[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 172 (Thursday, November 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16564-S16565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LAUGHLIN ASHE

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, Sheffield, AL mayor Laughlin Ashe passed 
away recently. In the 3 short years that he served as mayor of his 
hometown, Ashe developed a reputation for integrity and honesty that is 
seldom enjoyed by officeholders. Many of those who worked with and for 
him say he deserves full credit for the economic revival of this city 
in northwest Alabama.
  Laughlin Ashe looked after the best interests of his town to the very 
best of his abilities--abilities that were considerable. He was loyal 
to his friends and he was always true to his word. His was an effective 
style that yielded true leadership. He had a multitude of friends who 
will truly miss him. I am one of them.
  After he was elected mayor in 1992, Ashe went about building 
consensus and bringing people together in order to rebuild the downtown 
area of Sheffield. His upbeat and forthright attitude spilled over into 
his work. He never allowed his serious illness to dampen his desire to 
serve and finish projects he had initiated and hoped to see completed. 
His dignity and spirit during his illness were reflections of the 
qualities that made him a successful mayor and wonderful human being.
  He often remarked to close friends that being Sheffield mayor was the 
only job he ever really wanted. He was the coowner of Ashe-Box 
Insurance for several years, but sold his interest in the business 
after his election to the full-time mayor's job.
  Laughlin Ashe was a friend to many, a consummate gentleman, and a 
compassionate father. He had an undying love for his city. Even before 
becoming mayor, he was Sheffield's self-appointed No. 1 cheerleader. He 
will be missed by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing him and 
watching him in action.
  Last summer, Mayor Ashe met with editors of the TimesDaily newspaper 
for an interview to be published after his death. I ask unanimous 
consent that the account of that interview, from the September 16, 
1995, TimesDaily be printed in the Record.
  I extend my sincerest condolences to his wife, Debbie, and their 
family in the wake of this immeasurable loss.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                   [From TimesDaily, Sept. 16, 1995]

              Ashe on Hometown: ``God I Love This Place''

 (Laughlin Ashe was a forward-looking person--even when his own future 
   was douded. This summer, Ashe met with TimesDaily editors for an 
  exclusive interview, to be published after his death. For some two 
hours, Ashe spoke candidly about how far his city has come--and issued 
 a challenge for others to keep up the progress after his own passing. 
                  Here is an account of that meeting)

                            (By Mike Goems)

       Sheffield.--Laughlin Ashe leaned back on the office sofa 
     with his hands clasped behind his head and continued to talk 
     about the past, present and future of his beloved Sheffield.
       For more than an hour, he appeared completely content and 
     relaxed. His own bleak future appeared lost in the discussion 
     about business expansions, a sharply healthier city treasury 
     and city revitalization efforts.
       Without warning, his thoughts suddenly returned to the 
     inevitable. He had known for weeks that he would not be there 
     to see those plans through.
       ``The good Lord has been kinder to me than I've ever had a 
     right to expect,'' Ashe said. ``He has given me an 
     opportunity to do the one thing that I've always wanted to 
     do. I've never been involved in anything as fulfilling as 
     this job.
       ``The only regret I have is time. I just don't have the 
     time anymore,'' Ashe continued as tears filled his eyes, his 
     voice cracking. He could not finish his next sentence--``I 
     wish I had more time, just 4\1/2\ more years to see. . .''
       Ashe, a self-proclaimed cheerleader for a city rebounding 
     from the doldrums of the mid-1980s, died Friday from liver 
     cancer. He was 59.
       Having been told by doctors that his life likely would end 
     before autumn, perhaps his 

[[Page S 16565]]

     favorite time of the year, Ashe agreed to be interviewed by 
     the TimesDaily on June 27, provided the story would not be 
     released until after his death.
       His message on that hot, overcast day came in the form of a 
     challenge to Sheffield residents to keep the city moving 
     forward.
       ``This city has come so far in such a short period of 
     time,'' Ashe said. ``There's no reason we cannot continue in 
     this direction when I'm gone.
       ``There's a sense of pride that has returned to Sheffield. 
     People are proud to say they're from Sheffield again. I know 
     it means something special to me to tell people where I live. 
     God, I love this place.''
       That love and pride for his hometown is perhaps the biggest 
     legacy Laughlin Ashe leaves. Ashe's enthusiasm is credited 
     by many as one of the single biggest factors that made 
     Sheffield a city on the move again.
       To have heard him talk, you would, think the city is headed 
     toward unprecedented growth.
       ``We have feelers out in every direction,'' Ashe said. 
     ``We've on the verge of some extremely big things, and slowly 
     but surely we're going to get there.''
       Ashe downplayed his role in the revitalization of 
     Sheffield, and he made repeated efforts not to point fingers 
     at anyone from past administrations. Instead, he praised the 
     City Council, which he said has done ``an unbelievable job,'' 
     and the residents who ``feel as deeply about the city as I 
     do.''
       ``When I was running for office, Sheffield had gotten into 
     a rut,'' Ashe said. ``People were not negative but they 
     certainly weren't positive, either. That kept us in that 
     rut.''
       Change came subtly but quickly, a product of a joint effort 
     between the council and Ashe.


