An 18-year-old is aiming high, intending to begin with the position of mayor of Fairfield, Alabama, where he lives. Brandon Moss declared his run just two weeks after he walked across the stage to get his high school diploma.
Moss, who recently graduated from high school and is preparing for college, is the youngest mayoral candidate in the history of Fairfield, a city of roughly 9,500 people southwest of Birmingham, according to his campaign manager, Marilyn Yelder.
WBMA reports that among the other contenders for the position are Councilman Herman Carnes, Councilman Cedric Norman, former Midfield Councilman and Fairfield native James Reasor, and financial consultant Michael Williams.
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Moss told ABC News, “I am ready to take on this challenge. Age doesn’t guarantee wisdom or innovation. I’m not going to say I’m perfect or I know it all, it will take a team of good people to be able to accomplish good things.”
He kicked off his campaign on June 7. He emphasized that he is a mayoral candidate because “I love this city, and I believe in its future.”
The teen said he chose to run for mayor after witnessing a “bigger need” in Fairfield, notably for “businesses and a better way of living.”
Highlighting Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who has held the position since 2017, and former President Barack Obama as political role models, Moss stated that if elected, he would offer a “new vision and fresh perspective” to the mayoral position.
“The past administrations and the people that are running have done a great job in Fairfield, but I think it’s time that we look for something new,” Moss stated.
Moss has long been fascinated with the “inner workings of politics.” His political resume includes service on the Student Advisory Board for the Birmingham City Schools superintendent and in the Alabama Youth and Government program as a youth senator and in the governor’s cabinet. He graduated from the Birmingham Academy of Civic Engagement and also served as an executive intern for the superintendent’s office.
According to Moss, if elected mayor, he will prioritize the city’s finances by hiring a forensic auditor to keep an eye on its expenditures. He also plans to provide small businesses “a chance to be seen” by setting up pop-up shops in malls.
He also intends to address blight, a problem in which run-down or unoccupied homes get covered with vegetation. According to Moss, if elected, he will collaborate with the federal government to secure funding that will enable the removal of these houses from communities.
Moss’s campaign manager, Yelder, told ABC News that Moss, who will start attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham this fall, is ready to balance his academic obligations with his mayoral duties.
“He does have a team of mentors for every aspect, not just to help him get to mayor, but people that are helping with public speaking, mental health,” Yelder said. “I think he will be more than prepared, even at 18, to take on the role as mayor of Fairfield.”
Moss, however, stated that he will stick to his aspirations to work in a political office if he is not elected this year on August 26. But if he wins, he added, he will “do the job and see where it takes me.”
