Commissioners Endorse Amendment 14

Posted on: Oct 28th, 2016 | News and Announcements

By Jerry Carl, President, Mobile County Commission; Merceria Ludgood, Mobile County Commission, District 1; and Connie Hudson, Mobile County Commissioner, District 2 On November 8th, voters will exercise their right to choose this country?s next set of leaders at the national and local levels of government. Although Mobile County voters may have differing opinions about the candidates running for office, we must be united in our support of Constitutional Amendment 14 because it impacts every resident of our county, and every resident of our state. Here is a brief background on why Amendment 14 is on the ballot. Since 1984, hundreds of local acts have passed through the Alabama Legislature, and were later voted on by citizens in local elections. Although these acts benefit millions of Alabamians every day, the Legislature recently discovered a minor issue in the way our House of Representatives votes on them. The issue, although technical in nature, must be corrected or these acts could be invalidated. So, why should this concern the citizens of Mobile County? Failure of Amendment 14 would repeal more than 40 local acts affecting Mobile County and its cities. Failure to pass Amendment 14 would repeal taxes used to support Mobile County schools, would force some charities to pay taxes and would alter current city boundaries for some cities, just to name a few. Voting YES on Amendment 14 protects our investment and our community. A Jefferson County court recently invalidated a local referendum because of a technicality in the way the act was passed. That ruling is currently being appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, and if it is upheld, hundreds of local bills including many dating back to the 1980s could be at risk. And this isn?t just about Mobile County. Local laws impacting each and every county (including more than 30 affecting Baldwin County) are at stake. If we want to maintain the hospitals, fire departments, schools and job programs that all citizens across the state rely on, then Alabamians need to come together to correct this technical problem. Thankfully, Amendment 14 gives us a chance to do just that. We strongly urge every citizen of Mobile County to exercise their right to vote on November 8th. We also would ask that you vote YES on Amendment 14 to affirm your support of the schools, charities and municipalities of Mobile County.