Rainer Meadows: Desire for 'great city' drives candidate

I am running for Mayor of Opelika because of my passion for Opelika and my desire to see our City become the best possible place to live, work, raise our families, and worship. I was raised in Opelika, attended Opelika City Schools, graduated from Auburn University, and have spent my entire adult life working in our community. I want Opelika to become a truly “Great City.” What will it take to accomplish that? While we have many things necessary to be a “Great City,” such as Interstate access, an ample water supply, a sufficient sewage system, a state of the art industrial park, a world class hospital, excellent recreational facilities, and an outstanding school system, Opelika has not shared in the growth, proportionately, as the Lee County area over the last decade. We need to ask why our population has not grown as rapidly as our neighbors, and we need to ask why the enrollment in our school system has decreased. I believe one reason is that there is a perception that Opelika does not share the same quality of life as some of our neighbors.

Quality of life is not necessarily driven by physical structures or more business. It is driven by people working together to make our City a better place to live. It is driven by people who are willing to invest their time, sweat, and money to accomplish that goal. While City Government cannot make Opelika a “Great City,” it can provide the services for its citizens in an effective and efficient manner. The Mayor must provide the leadership to bring all segments of the community together, so that we will move forward as a City. Successful leadership is about working together with the City Council, the various City departments and employees, civic groups and most importantly, Opelika’s citizens. Successful leadership is never about one person. It is teamwork.

Economic development is important to the City of Opelika; however, we must make efforts in our economic development programs to recruit and retain young families, who are the future of Opelika. Safe streets, an outstanding city school system, superb recreational programs and facilities, economic opportunities, quality housing at reasonable costs, arts programs, and a vibrant downtown are issues which are important to families considering Opelika as a possible home.

Living and working in a safe environment are important to all our citizens, and we still need to make progress in this area. We want to recruit and retain the best possible employees in the area of law enforcement. Current starting salaries of our police officers are the lowest in Lee County, and we must address that issue. We must make public safety a top priority in Opelika.

I firmly believe that we must maintain an outstanding city school system, as all facets of community life revolve around the city school system. The quality of our schools is a key factor in the progress and success of our community, and we have excellent administrators, teachers, and facilities. Yet, over the last ten years, the population of our city school system has dropped. I believe this decrease has occurred as a result of families not choosing Opelika because of their perception that our system is not competitive primarily because of test scores. We must reverse this trend. I believe the Mayor should lead the way in this effort. It is imperative that the Mayor of Opelika have first hand experiences with our city school system by virtue of his involvement and the attendance of his children. My children are also graduates of Opelika High School, and my family is totally committed to the Opelika City Schools.

As a resident of Opelika for over 50 years, I have witnessed much progress. We should give credit to those leaders and citizens who have served Opelika in the past however; I believe our best days are before us. As the old adage goes, “It is amazing what we can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit”.

I want to serve you as your Mayor, and I welcome your suggestions and questions. I may be reached at 745-3801, or you can contact me through my Web site, www.rainermeadows.com.