The Interview: Mayor Tony Kennon

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon had no idea when he ran for office he would have to deal with a crisis as horrific as 2010's Gulf oil spill.

Mayor Kennon said that the entire city lived through unbelievable stress during the crisis and despite it all, there was a silver lining.

"I love being in the position to help. That's the greatest gratification of being mayor; you're literally in a position that you can effect change. Someone can pick up the phone and say, 'I've got this problem,' I take pride within five minutes finding a way to solve it, or to help them or to turning them onto someone that can," he said.

Kennon is back into what he calls his routine of taking care of and running his city.

"We've done everything we can do to increase business down here, to get back on our feet and to move forward," the mayor said.

Moving forward made the summer of 2011 historic.

"It was absolutely fantastic. We broke all records. We had record numbers of families here. Talked with a group last night from all over and I asked them how many folks knew that Alabama had beaches and paved roads. There are folks all over the country that now know where Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are," Kennon said.

Mayor Kennon calls this a silver lining of the BP oil spill. In April 2010, the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig released millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf.

Ken Feinberg is the BP claims administrator. Feinberg and Kennon had a testy exchange during a January 2011 town hall meeting. It happened after Kennon recognized a Baldwin County church for helping oil spill victims.

"I guess my point is, if they can give every dime they've got, why can't you give us every dime BP's got? Kennon asked.

"You know, Mr. Mayor, can I say something here? Mr. Mayor, I have to leave here in 30 minutes, I sure would like to hear from the people out there about their questions," Feinberg said.

When you're mayor in orange Beach, you'll be able to run the meeting the way you would like, okay?" Kennon fired back.

Kennon explained that Feinberg made the claims process very difficult and that he complicated a very simple program.

"Bringing Ken Feinberg in, essentially what they did was bring in the bad guy. They made the mess," the mayor explained. "What's worse, overpaying folks that you've injured and it's no fault of your own or under paying them to protect BP who made the mistake and screwed up to begin with?"

Mayor Kennon said a lot of people were hurt and some are still hurting. He's said his office works daily to get them fair and just compensation.

There is still a sense of uncertainty out in the Gulf for Kennon, such as tar mats and how much oil really remains.

Additionally, Tropical Storm Lee churned up the Gulf in September and put more tarballs on Orange Beach.

Kennon said he wants full disclosure from BP.

"It concerns me that BP has not been straightforward with us, that concerns me. I was hoping that we had gotten to the point that we could count on what they were telling us, would be the truth," he said.

Mayor Kennon believes the facts and the truth will help him protect the beach and make sure it's cleaned up.

"I don't know what to expect, but I know that I want to be truthful. I tell folks this and I hope they understand it's been a great experience in the worst of times. That would have never happened without a crisis," he added.

With the Gulf oil spill experience now on his resume, some folk are wondering if Tony Kennon has bigger plans for higher office.

"I’ve got a five-year-old and a 15-year-old that's very important to me and my wife. So I don't know what the plan is, or where I need to go, or what I need to do. It may be I just need to stay right here as long as the folk will have me, it may be going to fishing five days a week, I just don't know," he said.

Mayor Kennon said he and Orange Beach officials are anxious to see the results of Auburn's research on the tar mat in the Gulf. They want to know the makeup of the tar mats encapsulated oil. Kennon said he will continue to work to make sure BP honors its word to make the community whole.