TALLADEGA — City manager Michael Stampfler worked his first full day in his new job and attended his first meeting of the City Council Monday night.There will be a public reception for Stampfler tonight at the Armstrong-Osborne Library with light refreshments. A second town hall type meeting will be held Thursday, July 17, at 5:30 at the Ritz Theatre. The event is designed to allow citizens the opportunity to ask questions and share ideas.
“This is a great day, a glad hour for this city,” council President Horace Patterson said by way of introduction. “First, I want to thank (former) interim city manager Teri St. James, and all of the department heads who worked so hard to make sure that services were delivered, and worked so well together as a team. I want you to pass that along to all of your employees. We have problems before us, but nothing that we cannot overcome.”
Patterson then turned the meeting over to Councilman Jim Davis, who had headed up the selection committee that ultimately chose Stampfler.
”When we were elected this past fall, one of our main goals was hiring a professional city manager, and it was neat when that started to work out. We shouldn’t set our expectations too high, but he has the skills we need, and if we work as a team, we can achieve what we all want.”
Councilman Lance Grissett said he was “excited and enthusiastic” at Stampfler’s first day on the job, saying he had “high expectations based on his wealth of experience, managing an airport, being city clerk and finally being a city manager for 21 years, including 20 years in the same city. Staying 20 years in the same city or the same church is an accomplishment, I can tell you. You’re doing something right, and I’m glad you’re here.”
“We said we were looking for a professional leader more than a manager,” Grissett said. “That’s exactly what we got.”
Councilman Eddie Tucker, who protested he was being left out of the loop during the search process, also had praise for the new manager.
“I want to thank Sue Horn and Teri St. James, they both did outstanding jobs, with lots of help from the employees who held down the fort. This new manager will be a great one, he’s smart, he knows what he’s doing, and he knows people. He’s a people person, and he feels their pain and understands their concerns. He tries to help people, but he’s also smart, knows what’s going on. We have a professional in this man, now he just needs to learn the Alabama stuff,” Tucker said.
Tucker also clarified that Stampfler was “actually my first choice. The protest was not about you, it was about the process. And Davis did an outstanding job doing what the council told him to do.”
Councilman Donnie Miller thanked Davis and the selection committee for providing the council with “three splendid choices. I believe we chose the best one, and we’re lucky to have him. I said we need new ideas when I was running, and it’s time for some changes. We’ve got a long way to go to get caught up with the 21st century. Also, we couldn’t have asked for a better interim manager than Mrs. St. James.”
Mayor Brian York said, “I want to echo all of that, and add that I look forward to working with him. He sounds a positive note, and he knows what he’s doing.”
“We are at the dawning of a more prosperous day,” Patterson said. “We are hungry for success. We have a person with a great heart, who will bring joy to the region. We have much before us, but nothing we cannot overcome.”
For his part, Stampfler said, “I am very pleased and proud to be chosen, and I thank the council for this vote of confidence. This city has many fine attributes that I will work to accentuate while working to minimize or overcome the challenges. I thank you for all the kind comments, and I thank the council, the staff and the citizens of this city.”
Shortly before the meeting adjourned, Stampfler said it was “refreshing to see a group with this exuberance and can-do attitude. And I think the town hall meeting will be important, and we should probably plan another one, especially since the budget is due Aug. 11. But the comments from the citizens and the goals of the council, as seen in the many issues addressed this evening, will be brought into focus by the budget. The next 60 to 90 days are going to be very exciting. I am going to take a stab at making this city its best.”
Also Monday, the council heard a presentation from Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Heidi Edwards about events being planned to mark the sales tax holiday, which will be observed Aug. 2 and 3 this year.
Edwards said the four chambers of commerce in the county are coordinating events to encourage shopping at home to save time, money and gas.
In Talladega, there will be two concerts going on downtown between 7 and 9 p.m. with an R&B band on the north side of the square, across from the Ritz Theatre, and a ‘50s or ‘60s type band in the chamber parking lot.
Businesses will be asked to stay open late, and the chamber is going to be giving a way 2,000 hot dogs. “This is a back to school celebration, and we want to get the schools involved with drink stands and things like that.”
Miller said students who produced receipts showing they had shopped locally should get extra credit in the new school year, a decision that would ultimately be up to the Board of Education rather than the council.
Edwards said she had not hired either band yet, but hoped to recruit both locally. She asked for and was given a pledge of up to $1,000 by the council to pay, if necessary.
“We need to make our schools the place to be,” Patterson said.
Further coverage of Monday’s meeting will appear in Wednesday’s paper.
