Tough Times For Todd

by WAKA Action 8 News

To be mayor of any city requires the courage to make tough decisions and also knowing many of those decisions may not be popular. This year, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange has faced some of the hardest decisions of his political life. The question is whether they will affect another decision he’ll be making soon.Tonight, he’s opening up his heart to share how those choices have affected him personally.

“I just care about this city.”

But that caring comes at a cost when Mayor Todd Strange saw some of his dreams turn to disappointment.

Questplex was supposed to be the cornerstone of downtown, but now, it’s gone. The Montgomery Mall still doesn’t have the new life the mayor wanted. And his police chief, Kevin Murphy, left the force after a Live TV spat with Strange that had the whole town talking.

Each of these problems forced the mayor to make some of the toughest choices of his political life.

“Sometimes you have to make a decision predicated on what’s best. They may be two bad decisions but what’s the least bad? Or what’s the better best?” Said Strange.

Shortly after Strange became Mayor in 2009 he had the idea of Questplex: an interactive children’s museum similar to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham. Inside, would also be Montgomery’s main public library, a $20 million project that depended on tax credits, loans and private donations — a dream years in the making for Strange that fell through.

“That was a very gut-wrenching and very difficult decision. Frankly, I personally agonized about it for several weeks because one side of me said you know, this is really something long-term. I mean, what is a $20 million commitment? Would you ever have to full-fill that? On the other side you’ve got to be fiscally responsible,” Said Strange.

In June, came another curveball — the forced retirement of Police Chief, Kevin Murphy. Murphy had already been on administrative leave since the suiceide of his twin brother that month.

For days, Alabama News Network reported meetings between Murphy and Strange until an unforgettable news conference announcing Murphy’s retirement with tense moments and testy exchanges:

“I’ve been told by several members who were not afraid to break their silence that they were ordered not to talk to me,” Said Murphy on the podium back in June. “And that hurts because at a time when I needed my MPD family at the loss of my brother, they were taken away from me.”

“I cannot! I cannot let that statement go! You were on leave,” Said Mayor Strange on the podium. “You were with your family in Louisiana. We did not want you to be actively involved in running the police department.”

“You’re in this news conference, it’s streaming live where thousands of people are watching you, and you can’t stop what’s happening. What’s going through your mind at this moment?” Asked Alabama News Network, reporter Catalina Trivino.

“Well, I could’ve stopped it. I could’ve just said, ‘hey you know press conference is over’ and that would’ve been the end of it,” Said Strange. “I mean, I’m not sure if I could call it anything other than transparency at it’s worst or best. Whichever way, it was pure transparency because there were some things that had occurred that I felt like Kevin {Murphy} would have preferred to have not said in the public.”
    
Strange says that announcement lead to some personal backlash.

“And it did affect the family, too, because there was some ugliness, there were some threats that caused us to have to do some things that I personally did not want to do. We had some officers in front of my house. I just felt terrible about having them here,” Said Strange.

But in the months after the Murphy ordeal and the Questplex plan failing is another on-going problem. The once busy Montgomery Mall remains empty and Strange says it’s a personal struggle to fill it back up.

“It certainly hurts because it’s a blackhole in the middle of our community and it could be such a thriving area,” Said Strange.

But there is hope — a police and fire substation has moved in. The LAMP magnet school and a workforce training center could follow, bringing new life to this part of the city.

“Really does anchor and influence everything else because we have a couple of vacancies right across the street. one of the restaurants has been gone for a while. I believe that will come back,” Said Strange.

A hard year with hard decisions and behind closed doors, Strange says backlash from making those decisions can hurt on a personal level…

“I care about what people think of me frankly because it hurts my feelings if people don’t like me… because I’m just a natural person that likes to be liked,” Said Strange.

While he knows people might disagree with those decisions, he says it’s not fair for people to hate him.

“You can always question my decisions that I make, you can always question the directions and why we’re going into a certain area — but don’t… don’t… it really does bother me if somebody says that you’re dishonest, or you’re lying, or you’re not truthful in those kind of scenarios,” Said Strange.

In the end, Strange says there’s also a human side to running a city. And in times of happiness or frustration come the tough decisions of the job of being mayor.

Next year, is an election year and Strange will have another tough decision to make — whether to run for mayor for four more years. He tells me he still hasn’t made that decision and it all depends on his health and family life. But he hopes to make his choice by early next year.

If Strange were to run as mayor, there are two other candidates that say they may be running including former police chief, Kevin Murphy. and former congressman, Artur Davis.