Mayor Selects Local Businessman to Fill Unexpired Council Term
Oct 23rd, 2012
A local businessman has been chosen to fill a vacancy on the seven-person Mobile City Council.
C’aracher (C.J.) Small Jr., who owns Small’s Mortuary & Cremation Services, was selected Tuesday by Mayor Sam Jones to fill the unexpired term left vacant by Councilman Jermaine Burrell, who assumed a job in Boston.
Jones will officially appoint Small to the seat on November 20 for City Council approval.
The remainder of the current term ends in November of 2013.
Burrell, who held the seat for three years, recommended Small. “Mr. Small has shown his commitment to District 3 through his willingness to work on the restoration of Taylor Pool, seed residential and business growth in the district, and more importantly, he knows first-hand the talents and opportunities that lie within District 3,” Burrell said. “His education, business developments and community involvement make him the perfect candidate of the position.
Mr. Small is a 1997 graduate of John S. Shaw High School with an advanced diploma, a 2000 graduate of Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service in Atlanta, with an Associate Degree in Funeral Services, and a 2008 graduate of Faulkner University in Montgomery with a B.S. degree in Management Human Resources.
“We’re please to accept Councilmember Burrell’s recommendation to fill this seat,” said the Mayor. “He has a wealth of knowledge about the issues facing District 3 and the city. His leadership will certainly be an asset as we move Mobile toward the goal of becoming a world-class city.”
Mr. Small has participated in the city’s charrette for the New Plan for Mobile; served on the District 3 Citizens’ Empowerment Committee and was active in many of the District’s Citizen Action Committees. He is a member of the Alabama Funeral Directors & Morticians Association, where he is the District 1 Representative and the National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association. He was named the 2008 MAMGA Mardi Gras King Elexis I and the Mobile alumni “Kappa Man of the Year” in 2011.
Civically, Mr. Small is a member of the Oakdale Community Service Club, a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., a member of the City of Mobile Citizen’s Budget and Finance Advisory Committee, a member of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, serves on the Board of Directors for the Mobile Civic Center, a Member of Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association, a member of 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile, Inc., a Partner in Education with the Mobile Public School System, Chaplain of the MLK Adult Mardi Association, a Board Member for the MLK Monday Mystic Association, a member of the Prince Hall Masonry and past Board President for the Mt. Ararat Learning Center. Mr. Small was also recognized as one of Mobile Bay’s 40 Under 40 Leaders in 2012. He also serves as Secretary of the Epsilon Nu Delta Mortuary Fraternity.
Religiously, he is an active and dedicated member of the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, where he serves as a Church Trustee, Sunday School Musician, Sunday School Teacher, Baptist Training Union Teacher, and a member of Mobile County Mass Choir.