Cullman City Council Place 3 debate

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

0:34 Thank you to our gracious host Wall State College and Dr. Vicky Carlos. The

0:39 2025 Tribune Debate Series and question and answer forums continues today with municipal elections, more specifically

0:48 Cullman City Council. These events are designed to give the public more unfiltered answers without

0:55 the questions ahead of time, direct comparisons, and meaningful conversation. Today we will continue

1:02 with Cullman City Council place two, place three, and place five. But now we move on to

1:12 place two with David Moss and Pete Netta. The Tribune works diligently to contact

1:20 every candidate and we would like to thank you both for showing up today for

1:24 this debate. And now for the rules for the candidates. With all that being said, no

1:31 electronic device is permitted unless completely turned off. Questions alternate, so no candidate always

1:38 answers first or last more than the other. Opening statement is limited to 60 seconds and it may be a prepared

1:46 statement. Time allotted per question will be 2 minutes. A closing statement is limited to 90 seconds and must be

1:54 spoken without notes. One rebuttal per question, but only if a candidate calls out the other. And that is set for 45

2:02 seconds. Facts only. No accusations without proof. This will only allocate additional time to your opponent. Voters

2:11 deserve substance over slogans. So, let's begin. We will start with our opening statements with David Moss.

2:21 >> Good afternoon. I'm David Moss Jr. uh running for city council place two. I

2:27 currently serve in that position and it has been an honor to serve. I love

2:31 Cullman and I'm very proud of what we've accomplished in recent years. I believe

2:34 in Cullman is in a really good place right now and I want to continue to

2:38 build on our recent successes. I said in a recent post that it wasn't

2:43 too long ago that many of our young people left Cullman after high school

2:47 looking for opportunities and a more enticing quality of life. Well, a lot's changed since I was in school. that that

2:53 was kind of the mentality back then. Today, I love that my children and so

2:57 many of their friends and and peers uh have chosen Cullman as the place they

3:02 want to live and raise their families. Uh I think if you compare Cullman with

3:07 other communities in Alabama or really anywhere, however you measure success, Cullman fa uh compares very favorably. I

3:16 feel like we're we're winning. we're we're succeeding and I want to continue uh being part of that and helping that

3:23 move forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for your opening statement. And Mr. Netta,

3:31 um you have 60 seconds for your opening statement, sir. >> Thank you. I'd like to thank Wall

3:38 Wallace State for allowing us to use this beautiful facility. Uh my name is

3:43 Pete Netta. I was uh educated at St. Barard College when it was a four-year

3:49 college. Got a BA in education. I went on to teach at uh in the Cullman City

3:56 School System. One year at the middle school, four years at the high school.

4:00 During my time at the high school, I was the key club advisor and and uh sponsor.

4:07 In 1983, with Mike Burke, uh Jim Miller, and myself, we uh founded St. Bernard

4:15 Prep School and that's probably one of the crowning achievements in my life. Uh

4:20 it's gives me great great satisfaction to see the young people that have gone

4:25 through that institution and continue to. Uh there are 49 brand new students at that school this year. So it's

4:32 thriving. Most of my career was spent in public works. I was 16 years with the

4:38 city of Cullman as director of public works. Under that umbrella, I was responsible for water, sewer,

4:45 wastewater, sanitation, street department, and the city garage. >> That would be fine. >> Thank you. Uh whenever we go over time,

4:55 I will just say time and we'll just stop there. All right. And we will start the

5:01 questions with David. This is on vision. Where do you want Cullman to be in 10

5:09 years? and how does your role as a council member fit into that vision?

5:16 >> Okay, so vision. So I think that's actually one of the most important

5:19 things that we we do as a city council is we help set the vision. Um I think

5:26 we've seen a lot of uh good developments in recent years. I still think of

5:31 Cullman as a small town, small town values, but a lot going on. Um I know

5:37 you hear a lot about growth. the the the growth as far as uh population is not going to

5:45 grow forever for for the reasons of the size. So I want it to remain that small

5:49 town feel with a vibrant economy and a very um high quality of life and I think uh or I

5:58 think that's where we are now. I think we can build on that. I don't want that

6:02 to change. >> All right. Thank you sir for your answer. And Pete, same question

6:09 regarding vision. Where do you want Cullman to be in 10 years? And how does

6:14 your role as council member fit into that vision? >> We all see the growth in Cullman now.

