FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Members of the Fairhope Police Department’s new Citizen Advisory Committee were among the first to hear last week about a city project now in development that will seek to respond more quickly and effectively to citizen complaints and requests.

“We’re going to put in place a system to make us all accountable,” said City Administrator Gregg Mims, who was guest speaker at the Nov. 10 CAC meeting. “There will actually be an employee put in charge to take care of that.”

Mims said the new system might be similar to Baldwin County’s call-in complaint system, where calls are taken, reference numbers assigned to the complaint, and then citizens are contacted shortly thereafter.

“They are real pleasant people,” Mims said about the county personnel who contact citizens who have called in with complaints that involve issues outside city limits in the county. “They will call you back and assist you.”

Mim said the new system in Fairhope will enable local residents to access it by phone or on the Internet.

The announcement about the new system to provide greater accountability of municipal government in Fairhope was a fitting one for the CAC meeting, which was formed by Chief of Police Bill Press for similar purposes.

“I made two promises when I interviewed for the job: to ensure that the department is always open and transparent in our dealings, and to provide residents and the business community with a mechanism to voice their comments and concerns about policing in Fairhope,” said Press, referring to his employment this June after a national search for a new police chief.

“The CAC serves in an advisory capacity regarding issues relevant to police-community relations,” he said. “It is an excellent tool to prevent issues from festering. It provides the public, as well as the media, a direct response from the police, as opposed to hearsay. Anyone can come before the CAC with issues about anything relating to police business in Fairhope. This might be traffic and road issues, illegal vendors or illegal signage, suspected criminal or gang activity, noise, graffiti, or zoning violations. If someone brings a complaint or a concern that is not a police matter — perhaps something that needs to be addressed by planning or building — we can funnel it to the right department.”

The meeting last Tuesday night was the third monthly meeting of the group, and those people who had submitted applications to join the committee and then attended all three meetings automatically became members.

“I will be the final authority in resolving all CAC issues, but neither I nor any other city employee or official will run the meetings,” Press said. “We work for the people, and these meetings will be run by the committee chair.”

About 25 people attended the Nov. 10 meeting, and after Mims addressed the group, Press explained that two people who had applied to become chair and vice chair of the CAC were absent that night. He then opened the floor up to anyone who wanted to put their name in nomination for the chairperson position.

Pete Lenoir did that and was voted in unanimously.

“I turn the gavel over to you,” said Press, as Lenoir took over at the end of the meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Jan. 12, at the James P. Nix Center.

For more information about the CAC, contact Press at 928-2385.