By Ashley Toland Editor

Would a West Mobile Senior Wellness and Therapeutic Center by any other name still smell as sweet?

Councilwoman Connie Hudson did not think so at the April 4 council meeting.

The center, which she has been lobbying in support of for years, looked like it was going to be taken off life support at the meeting just two weeks prior, which would have essentially killed it and buried it in a graveyard of unrealized councilor dreams, with very little hope of ever being unearthed.

The mayor and administration maintained that there was not enough money to build and operate the center, and said the funding plan, which would use federal Community Development Block Grant Funds, was sketchy at best. He feared they might have to repay the loan at some point because the area where the center would be located (Hillcrest at Girby) did not meet low-to-moderate income requirements.

So Mayor J and his team decided not to include it in the budget for these federal funds, which turned Sweet Connie Hudson into Mad Connie Mad-son, Angry-son, Pissed-son. Whatever you want to call her, the air around her that day in the Government Plaza auditorium did not smell sweet. It reeked of bitterness, with maybe a hint of day-old Depends and a dab of Dentugrip.

Quite possibly overwhelmed by the smell, her WeMo friends, councilpersons Gina Gregory and Ben Brooks and MiMo councilor Reggie Copeland decided to help Furious-son out, by abstaining from voting on the action plan budget, which killed it.

So then suddenly the Mayor said they would look at it, and they would all compromise and tickle each other and get the center built. So he came back with a plan two weeks later to complete the project, but said they would use monies from the Alabama Trust Fund rather than the CDBG moolah, which doesn’t have the same income requirements. He also said the county would contribute an extra $500,000 to their previous commitment, bringing their total offering to $1 million.

It looked like everything was going to be hunk-dory and Connie would be Happy-son once again. But Mayor J decided they were going to rename the center the Mobile Regional Senior Community Center, omitting the words West Mobile, Therapeutic and/or Wellness out of it, which she took issue with, saying they needed to consider the “scope and purpose” of the center and said if it was going to be regional, then “we need to quadruple the size.”

Mayor J was not present at that meeting and since there were issues with the name, the council laid it over for a week. But then when the mayor got back in town, he called a press conference Thursday to basically tell Hudson she was going to have to deal with it; he wasn’t changing it and stated “there has been enough political rhetoric and talk; now is the time to act.”

Jones also dismissed Hudson’s claim the center needed to be bigger if it was going to be called regional, saying it was one of the largest city properties in town, second only in size to the civic center.

Apparently the Mayor hadn’t bothered to tell Ms. Hudson about this prior to the press conference, she found out about it through the media, which really stinks. The Press-Register reported that Hudson accused the Mayor and admin of “poor communication,” and she’s right. Why not include her on this discussion? Why inform her of this in such a public and passive-aggressive manner? The center is in her district. She conceived the idea and has carried this baby for years and has already labored long and hard on it. Most mommas will tell you, that certainly earns you the right to at least throw a few names on the list and talk about how it will be raised. It was almost like her baby was cut out of her womb and taken.

Now with that said, it was a little ridiculous to argue over the name in the first place. Who cares if it is called the June Allison Center for Wrinkles and Incontinence, as long as it gets built? Well, maybe that’s a little extreme, but folks really don’t care what it’s called. Abe isn’t going to say (in an old man voice), “Mildred, honey, get your walker, we’re going up to the West Mobile Senior Therapeutic and Wellness Center (or the Mobile Regional Senior Community Center) for some bingo and blood pressure testing today.” No, he’ll say, “put your dentures in, baby, we’re going to the center. Whoo-hoo!”

Anyway, it is indeed time for the political rhetoric to end on both sides, but it won’t. The center will be voted on April 11, probably as these words are being printed on this page. There will most likely be public admonitions of the Jones administration by Hudson and Brooks, saying how they are disappointed for not being included in the process and blah, blah, blah.

And then Councilpersons Richardson and Johnson will probably say something to the effect that the center is for the whole community and it’s the administration’s job to put it on the agenda and not the job of just one or two councilpersons and blah, blah, blah.

The same old song and dance that’s been played over and over and over and over and over again. Bu then they’ll vote it up and all pat each other on the back. Then maybe tickle each other – while wearing nothing but Depends. Rrrrrrroooowwww! Or yeah, Yuuuuckkk!

Ashley Toland is Lagniappe editor. Contact her at ashleytoland@lagniappemobile.com.

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