HOLLY POND, Ala. – With a long career of coaching and education behind him, and after serving one term as Holly Pond’s mayor, “Coach” Bill Oliver chose not to run for re-election this year, saying, “It’s someone else’s turn to have all the fun.”
The Tribune sat down and talked with Oliver about what he’s done before and what he plans to do next.
What has your career in Holly Pond looked like previously?
“My wife and I moved here in 1977, and I was the head football coach. I coached out here – football, basketball, track – for 11 years. Then I left in ’88 and went to Vinemont as their principal, then from there to the (Cullman County Schools) Central Office and from there to the State Department of Education. I still work part-time with them.
“I enjoyed teaching and coaching out here. The people were very, very good to us. I coached for 18-19 years, but it was time to let some of the others go, and my kids were getting old enough to play. I’d always said, ‘Never coach your own kid,’ so I was able to go watch them play instead of being part of it. I don’t regret that.
“They didn’t run us off, so I served one term – I can’t give you the exact year because I don’t remember it – I served a term on the council. Then I got sick. I had a heart attack, and I didn’t want to run and be where I couldn’t do anything with it, so I served that term and just never got back until this happened. When the opportunity came to run for mayor, I saw it as a chance to serve the community, serve our town, and I tried to do that.”
Looking back on some of your achievements, what are some of the accomplishments that you are most proud of?
“I think of all the accomplishments, especially not out of the political part but in the schools, the biggest accomplishments I had were that I made many, many friends out of those young men and women. Thought it was gonna kill me at the time we were playing, but some of my best friends that I have now are students that played for me. I loved the kids and I enjoyed what I did; I never got to the point where I dreaded going to work. I think the biggest accomplishment I had was hopefully having a positive impact on those kids, and I hope they can look at our relationship and say it was good.
“I had a couple of things to do that I really, really wanted to get accomplished when I became mayor. One of them is in the process and that’s our senior building. I felt that our seniors deserve a nice place, and we deserve one that’s at least as nice as anyone in the county, and right now we’re in the works on that. It will not happen while I’m here because I know how long the process takes, but at least it’s started, so I’m very happy with that one. I know our Town is involved in doing some work to correct our sewer system. I couldn’t give you an exact number, but it’s probably 40 years old, and like anything else you’ve got to keep it up-to-date and maintained, but it had been neglected. We’re working now to get grants and plans to fix our system, and it’s very costly simply because it’s outdated, but hopefully we can get that fixed.
“We’ve completely remodeled Governor’s Park down here – new siding on the buildings because they were showing the effects of aging. We’ve added lights and got lights working, we’ve put up street signs that used to not exist, got some speed limit signs now established. I think we’ve made some progress on things that need to be done.”
What do you plan to do with all your new free time?
“Whatever my wife tells me to (laughing). Nah, there’s a lot of things around home that have been neglected the last few years. This is the most full-time part-time I’ve ever heard about, seen or had, I can tell you. I put a lot of time in here that hopefully I’ll get back in time to catch up. We’ve got a remodeling job at our home that I started, and it’s just gone into hibernation, and I do want to get that done. I’ll get to be around my grandkids a little bit more. I think I’ll just catch up at home a lot, really looking forward to that. I know my wife is looking forward to me not having to do this anymore. Maybe my grass can stay mowed and not make the neighborhood look bad as much. I still do some part-time work with the State Department of Education, so I guess I can continue to do that. I won’t be at home all the time but a lot of it, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Do you have any advice or anything you’d like to say to the incoming council members and mayor?
“Just be willing to work. It’s not one of those jobs that you can spend an hour or two a day on and be done. Like I said before, this is one of the most full-time part-time jobs I’ve ever had; there’s a lot to learn about municipal law and procedures and rules and regulations. I daresay I spend 35 hours or so a week doing a part-time job here. I go over to the maintenance building to make sure that I’m there if they need anything (though I’m sure they’re probably getting tired of seeing me over there), and although I haven’t been since the virus, I usually visit several businesses during the day and just talk to them. I think the new mayor’s gonna have to be willing to put the time in, because without that it’s not gonna work.
“The new council members coming in, it’s pretty much the same. They don’t spend the hours – they just tell me what to do, they don’t have to go out and make sure that it’s done – but they have to go out and spend some time finding out what the town needs and what the people want. They have to mix and mingle with the folks, talk to them and be aware of what’s going on. It’s hard to be a council member without people knowing who you are and seeing you every day; you can’t be a council member and just stay at home, you just can’t do that. I think the ones I’ve been around and talked to are willing to do that. I think we’re leaving it in the hands of a group of people that can handle it.”
Holly Pond’s Municipal Election will take place Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Carla Hart is running unopposed for the mayoral seat.
Copyright 2020 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
