MOBILE, Ala. — To see how a local official can handle the coronavirus crisis well, look to Mayor Sandy Stimpson.
Six days a week, Stimpson holds a press conference. And six nights a week, around 9:30, Stimpson sends an email message to thousands of citizens of this 193,000-person city, updating people about the latest numbers and developments, outlining any new steps the city is taking to combat the contagion, and relaying encouraging stories about how individuals and businesses are pitching in to help the public effort.
Stimpson also explains his thinking, asks for feedback on new proposals, and expresses faith both in God’s mercy and in the community’s ability to transcend the current challenges.
Here was a typical passage from his message on Thursday:
And, from his Wednesday email: “Today, we received an unexpected gift of 1,000 N95 masks from my friend Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yair visited my office last year to share ideas on how to improve law enforcement. We are incredibly blessed by his donation, which is sorely needed.”
Stimpson’s approach is a model of transparency, as he combines unifying sentiment with concrete details. Such as: “We’ve already tested more than 900 of our first responders — police, fire and emergency medical technicians. We did this to ensure that we take care of those who must take care of us.”
Stimpson is a longtime veteran of the sawmill business, who at various times chaired the Business Council of Alabama, the board of the conservative Alabama Policy Institute think tank, and the board of a local high-end private school — and then co-founded, with a black pastor named Ruby Eldridge, a pre-K through fifth grade private school for the nearly 90% black and largely impoverished neighboring town of Prichard, funded 75 to 80% through grants and donations.
After all that, Stimpson was twice elected mayor in Mobile, the historic, slightly-majority-black coastal city. He and the City Council worked together to cut the city’s bonded indebtedness by about a third, or roughly $100 million, and build a “reserve fund,” which is expected to cover as much as six months of a sales-tax shortfall resulting from all the business shutdowns.
Stimpson has worked with county and health officials to order curfews and stay-at-home orders, sometimes aggressively, but always carefully, and with a willingness to reconsider details and adjust them. And he maintains a calm and kindly but determined demeanor, perhaps three-fifths Ronald Reagan and two-fifths Mr. Rogers.
Almost anyone can find fault with one or more of the steps Stimpson has taken during the crisis — some say he’s moving too fast, others too slow — but it’s almost impossible to doubt his goodwill and his willingness to be guided by new arguments and new data.
This is how political executives should act: strong leadership with a light touch. Here’s hoping other communities across the country are similarly blessed.
