Burnham announces candidacy for mayor

Chris Burnham said he wants to bring hope back to Flomaton as the 50-year old Air Force veteran announces he has qualified to run for mayor of Flomaton in the Aug. 25 municipal elections.

"It is with great pleasure to announce I have decided to run for mayor for the town of Flomaton," Burnham said. "I am wanting to bring back integrity, reliability and dependability to the local government. My overall goal is to listen to the citizens and to help make our hometown prosper."

"I am the son of Ralph and Margaret (Dawkins) Burnham of East Brewton," Burnham said. "I am one of their five children, and we have been blessed with parents that taught us love and understanding. My father served in the military and retired from Monsanto. My mother retired from driving a school bus for the local school system, in which I spent my youth. Both parents instilled in us the importance of God, family, and strong work ethics."

"I am a 1988 graduate of W.S. Neal High School and I enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1989," he added. "While in the Air Force, I served four years active duty and 20 years in reserve. I retired as a master sergeant. I am a veteran of Desert Shield/Storm, The Cold War and Operation Enduring Freedom. While stationed in Afghanistan, I maintained everyday life, health and welfare for the 51 combat outposts while deployed to Forward Operating Salerno throughout Paktya and Khowst providences. I am very humbled and honored that I was awarded the Army Achievement Medal during my time of service. During my military career, I served as a civil engineer. I achieved expertise in the following: leadership and team building, business and operation management, construction and heavy equipment operations, problem solving and implementing of strategies, budget and planning, and supervision of troops."

"Emily (White) Burnham and I married in 1995 and established our home within the town limits of Flomaton," Burnham said. "Emily's family is originally from Flomaton, and she is a graduate of Flomaton High School. We have been blessed with three beautiful children and five adorable grandchildren. Our children also graduated from Flomaton High School and were active in youth sports and school sports. Emily and I are also members of Friendship Freewill Baptist church where I was a youth teacher. I have enjoyed time spent with my children and other youth in the area as a coach. My experience in coaching includes three years of youth football, nine years of youth tee ball/baseball, and seven years of softball. One of my goals would be to provide better fields for all sports activities, which would benefit the involvement of our youth. I would work on getting a new park built by implementing grants which are available and would be low cost to the town and the people."

"I believe we can achieve goals of maintenance and improvement with our town treasures such as the Alabama Welcome Center and Railroad Museum," he said. "We can also beautify the town to make it more inviting to those who visit or pass through. An important goal I have for this town is financial stability. I plan to implement more grants so that town money will be spent wisely to benefit the people of Flomaton and our lovely town. I also would like to bring in IRT (Innovative Readiness Training) that is a Department of Defense Military Training program. This program allows for not only training of military personnel but also will help keep costs down for the town on certain projects that are needed in our community. The IRT would supply the majority of the work at no cost to the town."

"I would appreciate your consideration as mayor, and I look forward to a prosperous future," he added. "Let's work together and make Flomaton all it can be."

Burnham said he would personally like to meet every citizen in Flomaton, but with the current COVID-19 pandemic, that may not be possible. He did say if anyone has any questions, they can call him at 251-363-2189 or email him at [email protected].