Cullman City Council Place 1 debate

0:27 Hello and welcome to the beautiful Bailey Center auditorium on the grounds of Wallis State College in Hsville.

0:33 Thank you to our gracious hosts Wallis State College and Dr. Vicky Cardawix. The 2025 Tribune debate series and

0:41 question and answer forums continue today with the municipal elections, more specifically the Cullman

0:49 City Council. These events are designed to give the public more unfiltered answers without the questions ahead of

0:57 time, direct comparisons, and meaningful conversations. Today we will continue with city council place one, place

1:05 three, place four, and place five. Well, hold on. One, two, three, and five. My apologies.

1:14 And we will start with uh our first candidates for place one. We're focusing

1:20 on Brad Smith and Chuck Shackle. And we would like to thank them both for

1:26 filming today. And with that being said, we'll go to our rules for the

1:30 candidates. No electronic devices permitted. If you have a smart watch, please go ahead and turn it off. Uh

1:37 questions will alternate, so no candidate answers first or last more than the other. Your opening statement

1:43 is limited to 60 seconds and may be prepared. Time allotted for each question will be two minutes. A closing

1:50 statement is limited to 90 state 90 seconds and may be spoken without notes.

1:56 One rebuttal, one rebuttal per question, but only if a candidate calls out the

2:02 other and it is set for a 45 second rebuttal. Facts only, no accusations

2:08 without proof. This will allocate additional time to your opponent. Voters deserve substance over slogans. So,

2:16 let's begin. We will start with opening statements with Brad Smith. >> Good afternoon. My name is Brad Smith,

2:26 uh, city council place one. Uh, I was born and raised in the city of Cullman,

2:31 graduated from Cullman High School. Uh, my wife Cheryl and I have been married

2:36 for 23 years. Uh, she was born and raised in Cullman as well. I have two

2:40 boys. Uh, one that's a senior and one that's an eighth grader, also in uh,

2:45 Cullman City Schools. Both of my parents are from uh, Cullman, born and raised.

2:51 Uh my dad worked in the trucking industry for many many years and uh my

2:55 mom worked for the city of Cullman for 30 plus years and uh I came on council

3:00 in 2022 and went straight to work with other city council members and my public

3:05 safety administrators. I'm very proud of my accomplishments in my short time on the council. I look forward to the

3:11 discussion today and thank you to the Tribune and Wallace State for hosting us.

3:17 Thank you, sir, for your opening statement. And Chuck Shackle, same thing. Uh 60 seconds for your opening

3:23 statement, sir. My name is Chuck Shel. I'm running for city council place one

3:28 with the exception of my 5-year military career uh as a military policeman in the

3:32 United States Army. I've lived my entire life in the city of Cullman. I'm a

3:36 retired police officer with 25 years experience. 21 of those years have been at the city of Cullman. Throughout the

3:43 course of my career as a police officer, I've had an opportunity to work in

3:46 pretty much every uh area that the police department has. Whether it's uh started my career as a motor officer, uh

3:54 worked as an investigator, I've been a shift supervisor. The last two years were spent uh supervising our SRO

4:01 program and our park police program. I think that my experience working within uh the public safety division, working

4:08 alongside our firefighters and working with our uh telecommunication specialists give me a really uh unique,

4:17 and I hate to use word perspective, it's been one of my campaign things, but a

4:20 unique perspective on what these guys need uh and and what we can do as a

4:24 council to help them succeed. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. Uh

4:31 Brad, we're not allowed to have any other statements. Sorry. >> Thank you, sir.

4:40 >> All right. Well, we will get started with this debate. Uh Brad, uh we're

4:44 going to go by first names from the rest of the debate if that's fine with you

4:47 both. And Brad, we'll start with you on leadership style. How do you define

4:54 leadership? And can you give one example of a time when you led through conflict

5:00 or challenge? Yeah. Um my leadership style can be uh can be somewhat aggressive but uh driven with facts and

5:09 uh so uh we obviously when I came on in 2022 uh knew some of the council members well

5:16 some didn't but uh meeting with our administrators and the needs that they that they had uh they came to me and I

5:22 went work straight to work to uh to work with other council members to get the

5:26 things that they need whether it be fire trucks. Obviously pay has been been a

5:31 huge step uh in in helping recruitment and retention uh within our whole city

5:36 departments as well as first responders. Um conflicts obviously we've worked with through some of those. I go to bat hard

5:43 for my guys and always have. The results that uh that I've given have proven that

