Three vying for county commision seat

Scottie Stewart, who has represented District 3 on the Escambia County Commission for the last three years is seeking re-election as a Republican candidate in May 24 primary election.

"It has been one of my greatest honors to serve my community," Stewart said. "I have served my community in many capacities as a council member for the town of Flomaton. I have served as a Flomaton police officer and as a deputy sheriff for Escambia County Sheriff's Department. I have also served my country as an Alabama National Guardsman and veteran of Dessert Shield/Storm."

Stewart has been married to his wife, Alice Nolin Stewart, for the last 27 years. The couple have six children, all of which attended Escambia County Schools, with two still presently attending those same schools.

"My wife and I are both graduates of Flomaton High School," he said. "For the last 22 years I have been a full-time employee with CSX Transportation. I have served as president, vice president and local chairman for the last 19 years, of my lodge."

"I am not your traditional politician," Stewart added. "I was not groomed to hold public office. I was not taught how to play the game to be a lifetime career politician. Everyone wants to know why or what would cause a man or woman to serve in the capacity of public office. My answer is simple.....I have watched our communities and our country deteriorate on every level. I realized each person who had a vision or hope for a better world had to get involved, to actively pursue changing the circumstances that shape our individual lives and our lives as a country. I put much thought in to how I could best serve my community. I felt like District 3 deserved a commissioner that worked hard to improve the circumstances of our district."

"I knew I would be fully present to listen to every concern and every complaint," he said. "I have done just that. When I receive a call, I answer that call. I don't let it go to voicemail to never be addressed again. I physically speak with or meet with every individual who reaches out to me in my district. I personally drive out to every road or area where a complaint has been made. Once I assess the problem, usually in less than 24 hours, I put in a work order to tackle the problem. Most people may think the county commission's only problem is roads. That way of thinking is very wrong. Some of the problems we tackle every day is making sure we have good schools available to all of our children, low crime in our community, a safe place to call home, and overseers of taxpayers hard earned dollars. The office of the County Commission is the highest legislative authority in the county."

"I would like to share with you what I have done as your county commissioner for the last three years," Stewart said. "My intentional areas of focus have been our children and schools, our volunteer fire departments, our sheriff's department, which aids in our safe community, and our deprived roads."

"Being a father, I know all too well that our future rests in the hands of our most valuable assets, our children," he said. "I have given thousands of dollars to the schools in my district. I have the most schools in my district as a sitting commissioner. The schools within my district include Flomaton High, Flomaton Elementary, The Alternative School, Pollard-McCall Junior High, Huxford Elementary and Escambia Career Readiness Center, formally known as the Escambia County Trade School. I have given and/or pledged over $63,000 to the schools of District 3. I have been a resource for PTOs, quarterback clubs, and diamond clubs. These parent volunteer organizations work hard for every child in this county to have access to clubs and extracurricular activities. These clubs foster character in our children. They are just as important as our schools."

"I worked tirelessly to start workman's comp insurance for all the volunteer fire departments in Escambia County," he said. "I quickly realized very few fire departments in our county had access to workman's comp insurance because the departments could not afford coverage. After doing my research, collecting data and quotes, I brought the idea of providing coverage to every volunteer fire department before the county commission. My fellow commissioners believed in the cause and jumped on board to unanimously pass the proposal. As a county, we desperately need our volunteer fire departments. They provide our community with a great service in our most traumatic experiences, and they ask very little in return, they are the unsung heroes of our county. As a commission we have pledged funds to help with all the repeater locations...in the past, this had never been done in our county. When asked for help to install a new fire hydrant, I was glad to make it happen for my district."

"The commission has worked to replace the entire fleet of vehicles our deputies use daily to keep our community safe," Stewart said. "As an employee of the sheriff's department, I knew firsthand, the run down condition our fleet was in. There were many shifts officers could not turn their car off because it may not crank if that life or death call across the radio. In the last three years we have increased the pay scale for the entire department more than it had ever been increased in the past. The sheriff's department could not keep dedicated officers because we could not even complete with the smallest of towns' pay scale."

"Since I have taken my seat as the District 3 County Commissioner I have been asked to pledge money to the town of Flomaton to help renovate the concession stand at Hurricane Park," he said. "I have committed to the mayor of Flomaton the $25,000 requested of me to help bring that renovation to life in the near future."

Stewart said he was approached by the late School Board Member David Nolin to use his connections with CSX to help move a caboose in the Atmore area which has been competed.

"I have used my resources with CSX to help the people of Atmore receive one of the two national grants given yearly by CSX," Stewart said. "Atmore needed help to complete a vision for a performance stage area for the city, once again CSX was glad to help our community, they donated a box car to complete this project. I am probably most proud of my latest endeavor and success of teaming up with the CSX Community Outreach Program. We were able to bring the latest and newest extraction equipment called the Storm Surge to the Flomaton Fire Department. CSX pledged half the cost and I provided the other half, for this essential life saving extraction tool. I am so proud to say Flomaton Fire Department was the very first in the state of Alabama to get this new life saving tool. It brings me great pride to say Flomaton Fire Department was actually the first department in the state to use the Storm Surge in a lifesaving situation recently. It cut the working time in half and saved precious time getting the injured freed from their vehicle and in the care of medical personnel."

"Lastly, I want to talk a little about our roads within our county," Stewart said. "This does not include city roads but the hundreds of miles of county roads in District 3. When I took office I was shocked to find out our dirt roads were not being upgraded. I immediately set a four-year plan into motion. I personally compiled a list of roads that were neglected the most and was past time of attention and upgrade. My plan included a list of roads to be paved each year and as well as a list of the worst dirt roads. I set out to pave at least one dirt road a year along with the already paved roads. I get a yearly budget, I have tried to make the best use of that budget to benefit the constitutes of my district. I also was determined to stripe as many roads as I could.....these roads had not been striped in years and it made for dangerous road conditions. To date, I have striped over 100 miles of road, I have paved 25 different roads, I have upgraded four dirt roads, with the fourth one about to be paved. I received a grant in my district to repave Old Highway 31 in 2021. I have nine more roads that have already been allocated to be paved before my term is up, two of them being dirt roads."

"I am proud of all the accomplishments that have been made in District 3," he said. "It has given me great honor to serve my community. I have been committed to working hard to make your community something we can all be proud of. I have been dedicated to hear your concerns and frustrations and to then give you an earnest attempt at solutions to rectify the issues. Most people that call their county commissioner are not happy, they have a complaint or concern and I have not run from that obligation. I have looked my neighbors in the eye and honored the call to be a doer and bring positive change to Escambia County and District 3. I look forward to another four years serving as the District 3 County Commissioner."