Dow Over and Out,
Peavy/Jones Bout Looms
By Chip Drago
Mobile Mayor Mike Dow does not intend to seek re-election next August, ending at 16 years the longest career in modern times of an elected official at the the helm of city government here, the Mobile Bay Times has learned.
Dow, 57, refused to confirm the report,
saying that he is running for mayor
until he says he isn't.
As with many officeholders before
him, the mayor has been advised
that there is no advantage in closing
off options prematurely or in be-
coming a lame duck before it is
absolutely necessary.
However, numerous sources insist
that Dow has shared his plans with
close associates, confidants and
City Hall colleagues.
Moreover, City Councilman John R. Peavy and County Commissioner Sam Jones are laying the groundwork for their mayoral campaigns in next August's municipal elections. Jones, if successful, would become the first black mayor in the city's 300-year history.
Officially, Peavy is merely organizing his District 7 re-election campaign. But sources close to the 51-year-old construction company executive acknowledge that his eye is on the mayor's office. He is expected to announce his candidacy for mayor within the next couple of weeks.
Jones, 57, has discussed his impending candidacy with some of the community's political players as well.
Jones said Friday afternoon that he was interested in the mayorship, but only if Dow chose not to run.
"He has not said to me that he was not going to run," Jones said. "If he's not running, I would certainly have an interest."
"He told me that he's looking at some things personally that would determine (his course of action)," he continued."If he's staying, that's good. I'm supportive of him, as I've always been."
"That (Mobile's mayorship) is probably the only other political office that I would have an interest in," Jones said.
A Mobile native, Jones has resided in Toulminville in north Mobile since 1993.
Just one month ago, Jones won re-election to the Mobile County Commission. It was not clear whether Jones would step down from his commission seat in order to run for mayor or whether he could take a "free shot" at the mayor's office, only to return to the county commission should he fall short in a bid for mayor.
Dow has been expansively vague about any future plans should the day arrive when he wasn't planning to continue in office at City Hall.
He has said his post City Hall future could include a look at the 2006 governor's race. He has also said he has a couple of opportunities in the private sector. He often concludes that particular riff with the observation that he may just run away and join the circus, since 15 years at Mobile City Hall have qualified him to be a ringmaster or a lion tamer.
Jokes aside, Dow is expected to rejoin his innovative brother-in-law, Jim Busby, in his current venture, CentralLite Systems.
Dow is a three-tour Vietnam veteran having served as a helicopter door gunner in the 173rd Airborne Brigade from 1966-1968. He is a recipient of the GI Bill and a graduate of the University of South Alabama with a BS degree in Economics and a Master's Degree in Business Administration and Accounting.
Prior to his election, Dow was a co-founder with Busby, director and senior vice-president of sales and marketing for QMS, Inc., a 1977 high-tech, start-up electronics manufacturing company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1985 and purchased by Minolta, Inc. in 1999.
Dow was first elected to office in 1989, a riveting political entry in which he knocked off political heavyweight and incumbent Mayor Arthur R. Outlaw.
Dow cites among his major accomplishments in office to date organizing and implementing a successful downtown revitalization and tourism effort referred to as "The String of Pearls," upgrading and modernizing the City's technology, business management and training systems, and implementing total quality management and in-house strategic planning functions in City government.
He points to the expansion of sports, recreation, entertainment, arts and culture, including new and renovated stadiums, recreation centers and parks. During the past decade, the City has recruited the GMAC-sponsored NCAA bowl game and the following Mobile teams: BayBears AA baseball, Mysticks ice hockey, Revelers NDBL basketball and Wizards indoor football. The City has also created a 50-court tennis tournament site, a Robert Trent Jones 54-hole golf course, a fishing tournament infrastructure and many other quality venues.
Dow has been an active participant in the area's economic development efforts to attract foreign and domestic investment and to create jobs in the Mobile area. He serves as a member of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and serves on the State of Alabama Commerce Commission as chairman of its Subcommittee on Trade. He also serves as a member of the Alabama State Port Authority, the Alabama World Trade Association and numerous other state and local boards.
Dow is married to the former Patsy Busby and they have three children: Shawn, Steele and Anna.
Jones spent nine years in the U.S. Navy as an Equal Opportunity Officer, race relations education specialist and community services coordinator. He was Executive Director of Mobile Community Action from 1980-87. As chief administrator of that agency, he supervised 240 employees and a $5 million annual budget.
He was elected to the Mobile County Commission on July 6, 1987. He is a past president of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.
Peavy is the son of Nancy S. and the late Thomas K. Peavy who was the City of Mobile's
Public Works Director and City Engineer
for 25 years. His grandfather, John R.
Peavy, served as Mobile County
Engineer.
Peavy served on the Mobile City
Council from 1985 until 1993 and
did not seek re-election. He served
under both Outlaw and Dow and
was chairman of the Council's
Finance Committee and was a member
of the Public Safety Committee.
While in office, Peavy said he focused on district concerns of paving dirt roads, parks improvements as well as other quality of life issues. Peavy proclaims himself a fiscal conservative who believes firmly in the budget process and using the budget as the primary tool for managing the City's finances.
Peavy first ran for office in 1982 for Finance Commissioner against incumbent Commissioner Gary Greenough. Although unsuccessful, this campaign laid the framework for his later Council election, he said. He again ran for the Mobile County School Board in 2000 but lost to School Commissioner Lonnie Parsons.
He is currently the secretary/treasurer and co-owner of Peavy Construction Company, Inc. Before that he was the Operations Officer at Spring Hill College for twelve years and prior to that served as the grant-in-aid coordinator for the City of Mobile.
Peavy graduated from Davidson High School in Mobile and holds a BA degree in Political Science and an MPA in Public Administration from the University of South Alabama. He was a member of the 1980 class of Leadership Mobile and served as President of the Mobile County Road Builders, The Bay Area Food Bank and the Mobile Preschool for the Sensory Impaired. He served one term as a Trustee for the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind.
Peavy has been married for 28 years to Kathleen Weiss Peavy who is an Art Teacher at Baker High School. They have three children and one grandchild; Kathleen Ryan Marcopulos (Tony and daughter Grace), John R. Peavy, III (Jay) a senior at Spring Hill College and Mary Elizabeth Peavy, a junior at McGill Toolen High School.
