Their combined presence changed the longtime makeup of the council. 2023 County Office. It began with the gift from Lois Wilson, a Fayette native, of her art collection, which ultimately totaled 2,600 pieces of her own and of other artists' work. This Was Gerrymandering Cloaked in Civil Rights. Subscribe now! All the White department heads were going to be fired. (Jared Ragland for The Washington Post), A corkboard at Mayfair Manor displays a newspaper clipping about Virettia's council election win in November. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. So yall ever voted to change the outdated laws? Virettia asked Cedric now. FAYETTE, Ala. The men in ties stood in the corridor of City Hall, talking with a kind of familiarity that the newest council member did not yet feel. Every day, the woman said. The mayor acts as the official head of city government and presides at City Council meetings. Hey Jordan, she said, and began telling him what the woman had told her. Design by Tara McCarty. Originally known as "La Fayette", it incorporated on January 15, 1821. Due to federal intervention decades ago, a Black ward was created to guarantee that there would be one black member of the city council. Im going to meet with Kip tomorrow at 11, she said, referring to the airport manager. City Council | Fayette, Alabama But at a moment when old political orthodoxies were being challenged all the way down to small towns in the rural South, there were now two Black women on the Fayette City Council: one representing the Black ward, and Virettia Whiteside, 35, manager of two apartment complexes across from a vestigial cotton field on the east side of town. (205) 932-4510. The mega-rich. The Fayette Art Museum has over 5,000 pieces of art by nationally recognized artists. She told her thank you, but no, and as she changed into a skirt and heels and drove over to City Hall in the early evening, she weighed whether this was the moment to bring her feelings out into the open. (Jared Ragland for The Washington Post). All right, well call the meeting to order, the mayor said. Now he spent most days at his antique store, happy to share with anyone who asked his belief that if all the Black candidates had won, Fayette would have soon resembled another Alabama town he knew of, an hour to the south, which in his mind had been a charming place when White people had the majority on the City Council. One Black person on the City Council. I had a fire. From 30,000 feet we look at Aliceville and we know 20 years ago it had a White mayor and now it has a Black mayor, and a Black council, and its got s--- left, he continued. Others with regional and national reputations have also called Fayette home. In 2005, City Council began holding informalwork sessions on the first Monday of eachmonth. Yet.. Pictured is the Fayette Civic Center, where the Fayette municipal elections will take place from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25. She tried to remember that this was the whole reason she had run in the first place. Oh baby, guess what? Cedric said, brightening, telling Virettia about a White woman hed run into at the bank, one of the many hed suspected of spreading the false rumors about him. Cotton fields, such as this one in Fayette, still permeate the South. Hes sick. The Fayette City Council with members Tommy Williams and Virettia Whiteside meets at City Hall in the small Alabama town in January with Mayor Rod Northam in attendance. 1.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. I know its hard youre his mom and thats your baby, but Im here, Virettia said, waving over another tenant behind on his rent. Copy editing by Wayne Lockwood. Citizens only vote for a candidate running in their respective districts. Email Address: Follow Fayette municipal election is Tuesday, Aug. 25 | The Times-Record All of the City Council's regular meetings are broadcast live onFayTV, the City of Fayetteville's Government Access Channel. In the afternoon, she read a complaint that a constituent had posted on Facebook: asking for my neighbors and friends in ward one now that the new City transition has taken place who can they ask about someone fixing a water leak., Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!" It was like living through Rod Serlings old Twilight Zone episode, The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, over and over again. City government works closely with the local community college to provide employee training and programs for several companies that supply the region, nation and world with products in a variety of fields. Fayette, Alabama - Wikiwand She is the newly elected City Council member for Ward 1, which includes the complexes she manages. She took a deep breath and ventured into a subdivision called Haughton Acres, walking up to houses flying Trump flags, and as the campaign went on, the rest of the town realized this was no ordinary election. Fayette County Circuit Clerk Democratic Party Samantha Howard (205) 932-4617 Website Fayette County Coroner Republican Party Timothy "TK" Kimbrell (205) 361-4828 Fayette County Probate Judge Republican Party Mike Freeman (205) 932-4519 Fayette County Sheriff Republican Party Byron Yerby (205) 932-3205 Email: info@fayetteso.com Website Vying for office in Ward One are Steve Herring, Kevin Rhudy and Virettia L. Whiteside. Hey Jerry, the mayor said to one of the other councilmen as he came in. