Billie Jo Underwood on Wins, Growth, and a Third Term Run

On this episode of The People’s Voice, Blair Castro and Thomas Jenkins sit down with Baldwin County Commissioner District 3, Billie Jo Underwood.

As she seeks a third term, Underwood reflects on the biggest wins of her time in office, the projects she’s most proud of, and the work she believes is far from finished. From managing growth to strengthening infrastructure and protecting the quality of life in Baldwin County, she lays out what experience on the commission has taught her and where she wants to take the district next.

We talk about what it takes to lead in one of the fastest-growing counties in Alabama, how she approaches tough decisions, and why she’s asking voters for the opportunity to continue serving.

Learn more: electbilliejounderwood.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Good evening. Welcome to the People's Voice podcast on WFEZ TV. I'm Blair Castro here with Thomas Jenkins. And today we have Mrs. Billie Joe Underwood, who's our current Baldwin County Commissioner for District 3 and is running for re-election. Welcome. Thank you for joining us today. Oh, thank you guys for having me. Yes. So we really appreciate you taking the time to come out here. I know how busy you guys schedule are, and it's basically a full-time job, even though you don't necessarily get full-time pay and you're constantly going places campaigning. It's a very hectic season. So first of all, thank you for making the time to do this. It speaks a lot. And I wanted to jump right into it and ask you what made you decide to run for re-election and what makes you the best choice?

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Well, I feel like that this is my third time to run for office. The first time it was in 2018, then I was re-elected in 2022. And the first term between 2018 and 2022 was so many things happened that kind of slowed us down that I really feel like that that was kind of like some lost years for everybody. First of all, we had the pandemic, COVID, and then Baldwin County was hit by a major hurricane, Hurricane Sally that year. So I feel like that everybody lost a lot of their lives during the pandemic. Here we had, you know, a lot of places that were closed and schools were, you know, people were working remote. Now we never stopped doing county business, don't get me wrong, but we were really halted into the things that we really wanted to do to move forward. So I really feel like things really started clicking toward the end of my first term. And then we got a lot accomplished during the second term. And I would just love to be able to be there to see some of the things finished that we've started.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Do you foresee um, I know people, some people are worried about terms. Do you think there would be a fourth term? Are you kind of looking to it? It does, it depends on what's going on in the county.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Well, people that know me know I'm a big person of faith, and I never really even wanted to do this job. And I feel like it's something that the Lord called me to do, and I feel like that he equips those that he calls. And um I will never say never, but I really feel like that this this is a term that that it's important to have experience in. So I do not want to be a career. I don't want to be there for 20, 30, 40 years. Absolutely not. Um, you know, and if this is it, this is it. But I would really love to see this um third term. I really don't feel like it's a third term for based on the things that I've just told you about the first term. A lot of us lost a lot of our lives during that point in time. I think it kind of um, you know, I I really feel like that two good terms is great, but I didn't have two good terms already because of the things, the obstacles that we had during the first term.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

What are some of the goals that you'd like to accomplish this go-round?