                           we're businesslike

       We were fortunate enough to have six brand new people with 
     no political experience to come into office at one time,'' 
     Ashe said. ``Not a single one of us knew that something 
     couldn't be done. We didn't understand there was no way to 
     get from one point to the other. So, we just did it.
       ``We don't have the pizazz that Florence does with their 
     nearly $20 million budget, we don't have the little hint of 
     scandal that may sometimes trouble Muscle Shoals where you 
     have this faction hollering at another faction, and we don't 
     have that little smoke like what's coming out of Tuscumbia. 
     We've business-like. We discuss the issue and 20 minutes 
     later we're out of there.''
       Ashe saw his role as one of a cheerleader. While promptly 
     dealing with the negatives, Ashe focused on the positive 
     things in Sheffield. It's an attitude that proved to be 
     contagious.
       ``During these past three years, we have uncovered a lot of 
     those needs and started serving them.'' he said, ``When you 
     get down to it, you provide the basic services and the rest 
     is attitude.
       ``And hell, yes, our image has improved. I base that on 
     what people say to me, my family and the council. The 
     attitude has improved. The way to discover that is by driving 
     through our neighborhoods like York Terrace, the Village and 
     Rivermont and you'll see people building onto their houses 
     and taking pride in their property.''
       During the Ashe administration, the city has attacked the 
     problem of rundown houses and property that has gone 
     unattended by landowners. Several of those eyesores have been 
     torn down, at a cost of about $10,000 per project.
       That condemnation process is far from complete, according 
     to Ashe. Singling out a property owner on Columbia Avenue, he 
     said the face-lift ultimately will include the removal 
     of some house trailers and other unsightly residences.
       Ashe also talked at great length about the council's 
     ability to update equipment for the street and cemetery 
     departments, while improving resources for the police and 
     fire departments. Sheffield's 101 city employees have been 
     given another raise, marking the third straight year they 
     have received pay increases.
       ``We got behind during the level times of the 1980s, and 
     we're still not where we want to be,'' Ashe said, ``We have 
     lost three or four top-notch police officers over the last 
     month or so. We can't afford to keep them. We get them 
     trained in the academy and then on the streets, and then they 
     go to Muscle Shoals or Florence for a $5,000 raise. And I 
     don't blame them.''
       The purchases and raises are products of an improved 
     economic and retail base. Ashe credited Sheffield businessmen 
     Bob Love and Tony McDougal for initiating some of that growth 
     before the 1992 election. The influx of restaurants in the 
     city has revitalized downtown.


                            a reason to come

       ``The thing Sheffield had been missing for so many years 
     was a hook, a reason for people to come to the city,'' the 
     mayor said. ``There had been no real reason to come into 
     Sheffield unless you had a specific purpose. We don't have 
     the upscale anything for shoppers. Restaurants are changing 
     that. They're giving people a reason to come into our city.''
       Ashe forecast that the crowning jewel of Sheffield's 
     revitalization will be a promised overpass that will allow 
     motorists to travel to Sheffield without fear of being 
     delayed by passing trains at the Montgomery Avenue crossing. 
     Despite the belief among some residents that the overpass 
     will never be built, Ashe never wavered.
       ``I still go to bed at night and say my prayers and thank 
     God this overpass is coming,'' he said. ``this overpass is 
     going to do more to change Sheffield positively as Woodward 
     Avenue did in Muscle Shoals.
       ``We're going to have a business route again, and we're 
     going to have traffic flow through here that made this town 
     back in the `50s and earlier years. Once the traffic flow 
     starts, the retail and commercial portions will come. We have 
     some people already beginning to think in those terms.''
       Sheffield's long-range plan includes the development of an 
     office park near the intersection of Nathan and Hatch 
     boulevards, a project that will tie in with the Old Railroad 
     Bridge walking-trail system. The city also is working on a 
     softball-baseball complex.
       As Ashe put it, ``We've got so many things in the cooker 
     it's hard to keep up with.'' That's why he asked the council 
     to hire an assistant to the mayor during his final months, so 
     he could make that person aware of those projects. The 
     council responded by hiring Linda Wright, who will now play a 
     role in the transition to a new mayoral administration.

     

                          ____________________