A Message from Mayor Stimpson - January 4
Jan 4th, 2021
Good evening,
It is 7:30 p.m. on Monday, January 4, and I am writing to give you an update from the City of Mobile.
Today, the Mobile County Health Department reports 26,994 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 156 cases. To review MCHD's detailed report, click here.
As you may have seen, we lost an integral part of the City of Mobile team last week due to the death of Executive Director of Finance and my acting Chief of Staff Paul Wesch. Today many of us attended a memorial mass with his friends and family, and I had the distinct honor of speaking about my friend Paul.
In 2012, as word was getting around that I was running for mayor, John Saint of the Mitchell Company invited me to come by and get a tutorial on city finances. He said he had been poring over the City’s financial reports and believed things were heading in the wrong direction. He also encouraged me to talk to Paul Wesch, who he said had a deep grasp of the city’s financial condition. On several occasions that year, I would talk to Paul and he would explain what he knew, always making it sound so simple.
Once elected, there was never a doubt in my mind who should be the Finance Director, and on October 14, 2013, I introduced Paul as a member of my administration. Little did either of us know that 46 days later he would walk into my office and say, “Mayor, we have no money to give city employees the raise that was previously promised. Furthermore, it appears that for FYE 2013, the City will have a $4 million operating deficit. If we don’t re-budget, we’ll end this fiscal year with a $20 million operating deficit.”
We’ve come a long way since that day, and seven years later, I believe the record shows that Paul was the architect for one of the most miraculous financial turnarounds in the history of our City. Due to his policies and procedures, the City of Mobile ended up with a $16 million operating surplus our first year, but that was just the first of countless financial wins he was instrumental in orchestrating.
However, Paul was much more than the Director of Finance or my acting Chief of Staff. More times than not, we all found ourselves going to ask his opinion. Like E. F. Hutton, when Paul spoke, we listened, and because of his character, he brought credibility to our team.
Paul had many great attributes, but one that has stuck out to me was his loyalty. Author John Maxwell says that loyal people love you unconditionally; they represent you well to other people; they will take you to task privately but never criticize you to others; they are able to laugh and cry with you; and they make your dream their dream. In years to come, when people talk about this administration, I hope they will recall that our successes were due in a large part to Paul’s loyalty to our team, to me and to this City.
We will forever miss Paul and his enormous contributions to improving city government. His co-workers find themselves at a loss as to what to do next, but we will go forward knowing that we are all better people for having the opportunity to have worked with Paul Wesch. The city of Mobile is a better place because of his service, and we believe he fully expects us to fulfill the vision that was cast 7 years ago.
His can-do spirit and wisdom will impact our decision-making process forever. May God bless Paul Wesch’s family, his friends and colleagues and the City of Mobile.
Sleep tight,
Sandy Stimpson