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Well, I would like to continue some of the things that we're working on now. We um we have the 30 cube program that we implemented last year in 2025, and that is a partnership where the county commission um uh we we have put 30 million up, and we've asked the municipalities, there are 14 municipalities in Wall County to put up 30 million, whether it's five of them or whether it's all 14 of them that participate, whoever whoever wants to participate, and we've already had several come on board, and I'm really, really proud of uh even the town of Magnolia Springs. We have partnered with them with a 50-50 um match, and it's a$4.2 million project. So I tell all of the municipalities if Magnolia Springs can do it on their budget, everybody can do it. So these are monies that come out of the county's general fund. Now it can't be grant monies or federal monies or state monies that are tied to a lot of red tape. Um cities can borrow the money or somebody can give them the money, uh, or it can come out of their general fund. And um the whole thing is so that we can have um, you know, increased capacity or um um connectivity improvements basically on roadways or just something that keeps traffic moving safely throughout their um municipality, doesn't have to necessarily be on a county road, but it it all roads connect. So either a uh a city road connects to a county road, county road connects to a state road, state road connects to a federal road, which by the way, the state maintains all federal roads that are within the boundaries of each um the state, like state of Alabama. So I think that um I want to see the 30 Q program manifest and see the projects actually happen. Uh, I want to see them, I want to be there for the ribbon cutting on Novellas. I just think that is one of the most amazing industries that have that could come to Baldwin County. I want to see the recycling um, the MIRF Center, the manufacturing, I mean the material recovery facility. I want to see that and much more. I want to see more people um uh come on board and and get into the mindset of recycling. This is not one of those situations where your recycling is being dumped in with the other garbage and being buried in a landfill. We are actively recycling these things at the Magnolia Murph. And so I want to see more blue cans, curbside cans, cans out there. Uh I want to, I know that I I don't think if you did the map that it would be possible for even with the number of people we have in Ballin County now to produce 18 billion aluminum cans is what we need. Uh, that's what Novellus is going to need once they get going up there. 18 billion aluminum cans, but we are burying billions of dollars throughout the country of aluminum every year. And I just want to see some of that stuff be on board. And I do feel like that even if, you know, no matter what, that the county commission is is better than it was when I walked in, but that was with the help of all the commissioners. Nothing I've done by myself. As a commissioner, you can do nothing by yourself. You have to be able to work with other people and build consensus and have a collaboration.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Is traffic the biggest gripe that you have from constituents, or what are some of the top uh problems that are brought forth to you?

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Well, I think it all involves around the word growth. Um and I think that uh people are used to pulling up. Well, particularly I live in the more the rural area of Balm County. Uh when I come down here to where you guys are down near the beach, um, I think people kind of expect a little bit more traffic than they do where I'm from. But people are still used to pulling up to a four-way stop sign, looking both ways and proceeding. They're not used to being the fifth, sixth, or seventh car in line and they think we've got problems when it's that way. And so we analyze things and we try to um we we try to um, you know, make sure that traffic moves, moves, and it moves safely. And so we are constantly looking at uh is the speed limit correctly on some of the county roads? Um, is there improvements that we need to make? We're about to unveil a countywide road plan that will have safety improvements. Now you'll see a lot of safety improvements up. Um matter of fact, the road I live on, there's a subdivision going in right next to me. Um it's an unzoned area of the county. And um, but there are turn lanes being put in on both ends of that road, and that is 100% being put in by the developer because they are bringing in more traffic to that road. And that is some of the things that people really, I think, don't know. Uh, they think maybe that's taxpayer dollars being spent out there, but we have the ability if they put in 15, 50 units or more for a traffic study to be implemented, and if it requires improvements, it's on that developer his dime to do it, not your taxpayers' dollars.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

So I wanted to ask again about the 30 cube program. Correct me if I'm wrong. We have a terrible road here in Gulf Shores, and I think it's County Road 6, Oak Road West. And I believe that is a part of the 30 cube program, and that you guys are going to be fixing that soon. Is that true? And do you have a status update on that?

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Okay, so let me make sure I got the right road. Is that the road that goes towards the uh the football field? Yes, okay, yes, county road six, because they're different, you know. The road's kind of uh anyways. Yes, um, that was the very first 30 cube uh project that um we signed an agreement with the city of Gulf Shores. Um we're just about to uh get close to going to um we're letting them drive the the design and those kind of things, and then it's being matched 50-50, and uh it does connect to a state highway. So it was a little bit of more um that had to happen there, but I believe that's around an$11 million project. And so Gulf Shores was the first city to step up and say, this is this is a deal, this is a deal to have 50-50 match. And for the there is not another program like 30 cube that we have found throughout the entire nation or the state of Alabama. But I will say this our county engineers and our administrators are the ones that uh came up with this plan because everybody was like, help us, help us, help us. And so we have taken this um plan and demonstrated it throughout the state of Alabama. Our county engineers are part of the Alabama County Engineers Association, and they're also part of the National Association of County Engineers. Uh just a few weeks ago, around April 15th, somewhere in that neighborhood, our county engineers were out in Texas at the National Association, and they're they were on stage talking about the things that we're doing here so that other uh areas can uh implement some of the same types of programs that they see that they can do it. And I feel like that once we you use up how did 30Q get its name? Well, we committed 30 million by 2030 and the 30 million that comes from the city, so that's 330s. And I know that's not actually the mathematical definition of 30Q, but we thought it sounded good. And so uh for you math people out there, or you can be critics if you want, I'm used to it, don't bother me a bit. But um, but I really feel like that if we get to 2030 and we've used up the 30 million, hopefully that um we'll be able to look and find some more monies and and continue forward and to keep this moving. I think it's a great we won an award last year from the Alabama County Commission Association for our uh innovation and coming up with this situation.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

