County Commission | The Magazine December 2018 | Page 6

THE COUNTY LINE
I
Sonny Brasfield
Executive Director
The Last Time
Alabama Moved
Forward on
Infrastructure,
I Was a New Dad
Firstborn Now
Eyeing His
28th Birthday
6 | DECEMBER 2018
t was early June of 1991 and the
Alabama Legislature was focused
on a bill that would provide
funding for the improvement of
roads and bridges in Alabama. But
my attention was, to say the least, a
little distracted.
You see, early in the morning
of Sunday, June 2, Kathy and I
raced to the hospital for the birth
of our first child. For a short time
that morning, even Sonny Brasfield
didn’t think about counting votes
and conference committees. Those
things were thousands of miles
away as our lives were altered by the
blessing we received.
But a couple of days later, I
resumed my normal position to
witness the Alabama House of
Representatives actually pass a bill
creating a new road and bridge
program for our state. The journey to
final passage of that legislation was a
twisted — and challenging — road.
But eventually, we were successful,
and when the law took effect the
following year, Alabama counties and
the state began work on improving
Alabama’s transportation system.
When it was over, a younger
Sonny Brasfield used his column in
this very magazine to record how
the passage of that legislation was
intertwined with a new family’s
journey to bring home their new
son. Now, almost three decades
later, that birth is still linked (at
least in my mind) with the last time
Alabama took a step forward for its
infrastructure.
I guess it’s not surprising that
I am one of the few folks working
in public policy today who was
actually around during the early
1990s. I remember every little detail
of that effort to raise revenue for
infrastructure — even though it’s
been almost 28 years since that
Sunday morning when Perry Robert
Brasfield joined us.
Now, on the personal side, since
the summer of 1991 we’ve seen Perry
grow into a wonderful, kind and
insightful man. And, to the surprise
of no one who knows me, in between
family activities and milestones, we’ve
also spent countless hours at the
Alabama Statehouse promoting and
protecting county government.
In that role, we’ve traveled this
state — over and over and over
again — promoting, organizing
and assisting those in county
government. We’ve designed plan
after plan after plan for our roads
and bridges. But each time we’ve
been told, in one way or another,
that the plans would have to wait for
another year. And then another.
Away from county government,
it’s been an incredible journey, as well.
We’ve watched as Perry learned to
walk and as he’s broken an ankle —
twice. We’ve eaten watermelon and
homemade ice cream. We’ve slept in
our car seat, and we’ve stayed up all
night after the Homecoming dance.
But all the while, we’ve not been
able to convince the public to support
needed repairs to our infrastructure.
We’ve laughed and we’ve cried
— over and over again. We’ve built
sand castles at the beach and a big
swing set in the backyard. We’ve
ridden tricycles and trains. We’ve
gotten our hands and pants dirty
playing baseball all over the state,
and we’ve worn our Sunday best to
worship our Lord.
But all the while, we’ve let our
roads and bridges age without proper
attention. We’ve let the rising price
of road construction and petroleum-