[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 203 (Monday, December 18, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S18824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MAYOR STEVE HETTINGER

   Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, Huntsville, AL, Mayor Steve 
Hettinger, announced in October that he would not seek reelection in 
1996. He has been in Huntsville's top administrative post since 1988. 
Prior to becoming mayor, he was in the State legislature for 6 years, 
served for 4 years as an aide to former Congressman Ronnie Flippo, and 
worked as an engineer.
  Huntsville has witnessed dramatic growth and progress under the 
dynamic leadership of Mayor Hettinger. It has continued its long-range 
capital improvements program. He and other city leaders took an active 
role in persuading the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to move 
2,600 Army jobs to Huntsville. Early in his tenure, he was instrumental 
in the passage of slope-development controls. Many urged him to mount a 
race for the Senate next year, but he declined.
  Other accomplishments include the city's community plan ``Vision 
2000,'' road construction, the establishment of community facilities 
and long-term investments, and improvements in public safety, public 
works, and government efficiency. In 1989, the city council passed a 
half-cent sales tax increase, the revenue from which was used to 
improve city schools. No other general tax increase has been enacted. 
Mayor Hettinger has represented the city of Huntsville well. He is on 
good terms with corporate executives and is close to key State 
legislators.
  In a highly unusual development, Mayor Hettinger and the city council 
were able to balance the 1995 city budget and carry over nearly $8 
million to the 1996 budget year. He made a promise to do everything in 
his power to hold down spending while at the same time retain the 
quality and level of service to which residents had come accustomed. 
The fiscal austerity that resulted from this wise promise was 
difficult, as is always the case when government programs are affected. 
The efforts of the mayor and city council paid off in a big way, 
however, as the books were balanced and a surplus resulted. In these 
times, this is truly an incredible feat. The citizens of Huntsville are 
now mulling over what to do with the extra money. We can only dream of 
such success at the Federal level. Mayor Hettinger should be commended 
for this budgetary success--success from which we could learn a thing 
or two.
  Steve Hettinger moved to Huntsville in 1967 after graduating from 
Mississippi State University with a degree in engineering. He attended 
the University of Alabama in Huntsville and worked in the space 
program. He earned a master's degree in industrial and systems 
engineering from UAH in 1974. He is currently the president of the 
Alabama League of Municipalities.
  I know that Mayor Hettinger still has a great deal he wants to 
accomplish before he leaves office, and I am sure that he will 
accomplish much over the next year. He is really the first mayor of 
modern Huntsville, coming as he does from the ranks of the technocrats, 
and I mean that in the best sense of the term. He has improved 
efficiency dramatically, and Huntsville is a much better city because 
of his leadership and contributions. I wish him all the best for the 
future.

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