Who voted, who paid, and what's coming next in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
Gulf Shores ยท Analysis
Robert Craft has run Gulf Shores since 2008. Nobody has announced for 2029, but the bench is already forming, and the mayor pro tem sits at the top of it.
Sept. 28: should part-time owners get to park in the East Gulf Place resident lot?
Both cities
Two councils, three months, and one issue that split the council, in the minutes we could get. Here's what Gulf Shores and Orange Beach did from August through October, and what's coming in November.
Orange Beach
In May, three of Orange Beach's five council members filed a state ethics complaint saying Mayor Tony Kennon threatened them over the release of police bodycam footage from a 2024 call at a city building. Six months later, here is what the public record shows, and what it doesn't.
Orange Beach
A beachgoer who says a lifeguard truck ran him over, the estate of a man who died in the city jail, an attorney who says city officials defamed him, and the ongoing federal fight over bodycam footage from a 2024 police call involving the mayor.
Gulf Shores
The city prosecuted a rental company's vice president over golf carts an appeals court found the company was already licensed to rent. The appeals court threw out the convictions, and on Oct. 9 the Alabama Supreme Court declined to hear the city's appeal. What the fight cost taxpayers has not been reported.
Orange Beach
On Oct. 20 the Orange Beach City Council appointed Hunter Harrelson to the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism Board. His wife, Councilwoman Ginger Harrelson, co-founded Beachball Properties, the vacation rental company he is listed with. The meeting recording shows she abstained.
Orange Beach
Orange Beach's police chief says the city can cancel its new drone program at any time. A news preview of the Oct. 6 agenda described a contract that automatically converts to roughly $176,000 a year unless the city gives written notice 90 days before the free year ends.
Orange Beach
The company in line to buy the city's Event Center and the company behind the Margaritaville resort, which is in line for a 30-year tax rebate, are both Louisiana LLCs that list the same principal address. Here is what the state's business records show.
Gulf Shores
In 2024, Gulf Shores hoped to keep construction of its Waterway Village pedestrian bridge under $20 million. By July the bridge alone was reported at $24 million. On Oct. 26 the council approved another plaza change order, and FOX10 now puts bridge and plazas together at $30 million.
Orange Beach
The city gets $5.565 million in cash and a $1.935 million interest-free loan. The loan gets repaid with tax money The Wharf generates. Under the terms reported in April, after Dec. 31 the city can't book its own former venue without the buyer's permission.
Gulf Shores
The city froze rezonings and new PUDs in March while a $500,000 consultant writes a 20-year plan. The freeze expires in March 2027. On the city's own timeline, the plan isn't due until after that.