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Virettia also manages Valley Cove. City Council - Fayette, Alabama All Events This event has passed. Fayette is a city and the county seat of Fayette County, Alabama, United States. Subscribe now! We are conveniently located 40 miles from the City of Tuscaloosa and approximately 90 miles to the City of Birmingham. What he had told her was that she would learn her own lessons, and so she was trying, going one evening with Aliska to observe a hearing of the zoning board of adjustments. The Rot Beneath Green Labels on Forestry Products, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Appointees are to be city residents. Find 7 external resources related to Fayette City Hall. Her second chance came a few minutes later, after the police chief gave his report. The White city councilmen: nothing. Fayette County has four incorporated towns and cities including Fayette, Glen Allen, Berry, and Belk. The Fayette City Council held a public hearing concerning property abatements and later voted to charge the owners for the city's costs for cleanup at six of the abated properties. We could never have death panels where you start euthanizing people, but I believe that. BOTTOM LEFT: A sign for a business in Virettia's ward. This is the position that Mayor Pro-Tem Wilson will vacate to make a run for the mayors job. For every 100 females, there were 81.4 males. The Council consists of seven members who are elected on a non-partisan basis in odd-numbered years. This aint the half of it, baby.. Council elections arenonpartisan and a primary election is held inOctober, only when more than twocandidates vie for a specific seat. Despite aging buildings and the occasional downed sign, Fayette has been trying to revive its downtown area. Rent out our incredible multipurpose complex for your next event. This new twist on the old idea of gerrymanderingcloaking old Elbridges original notion in the moral camouflage of the Civil Rights Movementis not that uncommon. She was sued by a local white antique dealer named Scottie Porter, a failed council candidate himself and a Trumper to boot, who sought to invalidate Whitesides election on spurious residency grounds. [5], According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22.4km2), of which 8.5 square miles (22.1km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2km2), or 0.95%, is water.[2]. She pretended like she didnt see me. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. In addition to these . All council members and Mayor Ray Nelson were present for the meeting. . Address, Phone Number, and Hours for Fayette City Hall, a Town & City Hall, at Temple Avenue North, Fayette AL. The syrup is still produced locally in a manufacturing facility in downtown Fayette. She wanted to call Aliska or Cedric, but before she could do that her phone was ringing. ? her cousin wrote. City of Fayette | Fayette AL - Facebook It was a small town. She needed his advice deciphering Fayettes zoning laws, but she also knew that Cedric had barely left his house since losing the election, and she was worried about him. Finally, she said, Hey Cedric. I wouldnt be so rude, so I said, Hey. And she said, Whatre you doing? And I said, Keeping busy. She said, Thats good.' The Fayette City Council meets the Second and Fourth Tuesday of each month. People say it could never happen here. get driving directions from your location, Fayette County Death Certificates & Records, Voter poll locations and election procedures. The per capita income for the city was $15,553. It is time to become a member. One world order. She had often stared at the Trailblazer Award hanging on his living room wall, but she had not asked him about his experience, and he had not offered many details. fayette, alabama city council You not ready for the next level if you allowing this pettiness to get to you, her cousin had texted back. She started organizing tenants in the two apartment buildings she managed, Mayfair Manor and Valley Cove a multiracial coalition of fast-food workers, former addicts, veterans, the elderly, the disabled and a few who kept declining to fill out voter registration forms until it became clear they could not read. Alabama Open Meetings Act - Notice Details Four Black candidates were running for major positions, something that had never happened before in Fayette. Aliska Hughes-Monroe, Virettia's best friend, was elected in November to represent Ward 4. Seeking the position of mayor, replacing retiring Mayor Ray Nelson, will be: Kevin Bass, Rod Northam, Max Weaver and current City Councilman Cedric Wilson. Relevant maps for LaFayette, Alabama FayTV is available on Spectrum Cable on Channel 7 and video content is also available for viewingonline. wind speeds 261-318 mph) tornado 19.6 miles away from the Fayette city center killed 28 people and injured 272 people.. On 3/3/1966, a category F5 tornado 32.6 miles away from the city center killed 58 people and . Mine will be a home too, once I get through with it.. Besides the Mayor, there are five council members. She had imagined another version of the moment, one where she had turned to the camera and said to the whole town of Fayette, Why are you so frightened? She read the post again, which gave her a feeling that reminded her of a time when she was a little girl and living for a while in a tough part of Detroit after her parents got divorced. But getting back to what you were saying, baby.. Phone 205-932-5367. The Lafayette City Council serves as the community's legislative body, enacting ordinances, appropriating funds to conduct city business, and providing policy direction for city governance through the city administrator. She was a full-fledged councilwoman without challenge. Our history of is one of people with the vision and daring to achieve outsized goals for a town our size.