5:48 and um so you know I've been very effective in in the short time of being

5:53 on there and uh explaining to our other council members why we needed these

5:57 upgrades coming with facts and very proud of those accomplishments so far. >> Thank you sir for your response. And

6:06 Chuck, same question on leadership style. How do you define leadership and can you give one example of a time when

6:13 you led through conflict or a challenge? >> Uh I think my leadership style is is

6:21 I I believe in leadership by by service. Uh I think my throughout my career I

6:26 have I have strived with anybody that was uh a subordinate to me. I've always

6:31 focused on um making sure that they've had every tool that they've had available to them so they so that they

6:37 could so so they could advance. I look at uh the last night shift that I ran. I

6:42 think everybody off that shift uh has gotten promoted to sergeant or or better, including the uh uh the now

6:49 chief and the assistant chief. Not that I'm taking credit for that. They did

6:52 that on their own. But I have always been I've always been a servant leader.

6:57 I have always focused on betterment of the people. uh that work well they don't

7:02 I don't like to say they work for me but they work they work with me and uh and

7:06 and I've been able been fortunate to lead a lot of great uh people both in

7:09 the civilian law enforcement side and uh in the military uh as far as conflict in

7:16 leadership uh gosh there's there's so many whether it was uh when I was on the

7:21 tack team or a shift supervisor uh probably briefly uh the last the last uh

7:27 conflict that we had to deal with when I was a a leader uh was an armed it was an

7:32 armed uh domestic violence suspect that had taken shots at his wife and had her

7:38 restrained to a bed. And I was able to coordinate all of our guys in a manner

7:41 that we could uh effectively deal with this situation without any uh without any loss of life and without any

7:47 injuries to any of the officers which are uh important but most important without any injuries to the to the

7:53 victim and without any injuries to the subject. Thank you sir for your answer and uh

8:00 Chuck will stay with you for question number two and this involves growth versus preservation.

8:06 Cullman is growing quickly. How do you balance new development with protecting the city's small town identity?

8:16 So I think that's been one of the uh that's been one of the hot topic uh

8:20 points on the campaign trail. I've been going door todo um as much as as much as

8:25 I can throughout this process and that really has been the number one topic is

8:30 growth and and how uh how can the city manage it and I think uh I think that

8:35 that when it comes to how our city is growing and how we're we're we're

8:40 dealing with uh with that with that growth as far as where the new

8:44 developments are coming in and things of that nature. I think that uh I think

8:48 that we could do a better job um directing directing that growth and trying to uh and trying to to to focus

8:55 it. You know, infrastructure is important and and I think that we our city has grown and our infrastructure

9:01 hasn't grown with it. And I think that that's going to be an important factor

9:05 as the city continues to grow, both roads, sewer, water, uh and our public

9:09 safety uh infrastructure as well. >> Thank you, sir, for your answer. And Brad, we'll move to you. Same question.

9:19 Growth versus preservation. Cullman is growing quickly. How do you balance new development with protecting the city's

9:27 small town identity? >> Well, we are growing and that is a testament to uh to the people that came

9:35 before me that made this city what it is. Uh it is a safe town. It is popular.

9:40 You know, lots of people are looking forward to moving here. That wasn't always the case and like I said that

9:45 that is a testament to the people have come before me and we've helped nurture

9:48 that. The great thing position we are in now is that we get to choose kind of

9:53 what housing developments we want here, what industries we want to recruit, what retail developments we want to accept or

10:00 turn down. And we've turned down many because we're in a great spot now to to

10:04 embrace the ideas and the retail developments and even industry we want. And uh that's a great place to be. Uh,

10:11 as far as our infrastructure, I would disagree some uh with Mr. Shackle on

10:15 that. Uh, I'm well aware that our public safety uh is in a great department to uh

10:21 to lead into the future. We've set it up that way. Uh, also, you know, our roads,

10:25 that probably be the biggest thing. We're doing paving obviously all the time. Um, we have our sanitation. It's a

10:32 great part. We secured our trash for the next 100 years. We secured our water for

10:37 the next 100 years. Um, so I would disagree on that. uh our infrastructure

10:41 is in a good place and we're in a spot now where we can continue to pick and

10:45 choose the things the developments that are right for Cullman. >> Thank you sir for your response

10:55 and we will move on to question number three regarding public safety. What specific policies or resources

11:05 would you support to strengthen police, fire, and EMS services as as the city

11:12 expands? >> Well, uh like I said, Mr. Shackle is a is ex is a retired policeman and u I'm

11:20 not. The great part about that is is that we have great administrators in all

11:23 of our departments, especially in our public safety division. Uh we had a uh

