ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – By state law, Orange

Beach’s mayor serves in a part-time capacity. A town must have at

least 12,000 citizens to warrant a full-team mayor.

“What we have here is a strong mayor-weak

council criteria because of our population,” Councilman Jeff

Silvers said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “No disrespect to the

council members or to the mayor, but we have a population that

prohibits us from allowing the mayor to be a full-time

position.”

But, Silvers said, doesn’t mean the mayor of

Orange Beach works part time.

“Knowing that we have a strong mayor position

that leads the city, that’s a lot of time,” Silvers said. “A lot

travel involved in that that’s not reimbursed.”

The next mayor, Silvers said, be it current

leader Tony Kennon or someone else, faces some important issues in

the upcoming term.

With all that in mind, Silvers proposed to the

council to give the next mayor full-time pay even though he will

technically, by law, be part time.

This issue first arose when Councilwoman

Pattisue Simpson questioned why councilmembers received cost of

living raises while city employees did not. Council members

currently receive just more than $12,000 a year, the mayor pro tem

around $16,500 and the mayor just more than $30,000.

Silvers agrees with freezing the pay of

councilmembers, but wants the mayor’s pay raised to more than

$42,000, which is comparable to the pay for Gulf Shores Mayor

Robert Craft. Each of the six Orange Beach elected officials

receives about $7,500 in benefits according to city records.

A final vote is expected at Tuesday’s regular

council meeting. Most council members agree the mayor’s pay should

be raised, but it must be done soon.

State also law requires that elected officials

pay be set six months before an election, which will be in August

in Orange Beach.

“We’ve got to do it this month,” Silvers

said.

The top challenges for the mayor elected in

August include the ever-looming prospect of a Wolf Bay Bridge from

Doc’s Seafood Shack to Barber Marina.

“The Barber bridge is on the drawing board,”

Kennon said at the recent State of City meeting. “Mr. Barber has a

lot of interest in developing that bridge.”

Orange Beach has applied for National Resource

Damage Assessment grants to make improvements in a variety of areas

around town. The money comes from a $1 billion BP grant and each of

the five coastal states and the Department of Interior will receive

$100 million of that money for improvements.

Applications

would first have to be approved by the state then submitted to a

federal panel, and the mayor would likely be deeply involved

in those efforts.

The RESTORE Act, or Resources and Ecosystems

Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and Revived Economy (RESTORE)

the Gulf Coast Act of 2011, is another wildcard. Alabama’s senators

are trying to redirect some of the BP fine money stemming from the

spill to aid recovery in the five coastal states.

Orange Beach’s mayor would sit on the panel

that would help decide how that money is spent. Sens. Richard

Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, expect act to

pass and the fund to be around $10 billion.

“We’ve got a lot things happening in this

community and I want anybody out there thinking about running for

an elected position up here to understand that I expect the mayor,

a strong mayor, to be up here quite a bit leading this city,”

Silvers said. “I can’t make him, whoever it may be, work 40

hours.”

Councilmembers Joni Blalock and Brett Holk

both offered support for the mayor’s raise and praise for Kennon’s

work as mayor.

“I’ve watched the amount of time Tony has

spent over the last three years and it’s more than a full-time

position and I appreciate that and I think we do need to discuss

increasing the mayor’s salary,” Blalock said. “I have no problem

with it.”

Holk and Kennon have butted heads on more than

one issue during this council’s term, but Holk believes Kennon has

given the city full-time effort already.

“I like Tony doing what he’s doing,” Holk

said. “I have no problems at all it’s just that I’m going to have

to weigh that out between getting paid and doing a public

service.

“You’ve done good with what we’ve got now for

$42,000 and we’re not paying him that now. He does a great job on

being at the places he needs to be at, but of course he ran on

that, too.”

Citizens Cecil Young and Allen McElroy, who

regular attend council and other meetings and volunteer to serve on

city boards, have advocated the pay increase in the last few

months.

“It’s a full-time job whether you want it to

be or not,” McElroy said.