Two weeks after crossing the stage to receive his high school diploma, Brandon Moss, 18, stepped on another podium, this time announcing his career for the mayor of Fairfield, Alabama, he told ABC News.
Just out of high school and starting the preparations for the East Autumn University, Moss is the youngest mayor candidate in the history of Fairfield, a city of approximately 9,500 people who are southwest of Birmingham, according to his campaign manager, Marilyn Yelder.
“I am ready to assume this challenge. Age does not guarantee wisdom or innovation,” Moss told ABC News. “I will not say that I am perfect or I know everything, a team of good people will be needed to achieve good things.”
Brandon Moss, 18, who just leaves high school and prepares for the university, has announced his campaign for the mayor of Fairfield, Alabama, told ABC News.
ABC News
When he launched his campaign on June 7, Fairfield’s native told journalists to run for mayor because “I love this city and believe in his future.”
Moss, who has always been interested in the “internal functioning of politics,” he told ABC News that he decided to run for mayor after noticing a “greater need” in the city of Fairfield, specifically with respect to “businesses and a better way of life.”
Citing the mayor of Birmingham, Randall Woodfin (who has been in office since 2017) and former President Barack Obama as his political models to follow, Moss said he plans to bring a “new vision and a new perspective” to the office of the Mayor’s Office if he is elected.
“Past administrations and the people who are running have done a great job in Fairfield, but I think it’s time for us to look for something new,” Moss said.
Brandon Moss, 18, who just leaves high school and prepares for the university, has announced his campaign for the mayor of Fairfield, Alabama, told ABC News.
Brandon Moss for Mayor
His political portfolio includes experience working in the Alabama Youth and Government Program, as youth senator and in the Governor’s Cabinet, together with the Service at the Student Advisory Board for the Superintendent of the Schools of the City of Birmingham. He also worked as an executive intern for the Superintendent’s office and graduated from the Alabama Civic Participation Academy.
If he is elected mayor, Moss said he will focus on the city’s finances by bringing a forensic auditor to monitor the city’s expenditure and will also highlight small businesses creating emerging stores in a shopping center so they can have “an opportunity to be seen,” Moss said.
He also plans to address Blight, a problem in which the negligible or vacancious houses become covered with vegetation. Moss said that if chosen, he will work with the federal government to receive subsidies that can help eliminate these houses from the community.
Brandon Moss, 18, who just leaves high school and prepares for the university, has announced his campaign for the mayor of Fairfield, Alabama, told ABC News.
Brandon Moss for Mayor
Moss, who attends the University of Alabama in Birmingham this fall, is prepared to juggle the university classes and the responsibilities of the Mayor’s Office, said Yelder, his campaign manager, to ABC News.
“He has a team of mentors for all aspects, not only to help him reach the mayor, but the people who are helping to speak in public, mental health,” said Yelder. “I think he will be more than prepared, even at age 18, to assume the role of mayor of Fairfield.”
Other candidates who compete for the office include councilor Herman Carnes, Councilor Cedric Norman, former councilor of the center of the field and the native of Fairfield James Reasor and financial consultant Michael Williams, according to ABC Birmingham Affiliated WBMA.
If Moss is not chosen on August 26, Moss said he will plan to work in a political position. If the votes are in their favor, he said that “he will do the job and see where he takes me.”
