Trucking Businessman Al Sommerville Joins Race for Vacant Tuscaloosa Council Seat
A Tuscaloosa trucking company owner is running for the City Council seat left vacant by the death of Council President Kip Tyner, making him the second candidate in the District 5 special election planned for December.
Al Sommerville, who owns and operates AS3 Transportation, said he is seeking the Alberta seat to carry forward the work of the man who held it for 30 years.
“I just want to keep the legacy of Mr. Kip Tyner going,” Sommerville told the Thread last week.
Tyner represented Alberta on the Tuscaloosa City Council for three decades and was serving as council president when he died in September. His legacy is far too long to list hear, but most recently, he was the driving force behind the ongoing $27 million reconstruction of University Boulevard East, a project he once called personal because he lost his younger brother on that street.
A Political Newcomer with Trucking Experience
Sommerville has run AS3 Transportation for six years as an owner-operator. He said the company leases trucks on from other drivers and has contracted as freight has slowed.
“Right now I have trucks leased on, but with the economy the way it is and fuel prices up, we’re down to one truck,” he said. “It fluctuates with how freight runs.”
Sommerville graduated from Tuscaloosa County High School, where an aunt taught, and later from the University of Alabama. He said he belongs to no churches, nonprofits or civic organizations.
Keeping Kip’s Course
Most of our interview was spent with Sommerville saying he wanted to keep Tyner’s legacy going. Asked what that meant to him, he answered in a list.
“Public safety. Building rapport with the citizens. Infrastructure. And gaining the trust of the people,” Sommerville said.
He said the timing is right for him and that the district needs continuity more than it needs any particular candidate.
“I’m older now and you know, we just need somebody to come in and continue what Mr. Tyner had going,” Sommerville said. “Me and Miss Grant, whichever one of us gets in, we just need somebody to continue that work.”
With close to three years left on the term, Sommerville named the same priorities when asked what he would pursue in office, and he described constituent service in concrete terms.
“People move in and out. A neighborhood might be nice today and somebody moves in tomorrow and totally disrupts it,” he said. “If I get that call, hey, we’ve got people partying all night, we want peace in the neighborhood, we’re going to handle that.”
On infrastructure, he pointed to vacant structures and to the Alberta corridor Tyner spent years improving.
“I think Alberta has some old buildings that need to be demolished, I want to finish up what Mr. Tyner had going on University Boulevard East into Alberta City,” Sommerville said.
He said his pitch to voters is a simple one, and that he understands the limits of a single seat.
“I want to work for the people, listen to them, be their spokesperson, and work with the city council on getting issues solved within city government,” Sommerville said. “You can't get there and do it alone because it’s seven votes, not one vote.”
Sommerville said voters can follow his campaign on Facebook at Campaign Sommerville.
The city council has set a December date for the special election in Alberta. Other candidates seeking campaign announcements on the Thread can reach out to editor Stephen Dethrage at stephen.dethrage@townsquaremedia.com.
For more exclusive coverage of city politics in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.
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