6:22 It's uh really I I heard just recently that Cullman is the 10th fastest growing

6:29 city in Alabama. And I I believe it. I mean, we all see the growth. We go to a

6:35 restaurant, we go to Cracker Barrel, we go to Walmart. And it used to be we'd

6:38 visit back and forth from table to table. And now we we come out and we say

6:42 we didn't see anybody we knew. So we know that the city is growing rapidly.

6:47 But in 10 years, I would hope that uh you know, we just saw the uh the

6:53 annexation uh request for the Smith Lake project. At the rate KMAN is growing, I don't

7:01 know that we will continue to try to annex properties to allow that growth to

7:05 continue. A lot of people say we want uh a moratorum on growth. We need to let

7:11 our utilities catch up, our streets. U but I can remember years ago when we

7:16 built out Eva road, there was nothing out there. The Eva road was all you had

7:22 to come into the city. The bypass wasn't there. And when you see what has

7:27 transpired in that area with that growth, I think we will continue to grow. But as a member of the council, I

7:34 would hope that we can do it sensibly and in a way that you know we can

7:39 continue to make Cullman a place where people want to come. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

7:47 Pete, we'll stay with you on the second question regarding partnerships. How would you improve coordination

7:54 between the city, county, and state governments to solve problems like housing and traffic?

8:05 >> I'm sorry. Am I first? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. When I was public works director,

8:10 and you're going to hear that a lot. I'm sorry. You'll hear it ad nauseium

8:14 because that's what I hang my hat on. That's my strong suit. I was public

8:21 parks director 16 years and in that time I had a very strong working relationship

8:28 with the department of transportation. I think that's lacking right now. There are times when I think that it may be an

8:35 adversarial relationship going back to when the barriers were put in on 278. That was like hitting a beehive with a

8:41 ball bat. And I understand that the city was not even notified when the state

8:46 came in and did that. We have three major highways that crisscross through this this city. 278, 31, and 157. If we

8:57 don't have an open dialogue with the state, the state controls the traffic lights, the state controls everything on

9:04 the state rightway, but if we don't have an open dialogue and a very strong

9:09 relationship, we're not going to be able to handle the traffic problems. We're not going to be be able to move forward

9:16 in any way without that relationship. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for your answer. And

9:23 David, same question on partnerships. How would you improve coordination between the city, county, and state

9:30 governments to solve problems like housing and traffic? >> Okay. Um, so first of all, I would

9:37 disagree that we don't have a good working relationship with the state. I think we actually have an excellent

9:43 working relationship with the state. Uh we work with the state very closely on

9:48 lots of projects. You know, the governor's been up here herself uh multiple times in the uh last year. So,

9:55 I think we're very well positioned with the state to achieve a lot of our goals.

10:00 We do need to work closer with the county. There there's always seems to be

10:04 this mentality that what's good for the county is not good for the city. What's

10:08 good for the city is not good for the county. And I totally disagree with

10:12 that. And we've we've made efforts and I think we need to make more efforts. Uh

10:17 recently obviously we worked together on the the landfill project which was a huge success. We worked together at the

10:24 airport which is also a huge success and and um is going to uh be an even bigger

10:30 successes in the future. But we need to find other things uh that we can work

10:34 on. obviously roads and we need to uh share a common vision and quit looking

10:40 at each other as competitors and more as teammates and I think that can be done.

10:44 Thank you. >> Thank you sir for your response and we'll stay with you for this next

10:49 question regarding housing. Cullman's housing costs are rising. What's your position on affordable housing projects or incentives?

11:02 >> That's a great question. Um, so you're right. Cullman's housing costs are rising. Uh, my daughter who's here,

11:09 she's buying a a new house. It's a it's a very nice house. Uh, but the price

11:14 that houses cost today versus what they were 10 years ago is just amazing. And I

11:21 think about these young families. I think about families that are uh, you know, just starting out or working here

11:26 in the plants. And so this was kind of brought to our attention when we did our

11:31 five-year plan. uh back in 2020 I believe or 2019. So we have put emphasis

11:38 on uh trying to u work with and encourage more u starter level houses being built. I

11:47 know there's been some push back on that but there was such a need for it. Uh

11:50 we've addressed that and u you know you can see some of the developments around

11:56 the the outskirts of town and in town. I think the next focus will be on the

12:01 mid-range uh housing, but um it's a challenge. Um and we're addressing it. >> Thank you, sir, for your answer. And

