Staff Report
ATHENS, Ala. — (February 25, 2014) Bobby Jackson, a veteran educator and Athens resident, has announced his candidacy for the 5th District of the Alabama House of Representatives. Jackson qualified with the Alabama Republican Party on February 4th. Jackson said his campaign would focus on job growth, education and being a leader that truly works for the people of the district.
“I want to be a leader our residents know they can depend on,” said Jackson. “This job should only have one boss – and that’s the people of District 5. When elected, I’m going to work every day to represent their interests. Their voice is always going to be louder with me than political bosses in Montgomery.”
Jackson went on to say that he’s concerned about the level of transparency he’s seeing from current elected officials in Montgomery.
“We’ve got to open up communication between the voters and the elected officials,” said Jackson. “I don’t want to just talk about having a more transparent government, I want to make a plan that does it. My campaign is planning regular, town hall style meetings to talk about the issues facing our district. We’ll continue those after the election so our residents know what we’re working on, what we’re doing to best represent their interests. It also gives voters the chance to tell us what they think our priorities should be, to ask us questions about what we’re doing with their tax dollars.”
Jackson added that he wouldn’t vote on any legislation without reading it first and that transparency should always trump politics.
“I don’t think major legislation should be passed with secret deals and behind closed doors,” added Jackson. “That’s not what public servants are supposed to do.”
Bobby Jackson is in his 40th year in education. Jackson taught and coached for more than 28 years and, for the past twelve years, has worked as an administrator with Madison City Schools. Jackson currently heads the Madison City Schools’ transportation department. He is a lifetime member of the Optimist Club and serves on the City of Madison Recreation Board. During his career, Jackson has received recognitions for both his athletics and administrative work, including as “Coach of the Year” in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, Athletic Director of the Year in 2003, 2004 and with a State Award of Merit from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association in 2003.
Jackson and his wife, Gayle, have been married for nearly 28 years.
“I want to bring a commonsense approach to the statehouse,” said Jackson. “You don’t need the government telling you how to spend your money or raise your family; and we don’t need political bosses in Montgomery telling our representatives how they are going to vote or what’s best for District 5. Our district deserves better than that.”
The Republican Primary elections will occur on Tuesday, June 3.
