Why are people called “Brother” or “Sister” ? It’s just a friendly term.  There isn’t any specific reason for using the term brother or sister in addressing another, it just happened.  While Fairhope2 likes to think of itself as a cosmopolitan city, in reality it is a small town with a large heart. Other ways of addressing Fairhope2 residents are Colonel, Miss, and by their job title, such as Mayor, or Judge, or Councilman.  The terms “Colonel” and “Miss” are reserved for people with special talents or for other special recognition.  What determines a special talent or recognition has never been defined, but it  everyone knows when it is appropriate. For example, Colonel Parkhurst has been called Colonel for over 20 years, probably because he breeds and trains the best tracking dogs in the country, or perhaps because he is 78 years old.  It just seems right to call him “The Colonel” or “Colonel”.  There was no ceremony making him “Colonel”, it just sort of happened. Miss Charlotte owns the Fairhope2 Public House.  Again, no one knows when or how she became Miss Charlotte, but that is what she is called.  The fact that Miss Charlotte has been married for 17 years and is not actually a “Miss” does not enter into the equation. The reasoning for all of this has been lost in time, but it seems to work for the people in Fairhope2. Why does the entire City Council resign? It is customary for the Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council to resign in September of an election year.  Being an elected official in Fairhope2 is not a job that anyone really wants.  Therefore, the elected city officials always resign with the hopes that they will not be re-elected.  This is also why the attendance at the city council meeting in September of election years is always so high.  People want to hear the resignation speeches and all the impassioned reasons that each official gives as to why they shouldn’t be re-elected. This really helps keep the city clean because there never are campaign posters, signs or advertisements.  There are no campaigns, therefore no campaign promises to be forgotten or broken. Resignations notwithstanding, the voters in Fairhope2 know the names of the Council members, and even though there are no names actually pre-printed on the ballots, they just write in the name of the prior incumbent.  This is especially painful for the Third Ward Councilman, since being the sole resident of the Third Ward, he must vote for himself.  Back in ‘22 Old Nate liked being a councilman for life, but the current Third Ward Councilman would rather pass it on to someone else.  In fact, he has proposed marriage to at least three different women, all of whom turned him down for various stated reasons.  However, most people suspect that the real reason is they feared that they might get elected to council. If re-elected (actually when re-elected), the council member must serve.  It was the City Charter again.  If any ward in the City does not elect a representative, that ward will be divided up amongst the other wards and will no longer have a councilman.  No one wants that. Once in every generation the mantle of council leadership actually changes hands, but once in office it is almost impossible to leave office.  Just like the current Congress.  Well, not exactly, ‘cause they don’t want to leave....