Editing Mobile, Alabama (section)

==Government==
{{See also|List of mayors of Mobile, Alabama}}
[[File:Government Plaza Mobile.JPG|thumb|[[Mobile Government Plaza|Government Plaza]] in Mobile, seat of government for the city and the county]]

Since 1985 the government of Mobile has consisted of a mayor and a seven-member [[city council]].<ref name="Cityofficials1">{{cite web |title=City Officials |work=City of Mobile |url=http://www.cityofmobile.org/cityofficials/ |access-date=November 23, 2012}}</ref> The mayor is elected [[at-large]], and the council members are elected from each of the seven city council [[single-member districts]] (SMDs). A [[supermajority]] of five votes is required to conduct council business.

This form of city government was chosen by the voters after the previous form of government, which had three city commissioners, each elected at-large, was ruled in 1975 to substantially dilute the minority vote and violate the [[Voting Rights Act]] in ''[[Mobile v. Bolden|Bolden v. City of Mobile]]''. The three at-large commissioners each required a majority vote to win. Due to appeals, the case took time to reach settlement and establishment of a new electoral system.<ref name="gov1">Thomason, Michael. ''Mobile: The New History of Alabama's First City'', pp. 272–273. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8173-1065-7}}</ref> Municipal elections are held every four years and are nonpartisan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sharp |first1=John |title=Mayor, council races on ballot today in Mobile |url=https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2021/08/mayor-council-races-on-ballot-today-in-mobile.html |website=AL.com |date=August 24, 2021 |publisher=Alabama Media Group |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>

[[Sam Jones (mayor)|Sam Jones]] was elected in 2005 as the first African-American mayor of Mobile. He was re-elected for a second term in 2009 without opposition.<ref name="sammayor">{{cite news |title=Reinventing Our Community: Mobile's first black mayor points to city's progress on race |author=Charles J. Dean |url=https://www.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2011/07/reinventing_our_community_mobi.html |newspaper=The Birmingham News |date=July 24, 2011 |access-date=December 4, 2021}}</ref> His administration continued the focus on downtown redevelopment and bringing industries to the city.  He ran for a third term in 2013 but was defeated by [[Sandy Stimpson]]. Stimpson took office on November 4, 2013, and was re-elected on August 22, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last=Specker |first=Lawrence |title=Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson wins another term|url=https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2017/08/mobile_voters_go_to_polls_tues.html |website=al |access-date=December 4, 2021 |date=August 21, 2017}}</ref>

As of January 2022, the seven-member city council is made up of Cory Penn from District 1, William Carroll from District 2, C.J. Small from District 3, Ben Reynolds from District 4, Joel Daves from District 5, Scott Jones from District 6, and Gina Gregory from District 7.<ref>{{cite web |title=City council |url=https://www.cityofmobile.org/government/city-council/ |website=City of Mobile |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>