Celebrates 25 years and still going strong
Story by Carol Pappas
Submitted Photos
The year was 2000. Y2K. It was a time for thinking about new beginnings. After all, a new century was dawning.
Meanwhile, a new, young mayor had come on the scene in St. Clair County – full of ideas, yes, but a yearning to learn from his older counterparts, too. So, Guin Robinson, mayor of Pell City at the time, took an old idea, resurrected it and helped put it on the road to revitalization.
This past December, the St. Clair Mayors Association celebrated its 25th year as what has become a catalyst for engaging leaders from around the county with programs, conversations and informational resources to play a role in moving the county forward as a team.
Robinson, no longer mayor but dean of economic development for Jefferson State Community College, welcomed the group to the college’s Pell City campus to celebrate. In the midst of the reminiscences, it was easy to detect the camaraderie developed over the years.
“When we organized the St. Clair County Mayors Association 25 years ago, the county was in a very different place than it is today,” Robinson recalled. “The St. Clair County Economic Development Council was still new, and the idea of cities and towns working together was, for the most part, untested.
In 2000, a largely new group of mayors from across the county was elected. “Early in that first year, we met as a group and quickly recognized that we had much in common, enjoyed working together and could accomplish far more collectively than we ever could alone,” Robinson said. “That moment was significant and, in my view, marked the beginning of a new spirit of cooperation that continues to this day.”
The original mayor’s association had been established years before but had gone dormant for some time before Robinson suggested it be revitalized.
Robinson served as its first president and soon, the group was up and running and making an impact. They exchanged ideas. They heard updates from state and county officials. They shared what worked and what didn’t in their own towns and cities.
The end result was a more unified county of leaders, sharing in each other’s triumphs and learning from each other’s tries that may have fallen short of success. They found common ground, and they worked together to make a positive impact.
“Over the years, the Association has grown to include non-mayors, a change that has only strengthened both the organization and its impact,” Robinson said. “Today, it serves not only as a forum for leaders to gather, but also as a catalyst for collaboration aimed at improving the quality of life for citizens throughout our municipalities and the county as a whole.
It became a resource center for not only mayors, but county officials – even state officeholders. They were able to hear the latest news from all parts of the county from those who knew it best, and they impressed state and federal officials with a unified front when requesting funding.
In an editorial the same year the association reorganized, The Daily Home newspaper endorsed the concept, calling it “a major breakthrough in effective communication with the ability to bring about improvements all around the county.”
The editorial rightly noted that issues like transportation, infrastructure and water are not unique to a single town. They are shared. “But, more important,” the newspaper said, “they realize the answers are shared, too.”
That has been the key to this success story since 2000. It’s a cooperative effort that continues to provide a strong foundation for progress that still thrives today.
“In my opinion,” Robinson said, “the Mayors Association has exceeded our earliest hopes for what could be accomplished.”
