To clarify....

      I have had several people make the statement that I did some complaining about the current shape of Gardendale and the current Mayor and Council. I wanted to take a moment to clarify the points that I made at the Town Hall meeting Monday night.

    The 1^st thing I want to be totally clear about is that I have the utmost respect for Kenny Clemmons, Gary Morris, Peggy Tumlin, Oscar Mann, and Billy Flippo, and Wendell Phillips. I think they have given an enormous amount of their time to make this city a better place. I have known most of these people all my life, and I appreciate the things that they have done. They all have been very dedicated and their wisdom has been paramount to the success of Gardendale as a community.

   With that being said, I want to discuss my comments at the Town Hall meeting and the context in which these comments were made. I made four statements that some thought were offensive: 1) that the current council and Mayor had nothing to do with the new High School being built. 2) that we are operating in the red for the 1^st time in many years 3) the parks that the children play in are obsolete and 4) that we are losing businesses in Gardendale at an alarming rate. Below, I will discuss these four statements and my reasons for mentioning them.

   The new High School is one of the 1^st things that the current administration boasts about in their campaign mail-outs. This is a crowning achievement for the city, but for anyone in the local government to take credit for this is somewhat misleading. Our new school and the time of its building came about by the new county tax that we all pay. Building this school was totally decided on by the Jefferson County Board of Education.

   The city’s budget for 2008 is in the “red” for the 1^st time in many years. All of the incumbents have stated that they have been good stewards of our money, and for the most part this is true. The reason we are in the red is because our revenues are down, and this goes back to the fourth statement about Gardendale losing businesses at an alarming rate. Part of being a good steward is being able to foresee budget problems and work around them. If we were picking up new business, this would not be a problem. I have stated on more than one occasion (even before other candidates jumped on the bandwagon) that we should hire a top notch business recruiter and pay him by the job that he does.

   The other statement that I made had to do with the Baseball and Football complexes where our children currently play. My opponent lists this as another victory for our city. Stan Hogeland and his guys do a great job maintaining these fields. However, these are the same fields that I played on 35 years ago. We have added no fields or parking. The kids don’t have a place to practice once the season begins. There are no fields for kids above the age of 12 to even play on. We are one of the few communities in Jefferson County that cannot accommodate boys and girls at the same place. In my mind, this is unacceptable.

   I love this community. Let me say that once again: I LOVE THIS COMMUNITY. There is no way I could have made it through the last month without my friends and neighbors. I have stated that I wouldn’t live anywhere else, and that is as true as ever. I do believe that we have issues that must be faced NOW as opposed to later. We have quality people running for Mayor and Council in each ward. The decisions you guys make next week will decide Gardendale’s future. We need to pick a good TEAM to work for Gardendale. I ask that you give me your vote and allow me to be a part of that team.

 Mike “Buckett” Burkett