I fell in love with Fairhope in the early ’70s, moved here and was quickly enfolded into the rich blend of unique, brilliant, and wonderful characters that lived here. For years I attended a weekly Coffee Club where life experience, philosophy and knowledge flowed like a deep, wide, beautiful river. Men who had known presidents, fought and been wounded in both world wars, worked on the Manhattan Project, studied under great Italian masters in Rome, known Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Norman Mailer, Will Rogers and Mae West. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven!

Several of these gentlemen had known a number of Fairhope’s founders, and as time went on I came to understand what makes this such a wonderful place to live. It was fragile then, and it still is. Fairhope’s enemies are greed and apathy. Greed in the sense that there are individuals who don’t give a damn about our unique heritage or the value it created and would sell off every asset possible to make a short-term buck and leave the rest of us to deal with the loss.

They are complemented by the too-large percentage of people who, as long as the flowers bloom and the garbage is picked up, think everything is fine. Many not only don’t want anything to be wrong with Fairhope, they won’t believe anything is wrong with Fairhope.

You leave the dirty work to those of us who, over the years, have taken on the responsibility of fighting these vultures who would sell us out, pick the carcass clean and then leave. Just buying a home here doesn’t ensure the continuation of the true spirit of Fairhope, and wanting to just leave everything as it is will only accelerate the loss of something rare and wonderful.

Don’t future generations deserve good planning, clean streams and rivers, parklands and honest government? Over the decades I have fought for all of the above, helped raise millions for public projects, and not only worked to protect existing parklands but helped to create many new ones. I’ve served effectively on committees for education, the environment, celebrations and the arts.

At times I have been a voice crying in the wilderness, but mostly I have developed a wonderful relationship with other community-minded people who are willing to take the tough stands for what they believe in. Democracy and Fairhope are not spectator sports, and armchair quarterbacks are a dime a dozen.

Right now several steadfast members of our City Council are trying to effect changes in our city government to make Fairhope a better place for all of us. Two of them have stated that this is their last term in office, and that they have no further political aspirations. Their efforts to makes us safer and financially sound involve a lot of hours and frustration, so why are they bothering?

These are the questions you need to dwell on, along with the issues behind them that will ultimately determine whether we leave behind a Fairhope ready for the challenges of tomorrow or watch our beautiful city get sold out from underneath us because many of you don’t want to pull your heads out of the flowers and look around.

Dean Mosher, a Fairhope resident for 35 years, has chaired numerous committees and boards. He currently serves as vice president of the Fairhope Single Tax Corp. and is a professional artist known worldwide for his epic historical paintings.