So something I think people don't realize is that as commissioners, sometimes you represent us on a state level. You can represent us even on a national level sometimes. We have to have representation as Baldwin County um throughout a larger scale. Can you talk a little bit about times that you may have done that in the past and why that's important going forward?

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Absolutely. I have represented Baldwin County on the national level and on the state level. I'll talk about the national level as we have National Association of County uh commissions, which is called the acronym is NACO. And then I just mentioned the Alabama County Commission Association. Well, we go to DC um to visit with our um our congressmen and our our our senators up there because we're we're always wanting we want to get money here. We we we don't want it to go somewhere else if we can help it. But NACO is a is a platform where that I actually serve on um a caucus for Gulf states, counties, and parishes. And this past um February, I was actually in DC um with our county engineers, and we presented how Baldwin County um has the Restore Act that was actually went back to when um Senator Shelby was in office and the oil spill that happened here in 2010, there was some um monies that were come from the BP oil spill. And so Alabama, out of the five Gulf, the states that border the Gulf of Mexico, Alabama was the one state that really had it together when it came to getting, of course. Now we don't have as much shoreline as as Florida and Texas does, but we were able to um they they wrote a plan called the Restore Act, and that is where you have a council here, and it consists of the coastal mayors, um, a county commissioner, which rotates because we rotate our chairmanship, and um DCNR, which is Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. And um my hats off to Commissioner Blankenship, who is uh DCNR um uh commissioner, and that is an appointed position by the governor. And we have more projects and more things being implemented. Gulf Shores has been the recipient of many of the restore um grants. Um, Baldwin County um is working on some really large ones, and we hope we get those approved. One in particular that we're really crossing our fingers on is the Fish River Bridge on County Road 32. You may not realize it, but that bridge needs replacing, and the price tag just keeps going up and up and up due to inflation and different things. But it's about a$20 million price tag to replace that aging bridge. It is a posted bridge. I think it's somewhere around 50 something thousand pounds. So some loaded semis now have to make the detour if they're following the law. And uh we hope they do. But there's over 9,000 vehicles a day that traverse County Road 32 over that bridge. So we're hoping to get restore monies, and and that's where that you're being represented. You know, you got federal, that's federal, uh, those monies are flowing through Treasury, which is federal, state, and and here. And uh so we've represented um nationally. Um Commissioner Ball um and I were both elected the same time. We were part of a a state uh leadership group for second-term commissioners called PLAN, it's an acronym uh for a leadership group for second-term commissioners, and what we did was we had to choose a passion project in our leadership um group. And so we decided that there was a, I think there were 12 uh members of our groups that came from different counties or 67 counties in the state of Alabama, and they came from the different counties, and we decided to do our passion project together instead of each person doing a separate passion project. And our passion project was on uh mental health, and what could we do as a county to help with the mental health? And so we have worked with uh one of my fellow commissioners that was in the group is from um Limestone County, which is the most northern county as you're leaving out of Alabama on I-65, you go through Athens, and next thing you know, you're in Tennessee. Well, that's Limestone County, and so the uh uh one of the commissioners from there was in our group. So from the top to the bottom, and that's also one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Alabama, but um, we have worked together statewide. When we go to Montgomery, people know who we are because we're there, we show up. We're we we are definitely have a lot of things going for us here in Baldwin County, and people are envious of how well we do have it. And I know growth is is the big topic. We've already brought that up once, but I try to tell people that look, you know what, we can't stop it, but we can hopefully guide it and and manage it and uh to the best of our ability. But with growth comes opportunity, so we can talk about that if you want to, but I'll let you ask your next question.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Paul, I was gonna ask uh what was the passional project that you guys worked on with the other counties?

