By Tyler Pruett
Managing Editor
FORT PAYNE, Ala.—Fort Payne Mayor Larry Chesser is seeking the people’s support in the upcoming August 23 Municipal Elections. Chesser is wrapping up his first term as mayor, and is seeking a second to continue moving the city forward. In an interview with the Southern Torch, he highlighted the achievements of his first term and laid out his plans for the city going forward.
Larry Chesser is a longtime resident of Fort Payne, where he owned and operated Chesser Hosiery for 24 years. The mill was the first modern hosiery mill in the U.S. using high speed equipment. Chesser pioneered several improvements in the industry, including air transport, positioning systems for socks, and electronic stop motion yarn detectors. He also improved benefit systems for Fort Payne’s hosiery employees.
Chesser and his wife, Donna have been married for twenty years, and are active members of their church. They have two children and two stepchildren, and also have two grandchildren. Chesser is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in mechanical engineering. He’s also a licensed pilot, scuba diver, and snow skier.
When asked about his plans for the city going forward, Mayor Chesser said, “What you have to do, is look at what’s been done, and how you’re going to continue it.”
“When I took office, we were losing $1 million dollars a year,” Chesser explained, “and now we have a surplus of $400,000.”
While building this budget surplus, the city has been adding amenities to its parks. Chesser has also focused on building the tourism industry in Fort Payne, which is vital not only for the city itself, but also the economy of the entire county.
“Mainstreet is a big program,” Chesser said, “it helps revitalize the downtown area. It helps tourism. People don’t realize it, but we have a lot of people visiting and spending the night. Our Third Saturdays are bringing in people from Georgia and Tennessee.”
“We’re expanding our sports complex schedule to include more tournaments,” he said, “We’ve had more than last year, and we’re planning even more for the next year. We want to bring in more national tournaments, which bring even more people to Fort Payne.”
Chesser also wants to continue improvements to the city’s infrastructure, mainly the city’s aging sewer system.
“We have over a million dollars we need to spend on the sewer plant. The sewer plant was built 18 to 20 years ago and is getting worn out. We’re partnering for a grant that will get us around $600,000 of the funds needed to complete the project.” Chesser said.
“Recently, we’ve completed the much needed repaving on Highway 35 at the top of the mountain,” said Chesser, “and we have proposal in with state to do work on the intersection of Highway 35 and Airport Road, where we have a lot of traffic problems.”
Chesser is hosting an event on August 13 to both celebrate his birthday and his campaign for his second term as mayor. All members of the public are invited to attend.
For more information on Chesser’s campaign, visit his facebook page by searching “Larry Chesser” in the search bar. Chesser faces off against David Beddingfield on August 23.
