By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Chelsea has finally elected its newest mayor, who will not only serve as the city’s first new mayor in 20 years, but will also make history as the second ever mayor to serve the City.

That person will be Tony Picklesimer.

 After battling each other for the past 42 days in a run-off election, Picklesimer received 1,064 of the votes, while Neuendorf received 799 votes.

“What a great privilege this is; it’s going to be a very challenging job, but my experience is just the perfect circle of what I think it will take to continue the tremendous growth of Chelsea and grow our infrastructure,” Picklesimer said. “It will take me a while to get my feet on the ground, but I’m excited for the challenge.”

Picklesimer joins City Council members David Ingram, who is the only returning member to the council, Cody Sumners, Scott Weygand, Tiffany Bittner and Casey Morris as the elected officials that will serve the city of Chelsea.

“These guys are fired up, and this bunch is going to push me,” Picklesimer said. “It will be a little bit of a challenge having so many new people on the council, but I have created a relationship with all of them. We will get in there and assign responsibilities to each of the council members.”

Picklesimer said each council member has shown interest in certain aspects of the city and he will assign them those responsibilities respectively.

Mayor Earl Niven has been the only mayor to serve the city of Chelsea since its induction 20 years ago in 1997.

“I have a tough job to do following Mayor Niven,” Picklesimer said. “

Picklesimer will now look to continue to help Chelsea be one of the fastest growing cities in Alabama and continue the trend of Niven’s success, but also establish his own legacy.

“There are some differences in our management styles that (Niven) and I have talked about,” Picklesimer said. “That will be one of the first things I do is try to implement some of those minor differences. I want to be a salesman for Chelsea, so I want to hire a retail recruiter and hit the road with them. I’m a salesman and have always been a salesman and that’s what we need right now to continue to grow our business space to take care of all of the people coming.”

Picklesimer then went on to talk about three subdivisions they approved on Monday, Sept. 26, to show how many people are coming to Chelsea and how they need to be prepared for that growth.

“The experience I’ve had on the council gives me a road map of how to go about getting these things started and generated,” he said.

Picklesimer could hardly contain his excitement when speaking to his supporters at Liberty Baptist Church and said this is a wonderful privilege.

“I’m excited to get out and meet more of Chelsea,” he said. “I want to meet our business owners, I want to be a mayor that’s accessible and I think it’s a huge thing for me to get out and meet as many of the people in Chelsea as I possibly can.”

When it came to celebrating his victory he has some plans that might surprise most, but shows the type of mayor the city will have.

“Shoot, I have a grandparents breakfast at Forest Oaks Elementary in the morning and I’m pumped,” Picklesimer said chuckling. “That’s a first great thing to get to do as the newly elected mayor.”

Picklesimer, along with the new City Council, will take office on Monday, Nov. 7.