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Okay, it was uh mental health, and what we did was we helped uh get a piece of legislation passed. Um counties don't do that, but we uh advocated with um the ACCA, which is the Alabama County Commission Association, to influence legislation and we helped amend a bill. I don't remember the number now, I could get it for you, but we helped amend a bill that helps the probate judge consider addiction along with a mental illness in committal processes. Alabama law is very different. I know, I know, I know you're from Florida, um, and they have the Baker Act over there, and it makes it very complicated over here when people need um when people are in a crisis and they need something. And so there was some things that were amended in that act that we were influential in, and we also worked really hard to uh implement the stepping up program in our jails statewide. It is now, other than a couple of counties that have their own program that is very similar to the stepping up program, what the stepping up program is, is is a program that pretty much Baldwin County um correctional facility, our our sheriff, a previous sheriff Hoss Mack, was very um instrumental in getting the stepping up program in Baldwin County jail. And what we do is it's like there is a um there is a counselor in the facility that helps people who are uh come into the jail that have mental illness. You know, um nobody wants to put someone in jail that has a mental illness, but sometimes they they do things that get them put in jail. And so this is a an advocacy type situation program. I I can't tell you all about it, but I do know that Baldwin County is like the flagship. So when Jeb and I were in this program, and um Commissioner Boswell, who is over Alabama Mental Health, she's also a cabinet member of the government, was appointed. She said, we need help in getting this stepping up program implemented. The legislature has put some money out there, and these counties are just not stepping up to the stepping up program. So I feel like that we did a lot with this uh getting the stepping up program. It is almost, if you look at the map before, I think there were 17 out of the 67 counties that were doing it. And um, and by the way, we were the flagship. Everybody wants to implement and do what we're doing here. Um, and it's almost completely, if you look at the map now, I think we've shaded the whole map in showing who is on board with stepping up.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Do you ever think I know this is like a totally um pipe dream and it's very expensive? But do you ever think Baldwin County will have a crisis stabilization unit for mental health? Because I don't think there's any like sort of holding facility, uh, and I feel like that's something that might be needed.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Well, I don't I don't really want to speak on something I don't know all about because the state got out of the uh mental institution business in two 2012. Okay. I believe that's the right year because they did have um different mental um hospitals throughout the state. There was one up in uh Mount Vernon, North Mobile County called Cersei, and I remember when Cersei closed. And what they did now is they have contracted out with individual um companies, and so Alta Point is the one who services Mobile Ball and County. They service some other areas as well. I don't really get into all of that. So that's who we work well with is Alta Point. And Alta Point has um really expanded a lot of the things that they do at their facility over in Mobile where the university hospital is. I'm always wanting to call it USA Medical Center because that was the name of it, always growing up. But I actually visited over there and they do have um like beds and different things like that. But as far as um that is really a state, um it's a state responsibility, but the county does like the probate judge and the court system, those are all those are employees by the state. Okay. So now trust me, they'll if you want to do their job and pay their bills, they'll let you. But we need to hold them to the um, you know, we need to make them do what they need to do. And I do think that Alta Point, okay, I didn't know much about Alto Point, I still don't, because it's not our it's not our area really. But what we do is we support as much as we can. We did use some of our ARPA funds to help continue some of the counseling that they do in our jails. And um we're gonna, I believe we're gonna stand up and use some of our opioid funds uh as well to keep that continued and going. We just did that just a few months ago where that we allocated some of our opioid funds that came from the lawsuits that have been ongoing from the opioid crisis uh for some of the drug companies. And um now, as far as, you know, we need to stay in our lane and do what we're supposed to do, but we are very much in tune with helping the probate judge, helping our court system, um, and what we can do, but we really need to just stay focused with making the state and making the contracted entities that they have do that. Now, as we grow, possibly, yes. Um, you know, um maybe so.

