By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Tim Dobson will be one of the ten names on the ballot for the Fort Payne runoff at the beginning of next month on October 4. The regular municipal election on August 23 only ruled out two candidates in the race for Fort Payne City Council.
Dobson was born and raised in Fort Payne. He’s worked in the radio business since the age of 15. Currently, he’s a radio engineer with WFPA News Talk/1400 am. He is a graduate of Fort Payne High School, and received his electrical engineering degree from Gadsden State Community College.
Dobson sat down with an interview with the Southern Torch, with a little more than a week to go until the big day.
“I would like to see tourism come into Fort Payne to bring more money from out of town and out of state. We have a lot of areas that people take for granted, like Little River Canyon and DeSoto State Park,” Dobson said when asked what he would like to change about Fort Payne.
“We’ve got a good city council, and we’ve got some great members on the Council now. We do need some more new ideas. Larry has done an excellent job as Mayor,” Dobson said.
“I would like to continue and maybe throw more ideas into the hat of what they have already started,” said Dobson. “I’ve told Mayor Chesser and the rest of the council, even if I can’t get on the council I want to be involved.”
When asked about infrastructure improvements, mainly the re-routing Highway 35 and railroad congestion, Dobson said, “To reroute a major highway, the state would have to oversee the whole deal. That’s going to take several million dollars and buying a lot of property. The state pretty much controls the whole deal."
"The railroad has pretty much got us by the shirttails, they can calls the shots. The railroad owns that property and we can't do anything about it," he said.
"The only logical thing they can consider doing, is moving the pull off tracks longer down towards Portersville, where trains can pull off and other trains can pull through, but that's out of our jurisdiction," Dobson added.
"Highway 35, the railroad, these aren't new issues. I've talked to past mayors all the way back to David Stout, They’ve been dealing with these issues for 30 or 40 years," said Dobson.
“Do I think we should give up on the idea, no. Do I see it changing during this administration or the next? No. This is going to be a long term deal," Dobson said.
“I really like the mainstreet organization. It helps spruce up our town, make it more beautiful, more attractive. So more business owners will want to come into our town,” Dobson said, when asked about improving Fort Payne and it’s economy.
“I feel like personally, we should not only give incentives to large corporations, but even to smaller businesses,” said Dobson. “There should be incentives to help get them get started, grow, and make them a part of our community.”
“We should be asking ourselves, ‘what can we do to help them get started, and get off the ground?’” said Dobson.