12:11 Pete, we'll go with you on this question. Housing. Cullman's housing costs are rising. What's your position

12:18 on affordable housing projects or incentives? >> That is a difficult topic topic. Uh my

12:28 wife and I experienced a situation three or four years ago where we had an

12:33 opportunity to sell our house and we started looking around for somewhere to move to. Had a great offer, but we

12:41 couldn't find a house that was affordable that we felt like we could budget or the house was going to be uh

12:48 needing $150,000 worth of renovation to get what we wanted. So we turned the offer down and

12:54 we stayed where we are. Again, like David said, I you know, I feel for young

12:59 couples. We've seen a surge of young people moving back home with children and uh you know, we don't want that to

13:06 continue. The the development that was so contentious on the south end of town.

13:16 That was a very difficult situation. And I don't know what's right or wrong,

13:21 but I I probably would have sided with not allowing that to move forward

13:29 because of the problems that have arisen from it, the drainage problems, the traffic problems. We have to tackle it

13:36 somehow. But housing is something that everybody's going to have. And you know, Madison, Huntsville, they're doing huge,

13:46 huge developments of apartments. I mean, you see them popping up everywhere. I don't know that we can do that in

13:52 Cullman and have our infrastructure maintain that growth. So, it's going to be a very difficult balance, but u I

14:01 think we, you know, we'll tackle it. May >> I respond? >> Uh, yes, sir. regarding the sewer and

14:08 maintenance on the southside is >> no regarding u not wanting people young people moving back to Cullman.

14:15 >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. So, not sure I understood u what Mr. Netta said, but I thought he said he

14:22 didn't want to see young people and their families continuing to move back to Cullman.

14:26 >> No, no, no, no. To move home with parents. >> To move home with parents. Okay.

14:32 >> All right. Thank you. That was clarified. Uh, Mr. Netta, was that clarified on your part?

14:40 >> Sorry. >> That it was to move back home in with their parents. Is that correct?

14:44 >> Okay. So, that's where that comment was going. All right. Uh, Pete, we will stay

14:49 with you on this next question, and it involves downtown and neighborhoods. What specific policies would you

14:57 implement to keep downtown Cullman thriving while also supporting neighborhoods outside the city center?

15:08 Obviously, Cullman is in a unique situation. You can go in most other cities and see vacant stores and and uh

15:16 properties downtown that are that are not being utilized. Cullman doesn't have that problem. Um, I would like to see

15:23 more loft apartments. I I think my wife and I would maybe choose that option

15:28 ourselves if it if it presented itself. Um, Cullman has a unique situation where

15:35 we have the vibrant downtown. Years ago, I say years, four or five years ago, it seemed like there was a

15:42 proposal a foot that maybe a mixeduse development was going to go in on 157 by

15:49 Walmart. Kind of like um the um I can't remember the name of the area in

15:56 Huntsville. I would like to see more of those things, mixeduse development with retail,

16:03 uh, residential and continue to put those around the downtown area. We have a wonderful downtown. Um, Chuck

16:12 mentioned something about the streetscapes and I share that view. Colonel Cullman developed the city with

16:19 wide streets and now we're necking them down and making putting jogs in them and

16:24 planters. It is beautiful, but I think it's impeding the traffic flow and we we

16:30 can't do that with the the gridlock we have now. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

16:37 David, same question on downtown and neighborhoods. What specific policies would you implement to keep downtown

16:45 Cullman thriving while also supporting neighborhoods outside the city center? Okay. So, regarding downtown, uh I think

16:54 one of the things that makes Cullman special and desirable for all ages, but

17:00 young people is the downtown and the way it's uh transformed really since the

17:05 tornado, since that that whole program was launched. I kind of want to address

17:09 what uh what he just mentioned and what Chuck mentioned. The u the planners the

17:14 um the development uh by the Cotton Creek area and also over by um city hall

17:21 and the uh depot park area. Um that was done uh for multiple reasons to to add

17:27 parking for these downtown areas and to make these areas more walkable. So, I

17:33 agree that, you know, Colonel Cullman's vision with the the wide streets throughout our neighborhoods and

17:38 throughout out our towns works well in some areas, but it doesn't when you're

17:42 trying to encourage walkability, events at night. You don't want people driving 40 miles an hour. So, um that was done

17:50 purposely to slow traffic down on those few streets and also to increase uh

17:55 parking and also to make it more attractive. And I think it's uh when

17:58 it's when it's complete, it's going to look really good. As far as I think that

18:03 you know any town you go to that doesn't have a really attractive active downtown I think has two strikes

18:11 against it. I think the center of our city is is key but I think the

18:15 surrounding neighborhoods um will be fine that they you know they want the privacy they want to be away

18:23 from downtown and I I think it's a good plan. Thank you. Thank you sir for your response and

18:29 we'll stay with you for this next question involving youth and schools. How can city government better support

18:37 young families and students without overlapping the responsibilities of the school board? >> Okay, another great question. So, so

18:46 what is city council's role with schools? We have a great school board that acts totally independently.