unknown 21:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Yeah, I knew that was like an expensive faraway thing, but I was just thinking about how needed it was because I'm from Pensacola and like you said, the opioid money is stuff. Oh man, I we have lived that very strongly in Escambia County, Florida. Like there was such an, I think we were like the number one county, at least in the state, but probably one of the worst ones in the country for opioid addiction. And our EMS was like way overloaded and it just was a very big problem. And then, you know, I served on the homelessness reduction task force for the city and we tried to uh tackle the homelessness epidemic there, which was a huge, daunting task as well. And I I feel like Baldwin County doesn't have those issues as severely as you know that county would in another state that's neighboring, but But you know, there still definitely is mental health issues here and other things I'd like to, you know, see progress being made towards so I'm glad that you guys did that properly.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Mental health, mental, mental illness, uh, this is uh mental uh health awareness month, actually. Um I believe it is April. We're still in April, aren't we? Yeah, so far. That really does fly. But just this Saturday, um for the fifth year in a row, NAMI, are you familiar with what NAMI is? Okay, National Alliance for Mental Illness. Uh there is a Baldwin County chapter here. And the County Commission, I believe it was in 2019 when we recognized NAMI Baldwin County and implemented a board. And their biggest message is you are not alone in this. And um, so on Saturday, there was going to be a NAMI walks up at Honeybee Park in Robertsdale. And for the fifth year in a row, I've attended that to support people because that is the area where you can find common ground with everybody. One in five people have some sort of mental illness, maybe more, I don't know. It's either you yourself or someone in your family or friends, or you know, if there was five of us sitting here, it'd be a very good chance that one in five of us would have a serious mental illness. I'm not talking about just a little anxiety, I'm talking about something serious that you need help with. And so Nami is um in Baldwin County, and please don't hesitate to reach out. It's that area where that we all have somebody or something that needs they need help.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

I actually reached out to Nami before in Escambia County. So for anyone watching, they help family members too who are afraid of their family person with a mental health issue and they don't know how to act and they're scared and they don't want them to turn on them. Like they will help you navigate the legal process. Like they helped me file a Marchman Act, which is sort of similar to a Baker Act. I was terrified to do it. And they were like, you know, yes, that person's going to hate you for a bit and they're going to probably retaliate, but let's make sure you're in a safe position and you can still file what you need to file and get what like they will walk you through the process hand in hand so that you're not like targeted and you can do it as safely as possible if you need help. So for anyone, Nami is great for resources like that.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Yes, National Alliance Mental Illness, and they do have a Balling County chapter. Go to their Facebook page, but don't hesitate to reach out. You know, guys, anybody that that is afraid of anything, there are so many groups here in Bowen County. There's the Lighthouse that helps people with sexual assaults. There's the Child Advocacy Center. There is so much help. But you know what? You've got to reach out to them.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