11:29 longtime chief, Chief Bradberry, that retired. We brought him on as the public uh safety director because we brought in

11:35 a had a longtime chief and chief called Kenny Co Pepper that retired, had a new

11:39 chief coming in, had a new fire chief coming in. So, we brought that in to

11:43 help help that gap with the learning experience um that that those two didn't

11:48 have. Um we brought that forward with new facilities. We brought that forward with new better pay for recruitment. We

11:56 brought that better with better leadership. uh we we do not want mediocrity in our public safety division

12:03 and I think that has been proven uh leadership we're going to hold people

12:07 accountable uh hasn't always been popular uh but that is what we are after

12:12 and so if you do not want to be the best if you do not want to live up to the

12:17 standard that that we are setting in the public safety division then then maybe

12:21 it's not the best place for you but we've had a great buyin from the people

12:24 if you're willing to do the training if you're willing to take on the education

12:28 that we offer and not just sit back. We're willing to take care of you with

12:32 pay. And so, you know, throughout the state, we're recruiting some of the best, you know, from lateral divisions,

12:39 um, from other uh, agencies. And, uh, I'm very proud of that. You know, it

12:43 used when I first came on, it it was it was tough to find, uh, police, fire, and

12:48 now, you know, we we put up an ad the other day for a policeman uh, hiring a

12:54 patrol division. In three hours we had 21 applications. I mean that's strong. That's far far away from where we used

13:00 to be. And so I'm very proud of those accomplishments and the next four years,

13:04 you know, I think we get a whole lot more done. So I'm looking forward to it.

13:09 >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And Chuck, we'll move to you. Same

13:15 question. Regarding public safety, what specific policies or resources would you support to strengthen police, fire, and

13:24 EMS services as the city expands? >> So, I think what's important um and and

13:32 I I will I will compliment our council. They they did do a lot uh to increase

13:36 our starting pay from a recruitment standpoint. Um I think the most important portion moving forward is

13:43 retention. Um, I think uh I agree with with Mr. Smith that we need to be hiring

13:49 the best police officers, firefighters, uh, communication specialists. We need to train these guys to the best

13:54 standard. And most importantly is we need to we need to figure out a way to

13:58 to work on retention. We've had some retention issues in some of these uh

14:01 some of these areas and I've I've spoken with um uh public safety director

14:06 Bradberry and I know that that they're working on plans to to to fix it. Um, I

14:12 would like to see I would like to see the school resource officer uh stuff

14:17 expanded a little bit to to entice some of our uh soon to be retired officers to

14:22 step into that role. Uh, it would obviously involve bumping them up to the

14:26 to the state maximum pay for uh retirees, which is pretty common uh amongst other agencies around our area.

14:33 Uh but I do think that that would help. I think that would help uh motivate some

14:37 of these guys in the upper echelons uh to make that next step towards

14:40 retirement and it would open up promotional opportunities. Um I've had an opportunity to speak to firefighters

14:46 and and police officers and a lot of those guys feel trapped. They they feel

14:51 like there's not a lot of upward mobility. I know from the police department standpoint, um, a lot of the

14:58 positions that used to be promotable are now appointed positions and some of these guys feel like they that there's

15:04 no more uh there's there's not as many avenues uh to advance. So, I think

15:09 that's something that the council could could uh work on and change. Um, and and

15:13 I think uh one thing that I mentioned before and and I've actually spoken to

15:17 him about it. Uh, it's something that that has come up. we've been hearing it

15:21 uh from the time I hired in 2004 is retirey insurance. You know, I think if

15:26 we had retirees insurance, I think that would be a very very nice uh retention

15:32 tool. Uh and it would also motivate guys that whenever it comes time, it would

15:36 motivate those guys to to go ahead and step out. >> All right. Uh we're going to give you 45

15:43 seconds to respond to the um council specific. Yeah. >> Okay. Yes, on that the retention part u

15:52 national average for you know retention within fire and police is of 15% uh with

15:57 combined we sit around seven and uh so you know I I really think that's great

16:04 um you know I understand Chuck hasn't had any experience in the executive leadership level but when we raise our

16:10 starting pay we in turn raise our top out pay so our guys that are in in

16:15 positions above that had the availability to make more money as they And you know, I understand as he met

16:22 with the, you know, director Brad Barry and I don't think, you know, he was able

16:26 to clear it up, but uh it it's really pretty simple. When we raise the

16:30 starting pay, the top pay goes up. That's been great with the retention. Obviously, as I just stated before, 3

16:36 hours, we have 21 applications. We just put out one for the fire as well, the

16:40 same response. So, um you know, I disagree on the retention. We did discuss um retirey insurance before he

16:46 ran and um that is something we're looking into for this budget and uh

16:51 we're very pleased to hopefully be able to offer that in the near future and

16:54 we'll keep going forward. >> Thank you for your response. Chuck, we'll go back to you on budget

17:00 discipline. When funds are limited, which programs or services would you cut or reduce first and why?