18:53 uh our our role is to support them financially. Uh and we've done that. We

18:59 we do it two ways. We with the uh the school expansion project now, we

19:04 committed $6 million over a 10-year period to help with the building of the

19:08 new schools. And um you can see if you drive by the middle school and by West

19:13 Elementary, there's a lot going on. So, we're contributing there. More importantly, every decision we make that helps grow

19:21 the economy in Cullman adds tax dollars that go to the schools. So they it the

19:27 tax base that is supporting our schools has increased because of the city's success and that's the role we play as

19:36 far as supporting the schools. Thank you. >> Thank you sir for your response. Pete,

19:42 same question. youth in schools. How can city government better support young families and students without

19:50 overlapping the responsibilities of the school board? >> Well, I think um of course again Cullman

19:59 has some of the best schools in the state. Uh we've always done a good job

20:04 with providing the physical plants uh the baseball fields, the football fields, the uh addition of the band

20:12 rooms, all the things that are added to the schools. And I I think that is a

20:18 responsibility of the city council to help in any way. I I can tell you from the time I was

20:25 public works director that we had crews and and that that has continued to this

20:31 day. Uh there are many times the the street department almost looks like an

20:36 employee of the school board because they're paving streets at the school. They're doing drainage problems at the

20:41 school. They're doing all kinds of things. That's work in kind. That's not charged to the school. But we're I'm

20:48 sure we're glad to do it. not part of the council and I can't speak for them,

20:52 but as public works director, I know we were always Johnny on the spot to help

20:59 any school that was in need and I think we would continue to do that.

21:07 >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And Pete, we will stay with you on this next

21:11 question involving ethics and influence. Have you received support from political groups, packs, or other candidates

21:22 running in different places? If so, how you how will you remain independent in

21:29 your decisions? >> That's an easy one for me to answer. From day one, when I entered this

21:37 campaign, I said I would not ask for $1. I was primarily going to self-fund my

21:44 campaign. To this point, I have spent $2300 on my campaign. I have not received a dime

21:53 from any pack. The money I did receive was unsolicited donations. So, you know, it's always been my

22:03 feeling that when you run for office and you solicit contributions, they don't come free. Those people are

22:12 going to be looking for something in return. And when I see the thousands and

22:18 thousands of dollars that candidates are accepting, it doesn't come free. They're going to

22:25 want a favor. They're going to want something in return. And from day one, I

22:29 said I would not do that and I haven't. >> Thank you, sir, for your answer. And

22:36 David, we will move to you. Same question. Ethics and influence. Have you received support from political groups,

22:42 packs, or other candidates running in different places? If so, how will you remain independent in your decisions?

22:52 So, that's also an easy question for me to answer. The answer is no. I have not

22:56 received any money from PAX, uh, special interest groups, other candidates. Uh, and same thing, I have not solicited,

23:04 never uh, solicited any donations. I have been offered donations and then and accepted donations from a few

23:12 supporters. I've also turned down donations. Um if I thought the person offering would want something down the

23:20 road. So um any donation that I've ever received, which uh I I've self-funded uh

23:27 certainly part of my campaign as well. uh the people that have donated uh have

23:33 done it because they have confidence in me and they trust me but not because

23:37 they expect anything special from me down the road. I feel confident of that.

