While Mayor Lyons is involved in and concerned for all areas of City government, some areas that are of priority to him include the following:
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Lindsey Lyons took office in November of 2008 and was immediately challenged with confronting one of the nation’s most severe economic recessions. Under his leadership, steps were taken to reduce costs and maintain the city’s workforce so citizens would not suffer a cut to city services. In addition to cost saving measures, Mayor Lyons has worked diligently to identify additional sources of revenue by successfully obtaining funds from grants and federal and state legislators along with assessing the city’s current fee structures. As a business owner himself, he understands the complexity of maintaining services while controlling costs and aspires to be fiscally responsible in all decisions concerning the City’s finances.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
By creating the position of Economic Development Director and aggressively marketing Albertville’s potential, the city is better equipped to increase industrial, commercial and retail development opportunities. Mayor Lyons and the City Council also worked with the Commercial Development Authority to pass a comprehensive incentive package in an effort to encourage developers to consider Albertville in their site selection process.
This administration understands that economic development is a multifaceted endeavor and realizes that in addition to incentives, they City must also be attractive to recruit additional business and industry. Therefore, Mayor Lyons introduced his “Pride in Property” campaign and continues to seek commitments from residential and commercial property owners to make improvements to their properties to present a marketable image of Albertville. In addition, the City applied for and became a certified affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, which has become a driving force behind the city’s aggressive cleanliness and beautification efforts.
Mayor Lyons is also dedicated to improving education and employment opportunities for the citizens of Albertville. With the continued expansion of the Albertville Regional Airport and the Alabama Aviation College, the future is bright for recruiting aviation and aerospace industries and elevating the skill level of our future workforce.
PUBLIC SAFETY
As a strong supporter of public safety, Mayor Lyons is committed to ensuring that the police and fire departments have the latest technology and tools necessary to provide the highest level of protection and effectiveness to the citizens. Working with Congressman Robert Aderholt, the City obtained a $1.4 million dollar technology grant to purchase software and hardware that will greatly enhance the response time and productivity of the police and fire departments for years to come. Although the economy has placed a tremendous burden on the City’s budget, Mayor Lyons and the City Council also make every effort to ensure that emergency response vehicles are equipped and maintained in such a way to allow for optimum performance.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Mayor Lyons firmly believes that the Parks and Recreation Department is essential to the quality of life and economy of the City. By serving children and youth in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, cheerleading, karate, tennis, swimming and football in regular season and tournaments, this department contributes greatly to the development of young athletes and generates revenue in the source of sales and lodging tax for the City. Estimates for 2010 for athletes, parents and visitors who participated in or attended an event at the Recreation Center total over 250,000 people. Therefore, Mayor Lyons has worked diligently with Park & Recreation staff to add to the capabilities of the complex. During his administration, funds from the Alabama Department of Economic & Community Affairs were obtained to expand the length of the walking trail in addition to the construction of three additional tennis courts with assistance from the Albertville City School system and the Alabama Department of Economic & Community Affairs.
Additional community development activities developed during Mayor Lyons tenure include the Main Street Music Festival in August, Veterans Ceremony in November and the Taste of Albertville in February.