17:11 >> All right, one more time. I'm sorry. I didn't hear the very first part of that.

17:14 >> When funds are limited, which programs or services would you cut or reduce

17:20 first and why? >> Well, I think obviously uh from a public safety perspective, um I would steer

17:26 clear of cutting public safety uh services. Um I know that our uh street

17:32 department is they're they're operating very efficiently. Our sanitation is operating very efficiently. Uh I think u

17:38 the easy answer would probably be uh recreational services whether it's park and wreck or or whatever. And I think

17:45 that I think the reason um don't misunderstand I'm not advocating for cutting park and wreck but if we have

17:51 limited funds and we have uh we have you know money that we have to spend in

17:57 certain places. I think that that's the common sense answer is uh is to to cut

18:01 cut those from parking wreck. Thank you sir for your response. Brad, same question. Bud budget discipline.

18:10 When funds are limited, which programs or services would you cut or reduce first and why?

18:17 >> Yes. Uh fortunately, we're in a great spot, but uh I don't see any time in the

18:21 near future we will have to cut funds. Um I agree with with Chuck on public

18:25 safety is not something I think that would ever be done. Uh infrastructure is

18:29 infrastructure. We have to take care of it. if there were a need for something

18:32 possibly in recreation that we had to cut my might might even agree it would

18:36 be there. Uh the flip coin to that is um our park and wreck and those tourism

18:42 services. They are bringing in these monies and we have a lot of cities and a

18:46 lot of counties in the state of Alabama that are running flat. Some are close to

18:51 bankrupt. We're well above that number and it's something we should all be proud of. Our citizens included. Now, I

18:57 know sometimes, you know, our citizens get upset maybe about the traffic during festivals. We're bringing in outside

19:03 money to fund your roads, to fund your public safety, all those things. That's

19:09 why going forward, I don't see that issue. I appreciate the question, but moving forward, we are in a great great

19:15 spot to embrace all this. So, um, you know, it's a it is I understand it's a

19:21 question you've got to ask, but I, you know, outside of another 2008, uh,

19:26 something like that, um, even the council then, you know, they they had to

19:31 cut some things. They didn't cut anybody's job and and we're in a spot

19:35 that's much better than that right now. So, we'll continue to to embrace and

19:38 support our tourism because that's what's driving a lot of the improvements that you see in our city.

19:45 >> Thank you, sir, for your answer. I know that's kind of an odd question uh as far

19:50 as dealing with a budget shortage, but you never know when something can happen

19:54 or you know they decide to do another COVID mandate or whatever. So, all

19:59 right. So, we'll move on. Brad, we'll stay with you. Uh on transparency, do you support live streaming and

20:06 publishing all council meetings and workshops? Why or why not? >> Uh yes. I mean, our our council meetings

20:14 are already live streamed. Um the media is obviously available during our work sessions. Um so that's that's something

20:21 that's obviously already in place. Uh I guess if they needed to be the work

20:26 sessions themselves needed to be live stream. Uh obviously we need to check with the attorneys and the people like

20:32 that. I don't I don't know the rules that far. Um but the media is always

20:36 welcome to any of our work sessions. So that is pretty much in place.

20:40 >> Thank you sir for your response. Chuck, same question on transparency. Do you

20:45 support live streaming and publishing all council meetings and workshops? Why or why not? I

20:51 >> wholeheartedly support live streaming on uh council meetings, which like uh Mr. Smith said, we're already doing. And uh

20:58 I certainly support that on our workshops as well. Uh throughout my time campaigning, uh transparency seems to be

21:03 one of the hot topic items for a lot of the people that I talked to. A lot of

21:06 our citizens are concerned that they're not getting the whole story. Whether it's uh whether that's true or not, I'm

21:12 not sure. But, uh, I think that that would alleviate a lot of those concerns

21:16 if those meetings were livereamed. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And Chuck will stay with you on motivation

21:24 and independence. Many voters wonder why candidates choose to run. >> Was your decision shaped by personal

21:34 conviction, community encouragement, or alliances with other candidates? So, the reason that I chose to to run um

21:43 was really based on my career. I've had an opportunity to see how mayoral and

21:48 council decisions affect uh the line level and the line level supervisor uh positions. And I've always believed that