23:40 Thank you. >> Thank you sir for your response and we'll stay with you on this next

23:45 question regarding motivation and group dynamics. Every candidate has a reason for stepping forward. Did you feel pushed to

23:55 run because of dissatisfaction with incumbents, encouragement from others, or a sense of joining a broader

24:03 challenger or effort? That's a great question as well because I' I've actually said that many times. I

24:10 feel like if you run for office or or and initially I was appointed, but if

24:15 you accept an appointment or run, you do it for one of two reasons. either you're

24:20 you're not happy with the way things are and you feel like you can do it better

24:24 or or make a difference and that's a a valid reason to to run for office or you

24:29 were very happy with the way things are and you feel a sense to serve and you

24:33 want to be part of that team and in my case it was the second when I was

24:38 offered the opportunity to step in for Garland when he became senator and uh as

24:44 I've run u for office since then it's because I I feel like Cullman's is in a

24:49 great place. We have a great team. I want to do my part and serve. And so

24:53 that's my motivation. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And Pete, same question. Motivation and

25:01 group dynamics. Every candidate has a reason for stepping forward. Did you feel pushed to uh did you feel pushed to

25:10 run because of dissatisfaction with incumbents, encouragement from others, or a sense of joining a broader

25:18 challenger effort? I've said this jokingly a lot during the campaign, but I said I missed my uh

25:27 appointment for psychiatric evaluation, so I'm just going to keep doing silly things. But I tell you, my motivation

25:36 for running for council, the 16 years that I've been retired from the city, I

25:42 constantly see things that are not being tended to. And I would ride through

25:47 town, my wife would be with me, and she said, "Let it go. You don't work there

25:50 anymore." I said, "I know, but I see it and it's not being done." And it's kind

25:57 of like put up or shut up. So, I waited till the very last day. Sorry, David,

26:04 but I waited till the last day to qualify and I said, I just need to do

26:09 this because I love the city of Cullman. My job as public works director was very

26:16 fulfilling and the people that I worked with were not only co-workers, but they

26:21 were friends and I wanted to get back into that arena and see if I could make

26:27 a difference. Thank you sir for your response and Pete we will stay with you on this next

26:34 question regarding business incentives. Where do you draw the line between supporting local business growth and

26:43 giving away too much in tax breaks or incentives? Well, I think people kind of have some

26:51 angst about that when they read in the paper about some big industry that got

26:57 this big tax abatement. Of course, that they always say that that excludes school taxes. And I know a lot of

27:04 industry does get a lot of incentives to locate here to expand their industry,

27:11 but I would like to see more done with the local businesses, the mom and pops,

27:16 the downtown stores. When I was growing up in my town, the city government um

27:23 they adopted a program of uh facade renovations and this was the entire downtown area. It was a massive project

27:33 and they had to go and get all the business people to buy into it. Now, the

27:37 city did chip in. They they helped tremendously with it, but it was a

27:41 win-win. The the city the storefronts looked amazing. the people's business grew. Now, there was some, you know,

27:50 inconvenience of course with while the work was going on and some people had to

27:55 be really coerced to to get on board. I'd like to see us do something more

27:59 like that in Cullman and and maybe it's been done or in the works, but I think

28:06 we need to help our local business people as much as the industrial prospects.

28:12 >> Thank you, sir, for your response. David, we'll move to you. Same question.

28:17 Business incentives. Where do you draw the line between supporting local business growth and

28:24 giving away too much in tax breaks or incentives? >> Okay, so uh tax incentives uh is a

28:33 topic. So let's think about for a second. So you have if you're talking

28:37 about industrial trying to get an industry to come here, uh these are tools that we use and we get asked to

28:43 use on a regular basis. If you're talking about industry where you're competing with other towns, other states

28:50 um and somebody's going to get the project and somebody's not, then then you have certain sets of circumstances

28:57 there that you have to look at. But when you're talking about retail or uh

29:01 business incentives um or even housing development incentives, we get approached a lot about that. And so the what we look at

29:11 is uh number one, how much are they asking for? What's the cost? Uh how many

29:16 jobs is it going to create? What type of jobs is going to create? Because right

29:20 now we we don't have a big need for lowpaying jobs. uh what competitors or

29:28 what local businesses is it going to compete with? Um what is the long-term

29:34 tax benefit as far as revenue once this is passed and and and is it feasible?