So turning back to your race, um, talk a little bit about your background and what qualifies you. I know you've been before, but kind of what continues to qualify you for anyone that might be new watching your experience and what qualities you bring to the table.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Well, for those of you who don't know me, and there's probably a lot that don't, because the county has grown tremendously just in the last eight years. When we're growing at about 7,500 people per year, I mean there's 50, 60,000 more people that are here in Baldwin County, maybe more that weren't here when I ran in 2018. And then when I ran unopposed in 2022, you know, you're not out there. All the signs are not on, you know, everywhere. And so now sometimes when I tell people hi, I'm Billy Joe Underwood, they're like, hey, I saw your green signs, you know. And I'm like, yeah, yeah. So um, anyhow, um, so I am uh born and raised here in Baldwin County. Uh was um my family's on my dad's side has been in Baldwin County since the 1850s, uh, married to Gary Underwood, who his family has been in Baldwin County for about as long, I think he said in the 1840s. And I didn't go any further back than the 1850s, I'm sure. And then my mom didn't come from very far away. She came from um Washington County, just north of Mobile County. So I feel like that this is where we are. Uh, you know, the roots are here. And I went to um Somerdale school and then I went and graduated from Foley High School, played basketball. I absolutely loved playing sports when I was younger. Um, I'm the youngest of four children, and my oldest sister is a certified public accountant, and I just always helped her and worked with her, and I decided that was the easiest thing for me to uh choose when I went to college. Um my sister was first, and then I'm this next um gener first generational um college graduates. No one in my family had ever gone to college prior to that, and now a whole slew of them after us have gone, but before that we we were the first. And um, I really feel like that my husband is a farmer. Um, he is a pecan grower and we have a nursery. And we have, you know, I've worked for a family CPA firm for even before, I mean, I worked in that even before I got out of high school in the 80s. And so I feel like that that brings fiscal responsibility. I understand accounting. I understand of course I do from an accountant, right? I hope I do. You know, they say CPA says can't pass again. I don't want to take that test again. It was hard. But it's supposed to be a testament to the public that you are competent and that you can do what you're supposed to do. If you can go through that, you do have to have the equivalency of a master's degree now. Uh, I was grandfathered in before they started the extra four-year degree, a bachelor's degree in the county. I went to the University of South Alabama. And I do feel like that has brought a lot to the plate for me. Um, I think that um people are more reluctant to uh pull the wool over my eyes when it comes to funding and money and different things like that, because I remember when I was elected that one of the county staff members says, Well, I've been waiting on you to get here on accountant, another accountant, because there was a CPA before when uh Commissioner Greenlow was in office several years ago. But um I know that I have worked really, really hard to learn the complexities of county government. Um in the state of state of Alabama, there's no home rule in counties, and that's very, very different than cities. Um you guys are in the city limits of Gulf Shores. I mean, they can just pass their own law, they can decide they want, I don't know what all they have here. They have a noise ordinance, they can have a leash ordinance, they can have whatever they a litter ordinance, they those are kind of more nuisance laws and things like that. But out in the county, we don't have those abilities to do those kind of things, which uh goes along with um private property rights. Um this is a uh a property rights state. Now, not all states are like that. I do know that Florida has home rule in their counties. And uh excuse me. And um I think out of all of the the states, there's only about maybe a dozen or so that are under the type of uh ruling that the counties are under here in Alabama, and it's referred to as Dillon's rule. A lot of people don't understand that, and a lot of people move here sight unseen because this is a wonderful place to live. I think you guys would attest that this is a wonderful place to be. This is paradise compared to some of the places people tell me they moved from, which I don't think Pensacola is that bad. But um I have people tell me that they move from places that um I wouldn't dream of living. Um I won't name any of them, but I've visited some of those places and some of the large cities and places like that. And and I sit here thinking, well, if you think traffic's bad here, I mean I've been to those places and man, it's really bad there. So um I feel like that, you know, um just the experience that I have had and the relationships that I have um developed federal, state, and locally, um really bring a lot to the plate. I know that it takes a few years to really let things soak in and you're still learning things. I still learn things all the time. But I have put myself through additional um um accreditations that you can that you can uh take part of. Like in the state of Alabama, the counties implemented a law about 30 years or so ago where that when you get elected, you have to go take 50 hours of um education, which is five, 10-hour classes. And those classes are mandatory that you take those classes, but then there's additional classes that you can take, which is a 70-hour classes. And and I've done that, and it really, really, really helps because when you go to these classes, they teach you all about how finance is in counties, roads and bridges. You know, counties used to be called uh county commissioners used to be called road commissioners, and there's a whole nother story on that. We could talk about that if you wanted to, but you want to know why I think I'm qualified. First of all, I've been there, I've done that, I've showed up. I am not lazy. I know what work is. Um, I started out as my dad died when I was four years old, so my mom was left with four children, and work was what we had to do to survive. Um, was not born wealthy. I don't think none of that matters. I think it's what you do with where you are now moving forward. But I started working in um, my brother is a masonry contractor. That's bricklaying for those who don't know what a masonry is. But um I was 11 years old. I'm sure that violated some child labor laws if you wanted to really look into it. But I remember in 1979 in the summer, we were laying brick on a house in the Mills community in Foley, Alabama. We and um didn't have cell phones back then, and we went to lunch and we found out that my oldest nephew had been born up at South Baldwin Hospital. Uh Jeremiah Giles is my my oldest nephew, and I remember going up there and it didn't look like it looks now. Baldwin Health is really nice. It was just a little flat building, and I remember peeking in there, but we were dirty. I mean, when you work in um, I know how to lay brick, I know how to lay tile, and I figured out that that work is hard, and I'm gonna go to college to get me some knowledge so that I still work hard, but it's not manual labor.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

So that is something I, as a voter, think about. If we have, we're getting two new commissioners no matter what. So there's two open seats that you know, if we were to potentially have a whole new board, I feel like the board would struggle because nobody there would be able to sort of give that experience and lend their knowledge and show everyone else how everything operates. I just have a little bit of fear of that. Um and I I don't know if I'm the only person that feels that way, but I would like to not have an entirely whole new board. But um what what are your thoughts on that? I mean, potentially if that were to happen, like what what could happen?

