Q&A with Athens mayoral candidates Marks and Whitfield

ATHENS – With the election two weeks away, 256 Today sat down with two candidates for Athens Mayor, incumbent Ronnie Marks and local businessman Danny Whitfield, to ask five key questions about their vision, experience, and what they love most about the city. Here’s what they had to say:  

1. Why are you running for mayor?

Ronnie Marks:

I thought really long and hard about this election. In 2020, we got kicked in the teeth by COVID and I think not only us, but the entire country was a little bit scared of what was coming down and I thought at that time it was time to turn it over. But since then we have boomed. We have a lot going on. I met with family, friends, church members and others who encouraged me to run and keep the investment going on. And so that’s the reason that I decided to keep my hat in the ring and to make sure that we continue the progress.

Danny Whitfield:  

I love Athens, I care about the future and the main reason is for my family, my wife and my two daughters and my grandkids. I’ve lived here my entire life and the downtown has always been a gathering area and my wife and I invested in downtown right about the time COVID hit. I’m invested in our community.  

2. In your years of public service, what is your biggest accomplishment?

Ronnie Marks:

Working with kids, working with the young people. And I taught school way back in, in the old days, as somebody would say. But we formed the Mayor’s Youth Commission 12 years ago to get them involved in government. And I think one of the best things that we’ve done is get them in contact, let them learn, be educated about budgets all the way down to how our sewer plant works and just seeing them blossom. And that’s, I think, that’s the greatest thing. And that and working with just the quality of life issues. 

Danny Whitfield: 

I was president of the Athens Jaycees back in the late 1990s and we started looking at building a playground in town and we went and visited some of the ones like the one in Huntsville. And talk’s cheap, you can talk about doing something. But I made a decision to spearhead it and form the committee. And we actually built Kids Dugout. It’s it’s now called All Kids Park in the Sportsplex, but the town rallied behind it.

We had thousands of volunteers that came out over a five-day period prior to that, about a year of fundraising where we raised close to $200,000 in private funds and corporate funds. And when we got finished and our kids who are now grown into that playground, it gave me a sense of pride for what we had all accomplished. Not just me, but the citizens of Athens.

3. What is the biggest challenge Athens will face in the next four years?

Ronnie Marks:

Well, it’s real easy to answer that because we’re the second-fastest growing city in the state of Alabama. And that comes with excitement. It also comes with challenges. And anytime you’re challenged with the growth, you talk about infrastructure, moving traffic, improving your sewer, your streets, your roads, your sanitation and all of that is a wonderful opportunity to have. Look, there are cities in other parts of the state that absolutely can’t make payroll. We just got rated as a AA 2 rated by Moody’s, which means financially we’re in wonderful shape. So I would say without a doubt, our biggest challenge is to keep the energy, keep it moving and recognize that this is collaboration with all of us in North Alabama and with our members here.

Danny Whitfield: 

In the next four years, it’s dealing with growth and our our roads. Our roads right now are are behind and we’re going to have to folk focus on our major thoroughfares which are ALDOT managed. But to say that the city has no role in that is not correct. We have to work with ALDOT and and even federal agencies to get the funding that we are going to need to fix some of the pressing issues. And one of those is the CSX overpass on (U.S.) 72. That’s a heavy lift that’s going to require a lot of work, but I’m committed to staying on that until it is done.  

4. Why are you the best candidate for the job?

Ronnie Marks:

I think that if you will look at who’s had their boots on the ground, and I don’t want to go back too far, but all the way from boots on the ground in Vietnam to teaching school, to being at events downtown, to pop in the fans for Relay for Life, for breast cancer awareness, to the MLK events, to the events downtown. I’ve been there. I am there, and my energy level is good. And we just love Athens and we love the future of Athens. It’s going to be amazing.

Danny Whitfield:

I bring a unique skill set to the mayor’s office. I have a 35-year successful corporate experience. I work for the Sherwin-Williams Co. I started on Hobbs Street here in Athens while I was in school at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. I worked my way up. My last couple of jobs I was based out of headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.  I never had to move, thank God. I got to stay in Athens, but I spent a lot of time on airplanes. My last job, I was the global account marketing manager for Sherwin-Williams, and I was the face of Sherwin-Williams on five continents.  I managed hundreds of millions of dollars of business in 167 different countries, and being able to juggle and balance that kind of a job makes me the best fit for the mayor position. 

5. What’s your favorite thing about Athens?

Ronnie Marks:

The most wonderful thing we have going on in Athens right now is truly the energy level, the energy and it’s our people, it’s our employees. It’s working with the employees to make sure that they are taken care of, that we are purchasing the right police vehicles, fire equipment, our first responders, and then working with the education department, our city school system. And it’s just, all of this comes together and it just makes our community so great.

Danny Whitfield:

The small town charm. I’ve lived here my entire life and the downtown has always been a gathering area and my wife and I invested in downtown right about the time COVID hit. We wanted to put a restaurant in and changed her mind because she couldn’t get people to work. So they had an idea to turn the building into Market and Monroe. It’s operated as an event venue for nearly three years now.  

It’s the people of Athens. When my father passed away when I was seven years old, that left my mother and my special needs brother. And I had people in the community that gave me a hand up instead of a handout. They mentored me and made me the man I am today.   

(Editor’s note: Responses have been edited for clarity and length.)

Voters in Athens will decide between Marks and Whitfield for mayor on Aug. 26.