By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

WILSONVILLE – Wilsonville City Council member Lee McCarty recently announced his candidacy as Wilsonville mayor.

McCarty is the CEO of Andalusia Enterprises and a lawyer by profession. He also serves as vice president of Ernest McCarty Ford, a dealership owned by his family.

“I want to upgrade and professionalize the mayoral office,” McCarty said. “I want us to manage our money way better than we manage our money right now.”

McCarty earned a master’s degree in private and public management from Birmingham-Southern College and his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law.

“I have seen so much money fly out of Wilsonville coffers that needlessly did so. We just don’t need to be spending our money unwisely,” McCarty said. “We’ll be in the same shape that practically every other governmental entity is now. Wilsonville has got to do it on its own, and we can’t expect help from county, state because they’re all so strapped.

“We need to make wise, legal and ethical decisions on how we spend our taxpayers’ money.”

McCarty said the Town Council should be more informed of how the town’s finances are spent.

“You have transparent and open discussion about how to get your bang for your buck and if the taxpayers would want to spend the money for that purpose,” he said.

“We need a person with business experience and legal experience that will set the town on the correct fiscal and budgetary course so we don’t ever get in the situation that some of the other towns are in,” he said.

McCarty moved to Wilsonville from Vestavia in 2008.

“I chose to live in Wilsonville. I moved there on purpose because I liked it,” he said. “I could have moved anywhere, and I wanted to move to Wilsonville.

“Once I got there, I realized the political situation is not as good as it should be,” he added. “Taxpayers deserve more prudent use of their money.”