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Well, I I will say that it won't be the end of the world. Okay. Um when I was elected in 2018, there were three new commissioners that came in. And the only um, the only rock that was left was good old Commissioner Gruber. And uh he is not a troublemaker, I can tell you that. He is somebody that that but he's not gonna teach you what to do. And so I'm not gonna teach them what to do, but I will definitely uh if they want to ask me a question, I'll be happy to answer a question. But I think that our staff, we have a wonderful staff now. And the current county commission has worked really, really hard to implement a new uh organizational structure. And I do believe that um they, you know, they're the ones that that that are the the day-to-day in the operations. Uh, don't get me wrong, I give them, I throw out a lot of ideas, but I am not a micromanager. I'm the first to tell you I'm not an engineer, I'm not any of those things. I have learned a lot about what they do, but I'm not an engineer. And so I do believe, though, that our staff should not be underestimated. I don't believe we have people there that would manipulate anyone because I know that they want Ballin County to be successful themselves. But I do know that the learning curve is hard because people go in with an expectation of what you can do and can't do. I hear it not just in the commission race, but you can say anything you want to say when you're running for office. You can say, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, but you can't do anything if you don't know the law and if you don't work well with other people. And so I think that that's very important. So I hope that I have the opportunity to serve again. Um and uh I don't think it would be the end of the world, but I do think things would be halted and slowed, slowed down a lot. And you know, there's all kinds of accusations that are set out there about transparency. They're said about this, they're said about that. And those are really buzzwords. And I tell people all the time, if you have questions, we're your current sitting and county commission now. You don't have to wait until after the new commission is is is implemented and in place in November, whether it's me or anybody else. And again, I hope I am. I'm not trying to talk negatively, but um I just want to say that if there's something happening right now, like I was asked a question about um some questions that are gonna come up on a um a forum that we've been asked to attend as part of the Act Two group that wants to, I think that's the dirt road paving group that we always refer to as that group. I think that's the group that's having the forum up in North Bowen County. There was a question about waiving landfill fees. I'm like, well, why do you want to wait till after, you know, first of all, I can coo the answer to that. We don't own the landfill anymore. But um, and then a whole lot goes into that kind of thing. But those are things that you can ask us now. You don't have to wait until, you know, when when the presidential election and those debates were going on what year we end, two years ago, they were talking about all these things that they were gonna do. And the sitting uh person, I was like, well, you're in there now. Why don't you do it now? You know, why are you waiting till till you get there? So we have showed up, we're doing it now. And uh I don't think it would be the end of the world, of course, you know, but uh the Lord Terry's we're still here. County Commission will go on. We have wonderful employees and they are professionals. And um, if anybody dislikes us, they probably don't know us. Um, I hear there's a lot of noise goes on out there, and uh, I don't read it. I promise you guys, I do not. Uh I did at first and it it kind of bothered me. And so I said, you know what? I just know that I know that I know that I'm gonna do everything to the best of my ability and lean on those who know what to do when I don't know what to do and and we'll get it done. So I encourage anybody, I mean, no matter what happens, I am one of your county commissioners right now. I will be in there until uh the end of you know, first week of November. If you need something, reach out to us. And if it's not something that the county commission has authority over or something that we do, we try to connect you with whatever organization may do it. Uh, you know, sometimes we have to tell you no. I read a book one time by Lisa Turkhurst says the best yes is no. And and sometimes the best yes is no. If you have never read that book, it's a really good one. It is a faith-based book.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

Can you talk a little bit about one of your wins or you know, anything that you think is a major accomplishment that you guys recently have achieved on the county commission?

