Erica Techo
Lt. Cody Sumners is running for Chelsea City Council Place 1. The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23.
Liberty Cove resident and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Cody Sumners is running for Chelsea City Council Place 1.
With his background in law enforcement, including a degree in criminal justice from UAB and almost 20 years with the Sheriff’s Office, Sumners said improving public safety is one of his platforms as a candidate.
Chelsea’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office means the city has one deputy patrolling on each 12-hour shift. Sumners said he would like to see that number increase.
“I feel like we need more deputies,” he said. “At this point, we probably can’t afford enough to go two [deputies] 24-hours a day, but to at least get two more deputies and do them on a swing shift would help.”
The desire to increase patrols does not stem from a crime problem, Sumners said, but rather a goal to help make business owners and residents feel more secure. That increase in public safety measures could help attract more businesses to Chelsea, he said.
Increased safety precautions also mean taking measures in high traffic areas. Sumners said Mayor Earl Niven’s efforts to have the speed limit on U.S. 280 reduced in Chelsea is a good step, but he would like to see more changes in the future.
“With the school, Chelsea Park, out there, I’d like to see a red light out there,” he said. “Just for the number of children that come in, not just on the buses but families coming in and out of there every day, there’s a whole lot of traffic.”
During the nearly 30 years Sumners has lived in Chelsea, he has seen the city escalate in size. Establishing a municipal court, he said, would allow the city to implement some of the local ordinances it currently cannot enforce.
“People complain about the dogs in their neighborhood or grown-up yards, stuff like that, and without a city court, you can’t enforce those types of ordinances,” Sumners said.
A municipal court and enforcing those codes would also help keep Chelsea looking uniform throughout continued growth, he said.
“You want it to feel homey,” he said. “That’s going to change, it just is; it comes with growth. Things are going to change, especially with us having 280.”
The growth and change are helpful to the city, he said, because more businesses help build Chelsea’s tax base without having to turn to a property tax.
“We don’t have a property tax and don’t really want to have one right now,” he said. “With Chelsea being as fragmented as it is as a city, this person would pay property tax and the person next to them wouldn’t. So sales tax needs to be our main source of revenue still. We need to have businesses for that.”
A developing city also needs growing resources, Sumners said. He hopes to improve the sports facilities at Chelsea Middle School and Chelsea High School as well as continue to build programs offered at the Chelsea Community Center.
If elected to city council, Sumners said he would work to open up lines of communication between residents, businesses and county entities such as the Board of Education to continue to improve Chelsea.
“I’ve always been proud to tell people, ‘Hey I’m from Chelsea,’ even when we were a little town that no one knew and you had to explain where you’re from,” he said. “I want to see my children and everybody in Chelsea have that same pride and love for the city, so I want to do everything I can to instill that in the city.”
For more information, see Elect Cody Sumners – Chelsea City Council Place 1 on Facebook or email sumnerscitycouncil@yahoo.com.
The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23. Robert Barnes is also running for Chelsea Council Place 1.
If you are running for city council or mayor in Chelsea, you can reach our community reporter Erica Techo at erica@starnespublishing.com.
