Beebe second Avondale Estates commissioner not seeking reelection

Avondale Estates has a plan to annex a strip of land near its Tudor Village downtown. Many businesses are opposed.

Credit: Renee' Hannans Henry

Credit: Renee' Hannans Henry

Avondale Estates has a plan to annex a strip of land near its Tudor Village downtown. Many businesses are opposed.

After one four-year term as Avondale Estates Commissioner, Randy Beebe won’t seek reelection in November. Terry Giager, the only other commissioner up for reelection this year, has already announced he’s also stepping down at year’s end.

Beebe, 65, is one of the city’s most colorful commissioners in recent memory. For instance, when emphasizing patience he’ll say, “the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”

At age 52 he retired from AT&T and took 2½ years crisscrossing the country twice in his motor home and with his beloved coon hound Maggie. Ten years ago he settled in Avondale, eventually running for commissioner on, not surprisingly, a pro dog park ballot.

Just recently he bought a 1929 Model A Roadster, a car that’s only one year younger than Avondale itself.

“It’s a great way to politic,” Beebe said, “if I was still running for office.”

He hasn’t ruled out running for higher office, perhaps on the county or state level. For now his goal is that before his term ends the city has a “concrete plan” worked out with Avila Real Estate, which owns 13 prime acres north of downtown Avondale.