Daleville cleanup ordinance gets new emphasis

“If not now, when? If not us, who?”

Those are the questions that Daleville Mayor Jayme Stayton asks as he explains his commitment to seeing the citizens of Daleville refocus on a cleanup facelift of the city. “We are the gateway to Fort Rucker,” he said. “It’s time we start to look like it.”

First sworn in as mayor of the “City of Possibilities” in November 2016, Stayton was re-elected to a second term in 2020. He said that he has been reaching out to potential businesses since his first day of office. The success of those on-going efforts has turned Stayton’s attention to the first impression that the city makes on visitors.

Stayton said that the city officials have tried to practice diplomacy as far as ordinance enforcement. “They always say you catch more flies with honey but apparently not with ordinance enforcement,” he said, shaking his head. “Apparently diplomacy isn’t effective enough.”

Stayton said that he and Daleville Code Enforcement Officer Wayne Stripling are teaming with the Department of Public Safety leadership to canvas each section of the city and notate ordinance violations along the route. “We’re going to enforce these ordinances to the letter,” Stayton said. “If you are in an ordinance violation you’re going to be notified of such via a certified letter and if no action is taken, the city will continue to proceed through the legal ordinance enforcement process.”

“If you don’t know what the existing ordinance is, call the Daleville Code Enforcement Officer Wayne Stripling at (334) 598-2345 or read the city ordinances on the city’s website,” Stayton said. “The process is starting now,” he stressed. “The time for talking is over.”

Stayton asks that citizens be aware that many of the buildings housing Daleville businesses have out-of-area owners. Researching who the exact owner is according to Revenue Office records, contacting that out-of-area owner via certified letter and then waiting the legally prescribed time period takes time, he said. “I want to be clear that this is a process that will take time but know that the process has begun.”

While striving to bring more businesses to Daleville, Stayton said he is grateful to the current business owners in the city. "As the mayor, I am extremely grateful for the businesses located here and I want to do whatever we can to make sure the business stays here and that means making sure that the first impression the city presents is not filled with ordinance violations.

“I have been focusing on economic development and have been successful to the point that businesses are now approaching us about relocating to Daleville,” Stayton said. “Daleville is selling itself. With that being said, the enforcing of the ordinances becomes more imperative.”

In addition to more stringent enforcement of nuisance violations, Stayton said that community involvement can go a long way to making his cleanup campaign a success.

“Some people would rather sit around and complain than roll up their sleeves and do something about a problem,” Stayton said. “Some people just want to talk about it, they don’t want to do anything about it but I do not think that is the sentiment of most of Daleville’s citizens.”

Stayton said he is aware that several neighboring municipalities have annual community cleanup/volunteer service days, initiated by churches and civic organizations. “I would love to have something of that caliber initiated here,” he said, adding that a day of volunteer community engagement is the kind of project that builds “Daleville pride.

"Daleville is growing," he said, adding that bringing a major business or industry to the city is not an easy process. "It's not going to happen overnight to get a big corporation or plant in Daleville," he said. "It just doesn't happen overnight, but we're moving in the right direction.

"My job is to take care of the city and take care of the people that are in this city," Stayton said. "I love Daleville and I'm going to fight for Daleville.

“We are serious about cleaning up the face that the city presents to the world,” Stayton said. “It needs to be done and it needs to start now.”