21:56 if we had somebody with public safety experience, whether it was a police officer, a firefighter, or a

22:00 telecommunication specialist, somebody that had worked in that industry, somebody that had had seen how these

22:06 decisions impact both positively and negatively, uh, that they could that they could really make a difference um,

22:12 in elected position on the council. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. Brad,

22:17 same question. Motivation and independence. Many voters wonder why candidates choose to run. Was your

22:25 decision shaped by personal conviction, community encouragement, or alliances with other candidates? >> Um, my decision was based on uh you

22:35 know, obviously had had some people that ask me to to continue to run uh and u my

22:41 personal conviction. Um my my parents uh my mom especially worked in public service for for many years and and I saw

22:49 exactly the opportunity she was able to create for the city of Cullman and I

22:53 just wanted to be a small small part of that. Uh and I hope I made her proud in

22:58 some aspects. Um but it has been it has been a great experience. Um we're not

23:03 perfect. None of us are. And you know some of us we've made mistakes along the

23:07 way but I think the good far outweighs the bad. And uh I know the people that

23:13 are with me and I think you know most of their challengers uh they care about

23:18 Cullman. Um some may have agendas that would be unfortunate uh cuz I really

23:22 wouldn't want anyone to do it without just caring for our community. Um so I I

23:27 really do care uh wholeheartedly and I'm proud of the results that we've all

23:32 achieved. Um look forward to continuing that. Um yeah, that's all I got. >> Thank you sir for your response.

23:42 And we will stay with you, Brad, on infrastructure. Where do you see the city's most urgent

23:50 infrastructure needs? Roads, water, sewer, internet, and how would you prioritize them? >> What were the the choices?

23:59 >> Roads, water, sewer, internet. >> Uh roads. Uh yeah, roads are always uh

24:07 top of the list. I don't I don't think you go go around that. Uh the way the

24:12 roads were handled uh back in the day when you're just paving, overpaving, overpaving. Uh you get a lot of buildup

24:19 and um nothing's really getting done. If you don't take care of what's underneath

24:24 um you know, you're just kind of putting a band-aid on it. What I believe this

24:28 council has been great at is sometimes it takes a little longer, but if we've

24:32 searched for a lot of grants, we've gotten a lot of grants where we're able

24:35 to strip that down to bare bones. we're able to repair the sewer, water

24:39 underneath that before we come back and pave. Uh just being good stewards of

24:44 money with the grants that uh have been available. The next thing in my opinion

24:49 um would be internet. Highsp speeded internet. We we do have some decent internet here. Sprout is on the way uh

24:55 for the city. I believe we're last on the list. That's okay. It'll be here. If

25:00 there's another service that's available, we would gladly look at it as well. Um and then water and sewer which

25:06 I as I stated earlier are in a great place. Um we've secured you know that

25:11 infrastructure for the next hundred years and uh so I guess 100 years later

25:15 they're have to look at uh some different options but for the next century or so we've got that squared

25:21 away for quite a while. >> Thank you sir for your response. And Chuck, same question on infrastructure.

25:28 Where do you see the city's most urgent infrastructure needs, roads, water, sewer, or internet? And how would you

25:37 prioritize them? >> So, I think for a lot of people, uh, roads are the the easy uh answer, you

25:44 know, but I I think that the city's limited in what we can do with the the

25:47 current road situation. You know, I look at Highway 31, uh, and Highway 278, and

25:52 I know that there's plans to widen 278. We've uh the city's done a good job with

25:56 with the uh resources that they've had. Uh but but I would probably say sewer

26:01 and not necessarily from the perspective that Mr. Smith's coming from. What I see

26:06 in a lot of neighborhoods, my neighborhood included, u is our sewer, and I'm assuming it's sewer, they they

26:12 come in and they cut out big sections of road and then they replace certain

26:15 things within the sewer system, then they come out and patch it, which is

26:19 which is fine, but it leaves some of those roads very very patchwork. So, um,

26:24 so when I when I say sewer, I'm not talking about the treatment facility.

