Residents urge equitable school-board representation and transparency on floodplain permits and mobile-home placement

Two residents spoke during the public-comment portion of the Nov. 4 Opelika City Council meeting with concerns about representation and permitting.

Raven Harvest of 1005 Crawford Road congratulated newly elected leaders and told the council she is concerned that Wards 1 and 2 currently have no representation on the school board. Harvest said she believes those wards include a high share of student enrollment and urged the council to be intentional about ward representation on boards and commissions when making future appointments.

Lindbergh Bernard Jackson, of 136 Arrowhead Drive in Montgomery, addressed the council about transparency and permitting on a project on South Long Street. Jackson said he sought information on whether properties in that area have required floodplain certificates and asked the city to make permitting information accessible through the public portal. He described working to furnish mobile homes for low- and moderate-income households and said a lack of buildable lots and high property prices make mobile-home placement an important affordable-housing option in Opelika.

Why it matters: Both comments touch on representative governance (who is appointed to local boards) and on administrative transparency for permitting and floodplain compliance. The issues raised could affect future appointment decisions and how staff documents and publishes permitting records.

What the council said: Council staff and members acknowledged the comments; staff (Mister Jones) and Councilmember Allen offered to follow up and to assist residents in locating permitting information through city records and the portal.