Editing Prichard, Alabama (section)

==Government==
[[File:Jimmie Gardner and Bradley Byrne 02.jpg|thumb|Mayor Jimmie Gardner with US Representative [[Bradley Byrne]] in 2016]]
The current [[mayor]] of Prichard is Jimmy Gardner. Gardner was elected mayor in the 2016 [[municipal]] elections, defeating [[incumbent]] mayor Troy Ephriam.

The city is served by a five-member [[city council]], which is composed of five districts of equal size. The city council is responsible for establishing the policies of the city of Prichard. The current council president is Earline Martin-Harris. The Prichard City Council meets every Thursday at 4:30 pm in the Council Chambers at Prichard City Hall.

===City pensions controversy===
In 2003, the city hired an actuary to analyze and summarize their employees’ pension plan. He warned the city that at the current rate of government spending the plan would run out of money by the summer of 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6zM1WYhwPw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Z6zM1WYhwPw |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live |title=John Stossel - The Money Hole |date=June 13, 2011 |publisher=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 24, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In September of that year, the city's pension fund ran out of money and stopped paying pensions.<ref name="Times-2010-12-22">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/business/23prichard.html |title=Alabama Town's Failed Pension Is a Warning |last=Cooper |first=Michael |author2=Mary Williams Walsh |date=December 22, 2010 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 23, 2010}}</ref>
The city filed for bankruptcy again in October 2009.<ref name="bankruptcy_again">{{cite news|last=Ferrara |first=David |title=Prichard files for bankruptcy protection again |work=Mobile Press Register |url=http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1256721412135050.xml&coll=3 |date=October 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091102032731/http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F1256721412135050.xml&coll=3 |archive-date=November 2, 2009}}</ref>

In 2010, Councilwoman Earline Martin-Harris suggested dissolving the city and offered an alternative budget which would make all city employees part-time employees. As of April 2011, pensioners had not received their pension checks nor had a budget been passed in eighteen months.

The dispute continued into 2013, as the city did not reach an agreement with soon-to-retire employees. In response to these developments, four of these employees requested that [[United States Bankruptcy Court|U.S. Bankruptcy Judge]] William Shulman dismiss the city's bankruptcy.<ref name=OldProbNewTwist>{{cite news|last=Kirby|first=Brendan|title=Old problem, new twist: This time pension dispute with current workers threatens Prichard bankruptcy|url=http://blog.al.com/live/2013/08/old_problem_new_twist_this_tim.html|access-date=January 6, 2014|newspaper=Press-Register|date=August 25, 2013}}</ref>