26:27 I'm talking about like our, uh, sewage lines, the the the things that are that

26:33 are running under our streets. I I would like to see those whenever a road's

26:37 paved. I would like to see those. We did it once on um I believe it was Katherine

26:42 Street where they came up, they completely stripped it down, pulled all of the uh the sewer lines, and replaced

26:48 it. I'm not sure if I've seen that in any other areas where they've done an

26:52 entire section like that. But I think in the future whenever we look at at our

26:56 infrastructure, I think that that's going to be a key a key thing. You know,

26:59 we can pave our streets and it's great. They've done a great job on paving the

27:02 streets. Uh we're limited on how wide we can make our roads. Um um I don't want

27:07 to to to quote Mr. Willoughby, but I'm not a fan of uh of all of the the flower

27:13 flower beds and the beautifification stuff that stick out so far in the roads

27:16 whenever we do these. They look phenomenal. Uh, a couple of my best friends are they're both over 80. One of

27:22 them's well over 90. Uh, and they've hit them on multiple occasions. But, uh, but

27:27 I would say I would say sewer would be the the the sewer lines themselves would

27:31 be uh what I would prioritize. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

27:39 Chuck, we're going to stay with you. on community engagement. How would you actively involve citizens

27:47 in decision makingaking beyond just attending council meetings? Well, I think uh having having council

27:56 members that are accessible to the community and that are available and willing to to to speak is extremely

28:02 important. Um, again going door todoor talking with people uh that's that is something that that they have a

28:10 frustration that they have uh put up in front of me is is that they don't

28:14 believe that our council members are necessarily accessible. Uh they don't know u really how to get in contact with

28:20 them and I think if we had better engagement uh with our citizens I think

28:25 that they would be more likely to attend our council meetings and have their

28:28 voice be heard. I also think go back to the question regarding um um live streaming or televising our work

28:36 sessions. I think that that would go a long way uh toward it as well. I think

28:40 if they're if they're informed about what's going on, if our citizens are informed, I think that they're going to

28:45 be more active and they'll engage with the council much better. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

28:52 Brad, same question on community engagement. How would you actively involve citizens in decision making

28:59 beyond just attending council meetings? >> Uh well, citizens, I don't know if it's

29:05 just me, but citizens are very engaged with me. Uh I'm not hard to get a hold

29:09 of at all. Uh our email is is on our website. It's on our Facebook page. Our

29:14 phone numbers are on there. Uh we're not hard to get a hold of. uh don't really

29:18 have many as many people at council meetings maybe in the past because we

29:22 are live streaming and uh so it doesn't have the need for people to leave their

29:26 house to come to those meetings but uh you know I get sometimes it takes two

29:30 hours to get through Walmart or the grocery store because people want to talk to you and guess what that's what

29:35 we signed up for and I'm happy to do it uh you know my wife can tell you

29:40 sometimes you get trapped on the phone till 10:00 at night um but you know even

29:44 if you can't I mean I had one this week you You know, the guy asked me on during

29:48 all this campaigning what my agenda was and u kind of explained it and he asked

29:54 me what I was going to fix on County Road 1223 and uh unfortunately uh we

30:00 don't reach that far and uh but you get a lot of those questions and it's okay.

30:04 I mean it's good to inform people and let them know some people just don't and

30:09 I'm happy to speak with them anytime. I don't think we're hard to get a hold of

30:13 them. Um, we're very accessible and happy to happy to talk to anyone at any

30:18 time. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And we'll stay with you, Brad, on economic

30:26 development. What type of businesses or industries should Cullman recruit and which would you oppose?

30:36 >> Which would I oppose? Well, uh, grew up in economic development. As I stated, my my mom

30:45 Peggy was economic development director here, uh, for 30 plus years. Um, most of

30:51 the people in this room, a lot of people at home, uh, they probably know somebody

30:55 that works at a at one of the industries or companies that she recruited here.

31:00 Thousands upon thousands of jobs. And we're proud of those. Most of those are

31:05 here. They've expanded numerous times and we're very proud to support those. Uh although our economic development has

31:13 changed quite a bit. We've we've ran out of of land to an extent. Uh but we're

31:17 very fortunate to be able to look up and look look north and look south. Uh we're

31:22 leaning more into research and development. Um bringing you know few more white collar jobs. Um, a lot of

31:28 STEM programs obviously work within the schools to support those and um, a lot

31:33 of those opportunities are looking our way and we're looking to to take care of

31:37 them. As far as being opposed, um, I I'm not sure of any I would be necessarily

31:43 opposed to, maybe, you know, nuclear plant, anything that might be harmful to our community or or our state. Um, you

31:51 know, they, like I said, they've done a great job in economic development. got a

31:55 great team now and we'll continue to have a great team going forward. Uh so I

31:59 I have the utmost respect and the utmost confidence in our economic development team. We would certainly I would

32:05 certainly never try to micromanage them because they know much more about it. We

32:08 just support them. >> Thank you sir for your response. And Chuck, same question. Economic

32:15 development, what type of businesses or industries should Cullman recruit and which would you oppose? Well, I think

