The Frequency

Auburn voters returned Mayor Ron Anders Jr. to a full term on Aug. 25 and settled the ballot’s only two contested council races.

Anders defeated challenger Robert Wilkins, 4,174 votes to 1,209. Six of the city’s eight ward seats were uncontested. In Ward 5, Henry “Sonny” Moreman won with 431 votes over Toshiro Jackson’s 147 and Michael Menese’s 98. In Ward 8, Tommy Dawson beat Augustus Ayers, 403 to 258.

Results stay unofficial until the City Council canvasses them Tuesday, Sept. 1. Winners take office Nov. 2.

Lee McInnis, the Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District, held a town hall at the Opelika Public Library on Aug. 20. Three other Democratic nominees joined him: Hazel Floyd (House District 38), Jamie McCurry (State Board of Education), and Michelle French (House District 37).

The four fielded questions on affordability, rural healthcare access, education, and veterans’ care. Asked about Rogers, who has held the seat since 2002, McInnis said: “So it’s great that he’s got all that seniority, but I would ask what is he doing with it to benefit the people of this district. And the answer I keep getting over and over from people is they just don’t know.” Rogers did not respond to the station’s request for comment.

A $1.5 million-a-year funding agreement for a new consolidated Chambers County high school failed Aug. 24 when the county commission deadlocked, 3-3.

Commissioners Charlie Williams (District 1), Chairman Douglas Jones (District 2), and James Williams (District 3) voted no. Sam Bradford (District 4), David Eastridge (District 5), and Debra Riley (District 6) voted yes. Without a majority, the resolution failed.

The deal would have committed the county to up to $1.5 million a year, conditioned on the school board holding at least $2.7 million in debt reserves, filing quarterly and annual financial statements, the city of Valley contributing its own $1.5 million, and a fresh renewal vote by at least four commissioners every October. It followed the commission’s February vote extending the countywide school sales tax through 2055.

The debate ran long. “It doesn’t need to be in Valley,” said James Williams, who backed a new school but not this deal. Charlie Williams said the process “wasn’t handled correctly from the start.” Eastridge, who voted yes, called it “one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make” and said the one-year renewal clause was the only reason he supported it. Riley, defending the agreement, told colleagues: “The vote of this commission took it away from your children.”

The Valley City Council denied Thirsty Tiger LLC’s application to sell consumable hemp products on Aug. 24 — the first request of its kind the council has considered.

Police Chief Stacy Shirey told the council hemp beverages are capped by state and federal law at 0.3 percent THC, the same limit that applies to CBD products; Shirey cited the figure to the council as “.003 percent.” He said enforcement falls to the state’s ABC Board and ALEA, the same agencies that handle illegal alcohol sales to minors.

The roll call vote failed, 4-2. Jim Jones and Kendall Andrews voted yes; Jim Clark, Randall Maddux, Desmond Reece, and Jimmy Gilson voted no. District 6’s Jolanda Barnes was absent.

The Alabama Public Service Commission has opened a formal review of how Alabama Power negotiates electricity contracts with large data centers.

Under the current rule, dating to 1996, contracts with big industrial customers can win automatic approval within 10 days. The new standard would require Alabama Power to show that data centers — those pulling 150 megawatts or more at peak demand — pay the full cost of serving them, and that the deals benefit other ratepayers rather than shift costs onto them. Initial comments closed Aug. 6; reply comments closed Aug. 21.

Chambers County has a stake in how this plays out. This newsletter has tracked the county’s Alabama Power bill at roughly $257 a month since Issue #1 — among the highest in the South. A rule built to keep new industrial contracts from quietly raising costs for existing customers is a rule this county’s ratepayers would feel.