29:40 And you'd be surprised to know that we turn down more of these opportunities than we

29:46 participate in. It has to be the right project. It has to bring something that

29:50 adds value to our city. It has to create jobs that are uh good jobs or or

29:56 meaningful jobs and it has to check all the boxes before we'll consider something like that. Thank you. Thank

30:02 you, Senator, for your response and we will stay with you for this next

30:05 question regarding long-term projects. Which long-term capital project, such as new parks, utility upgrades, or major

30:18 road work should take top priority during your term? Okay, so that's a pretty easy one. Right

30:27 now, the number one project uh on the table right now is the St. Berner Bridge

30:32 and the widening of 278. Um, we've heard a lot of talk about traffic. Um, we talk

30:39 about development on the east side of town. Uh, this project's been in the

30:43 works for um, really since I got on the council. It takes a long time to secure

30:49 funding to get everything lined up to secure the land to make things like this

30:53 happen. And we were we were close enough that an announcement was made last fall

30:58 that, you know, we were ready to move forward and then things changed when the

31:02 administration changed. But we're close again to getting that um getting that off the ground and that's going to be a

31:08 huge huge project and a very beneficial product for our for our city. That's the

31:14 number one. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And Pete, same question. long-term projects.

31:22 Which long-term capital project, such as new parks, utility upgrades, or major road work, should take top priority

31:32 during your term. >> I agree with David on the 278 project and the St. Bernard Bridge. That is way

31:42 overdue. It's a dangerous, dangerous place for students to be coming out of St. Bernard, for tourists to be coming

31:49 out. It's one of the top tourist attractions in the state. So, that is

31:53 definitely should be a priority and I know this council is working on it. Um,

31:59 when I was director years ago, I was involved in the 278 West widening

32:05 project and I was involved in all of the plans review meetings for that project.

32:10 It was a 1.7 mile uh project, $17 million. And whenever I would go to Gunersville

32:18 for the plans review meetings, I would talk with the guys over there after the

32:23 meeting and I'd say, you know, David just mentioned it. You have a new

32:26 governor, you have a change in administration, funding falls through, so I know these things take time. It

32:33 takes a long time to put a road project together or anything like that. Um, so I

32:39 know how it happens and and the guys over there said, "Well, we just put that

32:42 on the shelf and go to the next one." So, I'm glad we got 278 west done. I

32:48 hope we'll get 278 East done. But one thing I regret that we did not do in

32:53 this community was do the southern bypass 50 years ago. Again, David said that, you know, you

33:00 have to acquire, you have to do land acquisition, you know, secure the funding and all

33:06 that. That project was proposed 50 years ago. Now, I don't know if we could do

33:11 it. uh it was supposed to hook around and come back into 278 east.

33:17 I don't know if that exists now, if that possibility is still there. Um but we've

33:23 got to work on the traffic issue. I can tell you if you you don't have to be a

33:28 traffic engineer to see the problem downtown. That's why I said you have to

33:32 have a good relationship with the DOT. If you stand on the corner of 278 and

33:37 31, that light is red. If you go to Fourth Street, one block back, the light

33:42 is green. They can't move. >> Thank you, sir. May I respond? >> Yes, sir.

33:48 >> Um, I'd like to respond regarding the u the proposed the um the suggestion of

33:53 the southern bypass, and I'm glad you said it was a 50-year-old idea because

33:57 it I've heard it thrown around that this is a fresh idea. It's not a fresh idea.

34:01 Um, and it it is an idea that's been tossed around for years. Um there is no

34:08 plan in place, but I I did look into it and and ask some questions. The the

34:14 problem with that, we we just completed the 157 bypass, which diverts the traffic around Cullman. It's supposed to

34:22 to go to the interstate. Um you got to weigh the benefits versus the cost. So

34:28 to do it and do it right, you would have to acquire a lot of land, millions of

34:32 dollars worth. And the estimated ballpark estimated cost of building something like that is around $150

34:38 million. >> Thank you. >> All right. And Pete, we'll go back to you. And this

34:48 is regarding crisis leadership. When Cullman faces a natural disaster, pandemic, or power outage, what role

34:59 should a council member take and how have you prepared for that responsibility? >> We had numerous issues when I was public

35:11 works director. Uh we had tornadoes that we had to clean up after. Um I think as

35:18 a director I think we we handled that very well under extreme pressure. Um at

35:26 the time the chicken plant on the south end of town was vacant and we had our

35:32 trucks hauling debris to that location and we got a little creative with it. We

35:37 didn't want to burn we didn't want to take it to the landfill. So we we dumped

35:41 it there and we allowed people to come and cut firewood as long as they came to

35:46 city hall and signed a release and then it ended up we had to start burning it.

35:52 But we we handled that problem well when our water supply was in jeopardy. The

35:59 lake was down 25 ft. That's hard to believe but the we were almost out of

36:04 water in this community and that was a that was a sure enough crisis. And I

36:10 think we handled it well. God handled it. He sent the rain. But you know, you

36:14 just you just roll with it. You do what you have to do. And as a council member,

36:20 you support the people you have in the field. You go to your department heads.

