Fairhope City Council candidate Troy Vickers has lived in the city since 2022, and he believes his experience as a civil engineer could be beneficial as Baldwin County's population continues to grow.
Vickers, who is running for Place One against incumbent Jack Burrell, said that when he and his wife, Diane, moved to Fairhope, they quickly realized some issues with the city's infrastructure.
"Just two years ago, we had a water ban," Vickers remembered. "I mean, you couldn't water your yard. You couldn't wash your car. And what I knew about Fairhope was that Fairhope has a tremendous water reservoir supply. I mean, it is fantastic water. Why don't we have water wells? I found out that we didn't have the infrastructure in place to supply the growth that we had had in Fairhope, which over the last 15 years has been about 70% population growth in Fairhope."
Vickers got involved with city happenings by attending council meetings or watching them online. He said that when he addressed the council himself, he felt that he was being ignored.
"I was at one council meeting and walked out feeling like I had really been ignored as a citizen," Vickers told 1819 News. "And I said, 'Nobody should ever be treated that way."
After the meeting, Vickers said others approached him about running for council. After discussing the idea with his wife, they agreed it was important to let the citizens feel heard.
Vickers said he has the background in engineering that allows him to understand infrastructure issues and work on major projects.
"That's all my career," he said. "I've worked major projects, dealt a lot with governmental regulations, with the EPA, OSHA, and construction. My dad was a contractor, so I grew up in that business. I'm not going to be a councilman that people see sitting behind the desk."
"I'm going to be the councilman who's going to have a hard hat and steel-toed boots out and walking around looking at projects, talking to the guys, and trying to figure out how we can do it better, what our schedules are, how we're keeping the schedule, just, you know, things like that," he added.
Vickers said the very things that make Fairhope a great place are also the things that present a challenge for city leaders. He said it is important to focus on the future while honoring the past and keeping the historic character of the city intact.
"If we want to keep having a tourism and everything coming into Fairhope, we've got to protect that vibe and I don't know whether it's vibe, it's faith, whatever you want to call, I think Fairhope has so much of it and we need to protect that," he said.
Some of his top priorities are public safety and keeping the "vibe" of downtown Fairhope.
Vickers is a member of the Fairhope Arts Center and is a sponsor of Theater 98. He is also a member of Mobile Baykeeper, and he and his wife attend Three Circle Church.
The municipal elections are on August 26.
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