In tight vote, Mobile City Council agrees to build Mardi Gras float

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The City Council on Tuesday voted spend almost $56,000 for a Mardi Gras float.

The measure passed 5-2, with Council members Josh Woods and Samantha Ingram voting against it. Under the city’s rules requiring a supermajority to pass most items, one more “no” vote would have killed it.

Council President C.J. Small said the city-owned float represents a major upgrade over how city leaders typically have participated in Mobile’s signature event.

“Ever since I was a little boy, I remember seeing Councilman Clinton Johnson, former Mayor Mike Dow, on this little box cart going down the street that says, ‘Happy Mardi Gras’ on it,” he said after the vote.

Small said that box cart has served its purpose.

“Mardi Gras is our economic engine,” he said. “We make plenty of money off of Mardi Gras, and for us to be the mother of Mardi Gras, the birthplace of Mardi Gras, it’s time for us to graduate from a box cart.”

Under the contract, Mirth Artists LLC will earn a base rate of $45,725 to construct the float, with a cap of $55,725. The float will highlight different parts of the city.

But Woods said he has heard from a number of voters in his district who believe it’s a waste of taxpayer funds.

“Unnecessary, you know, tax dollars going towards it, (is) something one of the residents said,” he said after Tuesday’s council meeting. “But you know, again, (it is a) representative form of government, and I’m just representing, you know, the feedback that I’ve had from my district.”

Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis said he expects it to last for many Mardi Gras seasons to come.

Councilman Ben Reynolds said he does not understand the opposition to the float. He said a proper float is important from an image standpoint.

“We’re the home of Mardi Gras, and we’ve been riding around on a cotton wagon for years,” he said.