FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Whoever is elected the next mayor of Fairhope in 2012 will receive half the salary of the current mayor, courtesy of a four-to-one vote by the City Council last Thursday. The council cited the reduced role of the mayor since the hiring of a city administrator last year as a reason for the pay cut.

Mayor Tim Kant currently earns $60,000 per-year in office, which some city council members say is less than a full-time position. Also, the council wanted to align the mayor’s pay with similarly sized cities in the state.

Councilwoman Debbie Quinn testified to the salaries of mayors elsewhere.

“We’re pretty much in line with other cities in the knowledge that we have great supervisors that do well and work full-time,” Quinn said. “The mayor is not full-time and he is not part-time, he’s whatever time he wants and we can’t make him come in and do whatever hours we want him to do.

“And this is for the next council and the next mayor, whoever that may be,” she emphasized.

Only Councilman Mike Ford voted against the ordinance, arguing that Fairhope is not like other cities and the mayor here has unique challenges.

Before voting for the measure, Councilman Dan Stankowski read a prepared statement, reprinted partially below:

“There’s an old adage that says if you like the law or sausage, don’t watch either one being made. And this applies to the relationship between the mayor and the council. There have been media reports that we were cutting the mayor’s salary in mid-term, well that’s not true.

“There are other reports that picture turmoil, and dissension and politicking and depicting the mayor as a victim and the council as the villain.

“The interaction of the council and the mayor in our city is America’s government in action at its finest. We propose, we debate, we discuss, we deliberate and we compromise.

“The mayor is not a victim nor is the council a villain, as the media would have us believe. This is democracy in action, that’s how we do things. What matters most is not the process or who’s right and who’s wrong. There’s no victim and there is no villain. It’s the results that count and what’s best for the city and the citizens.

“And let’s take a quick look at what happened in the last two-and-a-half years. We have $4 million in the hurricane fund. We have $2 million in the reserve fund. We have long-term debt of $30 million but we have paid off over $4 million of the debt. We have a balance on our library of $847,000. In addition to the finances, we got a new computer system for the city. On public safety, we got a computer aided dispatch system, we got radios and new antennas.

“We upgraded the cars and equipment for the police department and the fire department. How about public services? We’re upgrading the infrastructure of the Electric Department. Galvanized pipe in the fruit and nut section is being replaced. We got road paving projects. We got new trash and garbage trucks.

“In recreation we got a new facility, we re-did the golf course, we bought 30 acres of land. Our park and pier is in excellent condition. During this recessionary time, during an oil spill and a housing bust, not one city employee was furloughed or laid off. Not so with cities around us. Fairhope has the highest property values in the state. And these are some of the results, as coming from this mayor/council stuff, which is that’s the way it’s done.

“There’s no victim, there’s no villain. It’s democracy in action. And that’s why we’re celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend because we have have democracy and because we can openly debate and discuss these things. It’s not a bad process, it’s a good process, it’s an open process and that’s where we’re at. Happy Fourth of July.”

In other council business:

• An application for a liquor license by Jeffrey C. Dubois for Double Deuce 2, located at 9115 A&B Highway 98 in Fairhope was approved.

• Kent Schwartz, Harriet Gutknect and Joanne Hogan were appointed to three-year volunteer terms on the Tree Committee.

• A resolution to approve the commitment of funds in FY 2012 for the Volanta Watershed Gulley Project was approved. The city will contribute $30,000 in cash and $20,000 in in-kind services to match a grant from the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program that will pay for the study of significant sources of water problem and recommend low-impact engineering solutions.