A Message from Mayor Stimpson - January 26
Jan 26th, 2021
Good evening,
It is 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26, and I am writing to give you an update from the City of Mobile.
Today, the Mobile County Health Department reports 32,280 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 387 cases. To review the most recent detailed report, click here.
The City of Mobile has published a page dedicated to information about COVID-19 vaccines on our website. Because the availability of vaccinations and who qualifies to receive them are continually changing, we wanted to create a resource for information about where vaccines are being offered as well as information from local hospitals and public health officials. You can find that page by clicking here.
Today I was joined by World Series Champion Cleon Jones and City Councilman John Williams as we unveiled plans for a “Hall of Fame Courtyard” near the Mobile Convention Center and Cooper Riverside Park that will honor the five Mobilians inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
This Courtyard will include life-sized bronze statues of Hall of Famers Henry “Hank” Aaron, Satchel Paige, Billy Williams, Ozzie Smith and Willie Lee McCovey. Each statue will be mounted on pedestals near the entrance to the park and the display will include unoccupied pedestals for future Hall of Famers.
These all-stars represent the best of our City, and through this display, they can continue to inspire new generations to strive for greatness in everything they do. As City Councilman John Williams said, we want to always have at least one unoccupied pedestal that reads “Future Hall of Famer” so young people can stand on it, take photographs and show their aspirations to one day join the ranks of these superstars.
This morning I briefed members of the Mobile City Council on what our administration is doing to respond to an increase in litter throughout the City. Since the onset of COVID-19, many cities have struggled to address litter because of a lack of volunteers, group events and community service workers.
We will be assigning crews working in our Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments to increase the strength of our Litter Crew and coordinating with the local courts to allow community service workers to assist in augmenting our efforts.
We have also increased our contract with the Osprey Initiative to aid in collecting litter that makes its way into our waterways and are continuing to partner with non-profit organizations to increase our volunteer base and anti-litter education efforts.
With that said, we need your support. Spread the awareness to "can the litter." If you see trash, pick it up. Don't forget that you can report chronic littering to the City of Mobile through our 311 reporting system.
In a message earlier this week, Dr. Kevin Elko paraphrased Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s mindset heading into the 2020 football season. With so much uncertainty, Elko said the team had to learn to “change the changeable, accept the unchangeable and remove the unacceptable.”
Elko says that “removing the unacceptable” is about setting a standard for all the things that we do. His call to action for us this year is to finish everything we started. Elko reminds us not to see obstacles as a sign to quit, but to instead see them as a challenge.
If we can change something for the better, let’s change it. If we can’t, let’s learn to accept it and move forward. Finally, may we always meet the standards we set for ourselves and even exceed them where we can.
Sleep tight,
Sandy Stimpson