ATHENS — Mayor Ronnie Marks has launched his reelection bid in the city of Athens.
In office since 2010, Marks was appointed mayor when former Mayor Dan Williams left for the state Legislature. However, after the 2020 municipal election, Marks announced it would be his last term.
Marks now says, after lots of thoughts and prayer, it’s not the time to retire and he’s putting his “hat back in the ring.”
“We are the fastest-growing city and county in the state of Alabama,” Marks said. “And the projects that I’m personally working on, not that somebody else couldn’t pick them up and work on them, but I just feel like that it’s not time to turn it loose, through a lot of thoughtful talking with friends, family, church members and other people.”
Athens business owner Danny Whitfield announced his candidacy for mayor on April 1.
“I was hoping that someone would want to transition in by being involved,” Marks said. “And, and so right now, umm, there’s no one that I’ve seen that’s been involved in the last 20 years or so.”
Marks said the city is on track to top 40,000 in population in a few years and managing the growth while preserving the city’s small-time charm is a priority.
“We’ve got almost 7,000 housing units back in with our Planning Commission,” he said. “About 4,500 of those are already projects that have been approved, signed off on, and that’s just not all single family, but about 4500 thousand units.
“Easy math for me and you. We’re at about 31,000 now. And you put two people in each one of those. And it’s not 10 years from now – in the next few years you’ll be a city of 40,000 people.”
With the opportunities growth brings, it also presents challenges, said Marks. In 2022, the city adopted a master growth plan: Athens 2040 Pathways to Excellence Comprehensive Plan.
“We got a 2040 master plan and we got community input, much like the county’s efforts are doing now,” he said. “Well, what, what is our issues? How do we handle traffic?”
Marks said traffic and infrastructure needs remain a serious concern.
“Infrastructure is not just above the ground,” he said. “It’s above and below. And that means water, sewer, gas, along with trying to move traffic.”
Preserving the character of Athens also remains a top priority. Marks said two more parks are in the works.
“That’s why we’re looking to build two parks at our Sunrise Park and our Swan Creek park,” he said. “And it’s the Sunrise Park’s old 32 acres that we had. It’s a former Pilgrims Pride chicken processing plant and we’ve got things on the way for that.”
Marks said in addition to quality of life, public safety has to remain a top priority.
According to FBI data, Athens ranks well below the national average for violent crime but is higher than the national average for property crime.
“So, the quality of life has to be one of our top priorities along with public safety,” he said. “We don’t have public safety, it all goes down the drain.”
Marks said as mayor over the past 15 years, he has built solid relationships with state and national leaders.
“I’ve got connections with our federal delegation, with Sen. Tuberville and Sen. Britt and Congressman Dale Strong and others, and we’re working on lots of grants both at the state and federal level,” he said.
Marks, 80, said he is busier than ever with no plans of slowing down.
“Like I quoted Ronald Reagan in the statement, I promise I will try not to hold their youth against them,” he said.
The Athens municipal election is Aug. 26.
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