to you."

"If you have a problem with me, I wear that as a badge of honor," Kennon said.

As someone who is "proud to be part of this community," Anderson said, "excluding people who are already part of this community" who have paid taxes to the city and invested money trying to build apartment complexes is "hugely problematic."

According to Kennon, 4% of OBCS' budget comes from federal and state funding, compared to "every other school system in the state of Alabama" having 55-65% of their budget funded by federal and state funds. Kennon said this creates a budget that is 95% funded by city taxes.

"Everything we do we pay for, and we pay for it because we've worked our tails off for 15 years, managing our expenses and doing a good job," Kennon said.

After continued discussion, tensions simmered, and Kennon apologized to the council and attending members of the public meeting for holding an "unproductive" discussion.

"I couldn't help myself, so y'all forgive me," Kennon said. "I really have a problem with anybody who tries to hurt my community."

At the March 11 council meeting where the deannexation is set to be voted on, Kennon said, "it may be tabled, it may be voted on," but either way the specifics of the deannexation are still under evaluation of the city.