Morgan County Commission District 3 candidates focus on roads, infrastructure

Archie Snowden
·2 min read

MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A long-time mayor and a county employee are challenging incumbent Don Stisher for the Morgan County Commission District 3 seat.

District 3 is one of four seats that garner attention in the upcoming Republican Primary.

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Eva mayor Gary Livingston and Matthew Frost, who has worked with Stisher for over a decade in the county commission as a mechanic, are first timers on the ballot. But, the two candidates say they are no strangers to the needs of district 3.

“I’ve had several people ask me say ‘why don’t you think about putting your name in the hat, because we know you will do the fair thing and do what needs to be done,’ and that’s the only way I look at it,” Livingston explained.

Livingston has seen the county grow in his 31 years as mayor. He says unfortunately, the roads in the southern part of the mostly rural county have not been up to par under district 3 incumbent county commissioner Stisher.

In particular, he was talking about Highway 55. The 35 mile stretch of road he says has been mostly ignored for nearly two decades.

“The last time we met on this road, it’s been 18 years ago or a little bit longer, but somewhere in that timeframe- we went over and the state helped Mr. Stisher, and this road got repaved,” said Livingston.

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Livingston says the stalemate has been the how the ‘Rebuild Alabama’ grant money awarded to the county will be distributed to make the road repairs.

Stisher told News 19 that his plan is to continue his current strategy by leveraging his experience in county government to get the road up to speed.

“It will require a lot of past experience and attention and understanding of county government from taking care of the roadways to working with the county, all officials with the county and in Montgomery as far as legislation and D-O-T, the department of transportation, and funding and money. We have to be very diversified,” said Stisher.

Stisher says addressing employee retention issues, particularly for jailers at the Morgan County jail, are also key for the county.

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