36:24 You have the meetings. You work with EMA. You you you rally around the people

36:29 that are trained to do that and you let them do their job. >> Thank you, sir, for your response.

36:37 David, same question regarding crisis leadership. When Cullman faces a natural disaster, pandemic, or power outage,

36:45 what role should a council member take, and how have you prepared for that

36:51 responsibility? >> Okay, that's a good question. So, obviously, Cullman, we've had our share

36:56 of crisises, whether it's tornadoes or u um obviously the the pandemic, the COVID. Um so the first and foremost

37:06 thing is the uh public safety spends a lot of time preparing, thinking ahead,

37:12 planning. So you start uh addressing crisis way before a crisis happens and our our team uh does an exceptional job

37:22 of that so that when things do happen, they're prepared. um when you do have a

37:27 crisis then obviously we have some of the best leadership our department heads uh were very proud of and they respond

37:33 accordingly and very effectively. Uh so I think back to the tornado in 2011 the

37:40 u obviously the most the covid recently you know we we partnered with a local

37:45 industry to provide masks uh or to to allow them to uh provide masks

37:51 nationwide. So, we've we've been very responsive um on all levels and I think

37:57 our our job is to support our departments and help them prepare ahead of time. Thank you.

38:04 >> Thank you, Sarah, for your response. Thank you both uh for showing up today

38:09 and answering our questions in this debate. And we are going to go with

38:14 closing statements. Mr. Netta, since Mr. Moss went first on opening statements. We're going to let you go first on

38:20 closing statements. You have 90 seconds, sir. >> Thank you. I appreciate appreciate this

38:27 opportunity to uh be here and let the people see what we are about, who we

38:33 are, what our views are. um as director of public works for the city, I gained

38:41 great great um skills and I I want to bring that back to the city. Um I was

38:50 not only director for 16 years in the city. I was president of the Alabama

38:55 Public Works Association. That group is a statewide group of public works directors, city engineers,

39:03 engineering consultant companies, traffic and heavy equipment companies. Uh during my tenure as president, we uh

39:13 experienced unprecedented success in that in that organization, the best year it ever had.

39:20 Um, as public works director, I also gained skills that that I feel like make

39:26 me the clear choice in this election. I feel like with my skills, my my

39:34 dedication to the job, my uh my education that I've obtained, also have a I hold a an advanced certificate in

39:44 public works management from the University of Georgia. I think all these things play into uh preparing me to

39:53 serve on the city council. And before I close, I'd like to put in a word for our

39:58 our employees. When I was director, I had a chance to speak to every civic

40:02 club, every group in in town. I would always end my talk by saying before you

40:08 call to complain about a city employee, think about they're out there in the

40:12 winter with ice in their beard, their gloves stuck to the wrench trying to

40:17 restore your water. People that work with raw sewage every day. People in the

40:23 street department that pour concrete when it's 95 degrees. >> Don't Okay, >> thank you, Mr. Moss. I allowed two

40:31 minutes for that. So, we're going to allow two minutes for you. Uh, closing

40:35 statement. >> I'm David Moss, Jr., uh, Cullman City Council Place 2. It's been my honor,

40:42 real honor to serve, uh, during this, uh, current, uh, term. Uh, Cullman is my

40:49 home. It's the home to my children and my grandchildren. Uh, I feel very proud of where we are as

40:56 a community right now. I'm uh excited about where we're headed. I want to be part of that. I think the

41:04 enthusiasm, the energy, uh the momentum that we have right now is is unprecedented unprecedented and I

41:13 want to continue being part of that. Uh I look forward to uh serving again if

41:19 elected and I ask for your support and your vote next Tuesday. Thank you.

41:26 >> Thank you, sir, for your response. Uh thank you Mr. Moss and Mr. Netta uh both

41:31 running for city council place too. We appreciate you both coming out today and

41:35 answering questions from the public and from the tribune. Uh we would like to

41:40 thank everyone who attended in our audience and we would like to thank everyone who watched at home. Again we

41:46 would like to say thank you to Dr. Vicky Carlos and Wallace State College for

41:51 allowing us to be here and being such a gracious host during these long series

41:56 of debates. And with that, this debate is in the books and we will be back in

42:02 roughly 15 minutes to get started with place three city council. Thank you again.