Stimpson takes door down, says ‘we’re open’

During the mayoral campaign, Sandy Stimpson said if elected, on his second day in office he would take down the mayor’s door. Not only did he do that on Nov. 5, he removed even more barriers.

As staff, councilors and local media watched, Stimpson used an electric drill to take down the wooden door to the mayor’s office.

“Some of you may think this is just a symbolic measure, and it is in a way, but this is about the City Council knowing they have access to the mayor. It’s not just the City Council, but also the city employees and citizens,” Stimpson said.

The mayor also said the two bulletproof glass doors leading to the mayor’s office would remain open. Those doors are controlled by an electronic system in which an access card or button must be used in order to open the doors.

“It’s again to send the signal we’re open,” Stimpson said.

The openness didn’t stop there. The conference room for the mayor previously had curtains over the glass doors leading into the room.

Stimpson took the curtains off and said, “Now everyone can see who is meeting in here.”

The mayor spoke to Mobilians about openness as well.

“I would challenge the citizens of Mobile to think about the doors you’ve got in your life and think about taking them down,” Stimpson said. “If we want to be one Mobile, that’s going to be necessary.”