Two mayors juggle city hall and private enterprise

WINSTON COUNTY, Miss. and LAMAR COUNTY, Ala. (WCBI)- It may seem like running a town while also running a business would keep someone on two different tracks, but a pair of mayors have found a business model that keeps them in touch with residents.

“I owned it and operated it now for about 10 years it’s a lot of fun. People get that connection with you.  They see you at totally different level, you’re not here, you’re not busy , you’re not trying to solve problems ,you’re up there singing along with a country song on the radio you know acting kind of crazy and it gives them that personal feel,” said Vernon, Alabama Mayor Glenn Crawford.

Mayor Crawford operates WJEC FM and WVSA AM, and he hosts a Saturday morning show each week to make sure the residents in Vernon are informed about what’s going on in the town.

Of course he has a bit of an inside track, since he also serves as the town’s mayor.

“I’m hired as a part time mayor, that puts in about 50-60 hours a week, because I want this little town to grow. It’s a part time radio, even though I own the station, it’s part time,” said Mayor Crawford.

Louisville Mayor Will Hill enjoys both of his jobs. Even though radio has been a lifelong dream, he’s had to adjust his priorities.

“The radio station does keep us very busy. I do a lot of programming I do sales when I can just trying to schedule and balance the life as mayor and radio is a challenge sometimes, but I do put my job as mayor at the front,” said Mayor Hill.

For Hill, if Louisville’s top job wasn’t part of the picture, he knows where he would be..

“I grew up on WLSM driving by in my tire life never thought that I would even own the station. As fate would have it, the local radio station owner and I was friends and I had mentioned something years previous and that conversation began again in that dialogue continued to the point where I was able to secure their business in 2013,” said Hill.

Both Mayor Crawford and Mayor Hill plan to keep running their stations for more years to come.