SPEAKER_02 37:31

Well, this is something that doesn't get a whole lot of um press or a whole lot of talk that people talk about. But when I was running for office in 2018, I was approached by some of the librarians of some of the uh municipal libraries, and and they were telling me that there's just something not right with the Ball County Library Cooperative. And I was like, Well, what is it? And and they said, Well, it is something's not right, you know. And so I started looking into it and I didn't know what it was, and so they had not had an audit, and we give them a lot of money, it's some state money, and then we give them money over a hundred grand. Plus, we were housing them in um Central Annex over 12,000 square feet. And so some of the things that were being told to me were that um there's a duplicity of services right there in Robertsdale. You know, you've got a uh they call it a lending library where you actually walk in and check out a book and there's some computers and things. And so, you know, I was like, well, you know, let's let's let's help them get an audit and see what's going on. So we did an audit and nothing really manifested out of that audit. Um, but I I really think that there was just something there that people just kept telling me something was happening. And so um it it took a while, it was probably five years after I got elected that we got a new administrator. And um, he's also a CPA. And he said, you know, you just kept telling me something's not right. Something's not right, you know, just a discernment that I had. And so he started looking into it and he found out that um it wasn't even legal for them to have a cooperative formed the way it was formed. And so we dissolved the cooperative, and um uh lot of things happened, but in a nutshell, what happened was we removed a huge layer of inefficiency, which resulted in bottom line, I just talked to a librarian from Silver Hill. I am uh fresh off of a ribbon cutting for a water tower that we helped Silver Hill get. It was really hot out there, by the way. Um, and uh the librarian walked up to me and thanked me, and she said, you know, we were only receiving like$600, and now we're getting about$14,000. I talked to a librarian from another small town, and she said we were getting only like$5,000 and now we're getting$18,000. We can use that money for programs and for books and for computers and different things that we weren't able to have. So what we did was we dissolved the Ballin County Library Cooperative, and we still have the uh courier service and the uh we're still doing that for the libraries because it would be a shame that a a library with the volume of books like Golf Shores or Foley, um, you know, they have like a lot of the large print. Um, I don't know, I'm just gonna throw out a name like John Grisham books and things like that. And if you're way out uh in, let's say, Alberta or somewhere where the library is very small, then the courier service a few days a week will bring the books to you. And, you know, you can put about a half a million volumes at everyone's disposal throughout the county, and they can get them at all the different libraries, and then you just take it back instead of having to drive from Alberta all the way over to Gulf Torres to return a book, the courier service. So the courier service is still in place. Those are county commission employees now. There's no in-between. And to see the results of that, I took a lot of heat. I mean, I was the green-eyed monster. I was trying to, you know, uh take away a lending library that was right there in our building when a mile away the city of Roberts Hill had a very good library that did children's programs and everything. And so we were able to utilize that space, save taxpayers' dollars. And these are the kind of things that sometimes when you just know something isn't right, you just got to keep on keeping on. And you got to have somebody that believes in you and knows that you're not just making it up. And so we removed a huge uh layer of inefficiency, which is now instead of that money being wasted in that in in-between layer, it's going straight to the library.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Well, tell everybody where they can learn more about you, how to reach out and when and where to go vote.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

Well, the primary electing is coming up on May the 19th. I would really appreciate you um voting Billy Joe Underwood for Bowen County Commission District 3. This is a countywide election. We do have to live in a district, but you get to vote for all four commission seats countywide. And I do have a website, it's uh electbiliejoeunderwood.com and also uh have a Facebook page. And also, I like I said, I'm your current county commissioner. Contact my office if you've got a mattress on the side of the road and you need us to find somebody to come pick it up for you. So, you know, sometimes that's just the simple things that that we have that we take care of. We take care of potholes, we take care of things like that. So please vote no matter what. Make a plan where you're gonna be on that day. It's a Tuesday, it's coming up really soon. And if you're gonna be out of town, you can vote absentee. You can drive to Baymanette and do the absentee in person. Uh, it's still the same process. You still have the envelopes you've got to seal up and all that, or you can mail in an application. But if you have an elderly person who can't get out, but they can't stand in line, or you think you're going to be working late that day, or if your job is, you know, a 12 hour shift, vote absentee. No matter what, exercise your right and vote. Thank you.