32:24 one of the uh the the the the stuff that I'm hearing from people whenever I'm

32:27 talking is obviously you have people that are wanting more uh service-based industries, whether it's uh maybe

32:34 hotels, maybe restaurants, things of that nature. I think that that's for a lot of people. I think that that's

32:40 important to them. Um not sure what that generates as far as revenue compared to

32:44 some of the industrial bases we have. You know, I think Cullman's in a you

32:49 know, I was having a conversation with somebody. I said, Cullman's in a very

32:52 unique and advantageous position when it comes to to industry. Given the number of uh federal highways that we have in

32:57 this city, uh the interstate that we have and the state highways that we

33:01 have, I think Cullman can attract just about any industry that we want just

33:05 based on our location in the state and the access to uh to things that that you

33:10 know to interstates and roads. So, um I think that the industries that a lot of

33:14 people are looking for that they want to see from people that I'm talking they

33:18 really are talking to. really want to see some more service-based things. Uh, as far as stuff that's that's that's

33:24 that I would oppose, I think I would not to not to copy him,

33:29 but I think until you're presented with something, I think it's hard to make a a

33:34 decision to say, "Yes, I'm for this or I'm against it." Obviously, things that

33:37 are harmful to the community, things that are that that could potentially be dangerous, uh, hazardous would be

33:44 something that I would pose. But I guess that's about it. I have just like

33:50 yes brought up our retail and I apologize forgot to mention it. Uh retail development has as has really

33:56 segueed into our economic development. Uh you know we have the opportunity now and it's it's great. We used to beg we

34:04 used to go you know send people to Vegas to these shows to beg people to come

34:08 look into Cullman and what it has to offer. Now we have people coming in

34:12 begging to come here and we have the opportunity to look at these, you know,

34:17 we don't want to look like Decatur, we don't want to look like Garden. We have

34:20 the opportunity to pick and choose from those developments and that isn't a great place to be. We're kind of, as

34:25 I've said before, in the cat bird seat on that. And uh we want to make uh bring

34:29 the retailers and industries here that complement Cullman, not to cannibalize any of our local

34:36 businesses and things like that. And we're proud of that and we're going to

34:38 stick to it. And since that was just a continuation, Chuck, I'm going to give you 45 seconds

34:44 if you want to add anything to your statement. >> Oh, well, I mean, I don't really have

34:48 anything to add. I think that um first two first two weeks of my campaign, I

34:53 really did focus on a lot of our small businesses. I think that our uh small

34:57 business area downtown are I think it's special. I think that a lot of people in

35:01 Cullman, whenever they think of Cullman, they think of the small business that we

35:04 have. And and I know from from those guys they they have a they have a

35:09 perception that uh sometimes interest of the larger uh retail stores uh are outweigh or outweighing them in the

35:17 process. And I think that that's something that uh the council needs to correct.

35:22 >> All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you both for uh kind of a little more

35:27 explanation on the question. Chuck will stay with you on accountability. If the council passes something you

35:35 strongly oppose, how will you hold your how will you hold yourself accountable to your constituents while still working

35:44 with your colleagues? >> Well, I think that that it's important to be open with the people that uh that

35:50 you serve, the people that that have put their faith in you um and have voted for

35:55 you. I think it's it's well, not just them. I think it's important to be open

35:58 with everybody and if there's something that comes along that you don't agree with, I think that you should have the

36:04 the ability to to disagree. And if it's a no vote, it's a no vote. And and I'm I

36:09 would hope that the council um that they're that they recognize uh that they

36:14 recognize that that we each have our own um interest whenever we make a decision.

36:20 We have our own reasons for uh the choices that we make. And and I would

36:24 assume I would assume all these councilmen are professional. So, I would assume that they would understand that

36:28 and that wouldn't be uh problematic for for these councilmen or myself. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

36:36 Brad, same question on accountability if the council passes something you strongly oppose. How will you hold

36:42 yourself accountable to your constituents while working with your colleagues? >> Well, you know, I've always stood on my

36:50 convictions. uh you know, the people that uh encouraged me to run, uh the

36:54 people that vote for me, uh I think they know what they're voting for. Um do we

36:59 always agree? Absolutely not. Um you know, that's why there's five of us and

37:05 sometimes it becomes three to two and you know, sometimes it's four to one. It

37:11 it's just depend. I mean, people have their reasonings or whatever for for believing the way they do. That's what

37:17 makes us a special place. What I'm proud of is when we come out, I mean, you can

37:21 handle this in a work session, whether it's live streamed or not, but when we

37:26 come out, we come out unified. And I think that's important as a city. You

37:30 come out, we don't want to be embarrassing. We don't want to, you know, look like a, you know, a Terran

37:35 city hall with people throwing things across the room against each other. We we come out unified, even if we don't

37:41 always agree. So, u, but I I will always stand with my convictions. I may not,

37:45 you know, I may be the the one with four voting against me, but you know, that's

37:50 just the way I live. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. Thank you, gentlemen, u both for coming out

37:58 and agreeing to this debate today and kind of kicking us off as far as the uh

38:04 council is concerned. So, now we will go to closing statements. Uh, Chuck, since

38:11 we let Brad go first on opening statements, you're welcome to go first on closing statements.

