As a lifelong political observer, it is always interesting to observe the popularity and utter domination that national politics receive in media and popular culture. Headlines are consumed entirely by the daily drama of Washington, D.C.
Despite this nationalization, people count on government to deliver a few basic things: weekly trash pickups, a safe and effective K-12 school system, and reliable and well-trained first responders. The folks on the front lines of supervising and managing these services are local elected officials. The mayor serves as the CEO for the daily activities of the city and the buck stops at his desk. Alabamians across the state know and like their mayors, and they usually remain popular figures for several terms.
This past August, many Alabama cities elected mayors to four-year terms in colorful and expensive contests. Interestingly, many state police chiefs ran for this coveted center seat in their cities and won, a fact not widely discussed.
Hoover is the biggest example of this. Two-term Mayor Frank Brocato was ousted by his police chief, Nick Derzis. This election came on the heels of a $236,000 third-party financial accounting review identifying substantive issues related to the management of city resources. Released approximately a year before the election, that report was only a coup de grâce for the relationship between Brocoto and city council members. Indeed, four of Hoover’s seven city councilors endorsed Derzis over his boss.
Derzis began his tenure as a Hoover cop in 1979, serving as police chief since 2005. Competent, strong, and a man with unshakable integrity, Derzis is seeking to make good on his campaign pledge to “make Hoover Hoover again.”
Closer to my home of Madison, retired Florence Police Chief Ron Tyler was elected to succeed Mayor Andy Betterton. Betterton only served five years, ultimately choosing to forgo pursuing another mayoral term or a city council seat. People who grew up in and around the quad cities know that University of North Alabama is a gem that is no longer all that “hidden” or “secret.” If the Florence administration continues a strong partnership with the university’s administration, I suspect the success here will continue.
A dear political friend of mine is from what he calls “LA,” or “Lower Alabama,” not to be confused with the liberal nightmare in Gavin Newsom’s state. In the town of Ozark – about 14,000 people – the voters elected Police Chief Charles Ward to be their mayor. He took a leave of absence before defeating his boss, former Mayor Mark Blankenship. Ward’s law enforcement career began with the Alabama State Troopers where he ultimately rose to the rank of colonel.
It is worth mentioning that former Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine was a participant in the Mobile mayoral race. He placed third in the August election behind eventual Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis and State Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile). The previous administration had terminated Prine, and he was, accordingly, not the active police chief during his candidacy. Mobile voters may have had reservations about that and questioned to what degree his dismissal was a motivating factor for his choice to run. Indeed, the night the Mobile City Council unanimously removed Prine as the city’s police chief, he went on local news proclaiming, “[I]f I’m going to be terminated for being the chief of police, I’ll sleep well tonight.”
There are far more factors in Prine’s election that caused him to not reap the benefits active police chiefs experienced, including the fact that he was a disgruntled former employee. Mobile voters said they wanted a serious mayor, choosing a former district judge after a very expensive, racially divisive campaign.
Despite this, the message sent across the state was simple: Alabama backs the blue. Alabama voters support law enforcement and that’s not changing now or ever.
Jaylen Cotton is a political consultant who lives in Madison, Ala. He unsuccessfully ran for County School Board in 2022 and currently serves in an at-large seat on the Madison County Republican Executive Committee. Contact Jaylen at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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