38:18 >> Well, like I say, I'm running for city council place one. It's the uh public

38:21 safety chair. I hope that that my experience um I hope that my leadership

38:27 that I've that I've exhibited both in the military and in the uh police

38:32 department, I hope that that that shows to the voters that that that I'm

38:36 valuable. I hope that that they understand that um I have a servant's heart. I want to make sure that that our

38:43 public safety sector uh is taken care of uh from now on. Uh and I think that if

38:50 if I'm given the opportunity to do that, I think that I will uh think that I will

38:53 do that job and I will do it extremely well. I think that the relationships

38:57 that I forged in the fire department, I think with the relationships that I

39:00 forged with my fellow police officers when I before I retired and with the

39:05 telecommunication specialist, uh, I think that that they would trust that I have their best interests at heart and

39:11 and that I would have the best interest of the citizens of this city at heart.

39:14 And I look forward to the election Tuesday and I hope that uh that you that

39:18 you consider me and vote for me for city council place one. Thank you sir for your closing remarks

39:25 and uh Brad closing statements. >> Thank you. Obviously Cullman was founded uh on hard work and a lot of pride.

39:34 There a lot of people that came before us the the Roy Drinkers the Chester

39:38 Freeman's folks like that that created this town with a lot of hard work. We

39:42 were talking about leadership style. I appreciate Mr. shockless service in the military and to our police department.

39:48 Although, you know, is striving towards wanting to be a better leader, you know,

39:54 he only made it to sergeant and we're looking for people that want to better

39:57 ourselves above this. And so saying effective leadership, you know, that's great. Done a lot of things. We've done

40:05 a lot of things to promote all all of our folks and that goes from the chief

40:09 of police down to here. So, we want people that want to be a part of this.

40:14 And we're not going to award people for just being on for 20 years or 22 years.

40:18 We want people that are actively going to participate. We want people that are

40:22 going to get educated and go through the training. We we're happy to pay you. We

40:25 don't have an issue in the world with doing that. If you want to learn, you

40:28 want to be a better part of this community and any service that we have,

40:32 we're happy to do that. But I think it would be irresponsible, you know, for

40:36 someone to say, "Hey, we're going to we've got a Porsche here. and we're

40:40 going to turn it over to a 16-year-old. I don't think that's good. So, I mean,

40:43 we have an obligation to do our due diligence and I think the citizens have

40:47 an obligation to do their due diligence to look at the people you're voting for.

40:51 It's easy to say, "Well, we want all these people out. We want all these

40:54 people in." Do your research, do your study, make sure that you're being responsible as we're trying to be for

40:59 you. And I appreciate your vote on August 26th. >> Thank you, sir. And Chuck, you're going

41:05 to get 45 second rebuttal uh regarding the sergeant. Well, you know, again, he

41:11 is correct. Uh I did just make it to sergeant. Uh that's that's indisputable.

41:17 Uh but I did make it to sergeant in the police department. And during the course

41:20 of that my career as a sergeant, I've led many many police officers in that

41:26 position. Um so I don't take that as as as a negative at all. I think that that

41:32 working your way through the police department, whether it's just a sergeant or uh just a patrolman, I think it has

41:38 uh as much value when it comes to experience um as as anything. Uh that

41:44 that's really about it. >> Thank you, sir. And thank you both for coming out. Um again, um this was for

41:52 place one with Brad Smith and Chuck Shackle. they will be up for election this

42:00 Tuesday. So remember to get out and vote. Uh we want to thank everyone in

42:04 the audience who came. We want to thank everyone who is at home watching. And

42:08 again we want to thank Dr. Carlos and Wallace State for hosting uh and

42:13 allowing us to be here for these debates. And as far as that's concerned,

42:17 the place one is done and we will return in 15 minutes for place two. Thank you

42:24 all. Appreciate it, man. >> Thank you.

42:36 >> Oh, yep. Oh my god.