Emory Folmar

Emory McCord Folmar (June 3, 1930 – November 11, 2011) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, from 1977 to 1999.

Although the mayor's office is nonpartisan, Folmar was known to be a Republican.

Folmar was born in Pike County near Montgomery.

He attended school in Pike County and then Montgomery.

He was a United States Army ranger and a veteran of the Korean War.

He thereafter graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in business.

He entered politics in 1975 by winning election to the Montgomery City Council.

He soon became the council president.

He then ascended to the mayor's office after a scandal forced the resignations of the sitting mayor and public safety director and the subsequent resignations or terminations of a number of police officers and supervisors.

He remained in office from 1977 to 1999.

Although the city's elected positions are nonpartisan, Folmar was unabashedly a conservative Republican.

He served as the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party and received several, primarily honorary, political appointments from Republican U.S. Presidents Ronald W. Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

He was named "Civilian Aide" to the United States Secretary of the Army.

The appointment carries the protocol weight of a four-star general, and Folmar took the position seriously.

He even had a set of combat fatigues personalized with his name and the words "Civilian Aide" embroidered on the collar where a soldier's rank was displayed at the time.

In 1989, the zoo was expanded to its current size, enhanced with natural habitat enclosures for the animals and has regularly added new and exciting additions to the exhibits and collections.

In addition to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Folmar and his wife Anita P. Folmar were great private and public supporters of many of the cultural activities in the city, notably the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, the Montgomery Ballet, the Alabama Dance Theater.

The Art Council of Montgomery named its Children's Art Gallery in Anita's honor and established the Anita P. Folmar Distinguished Volunteer in the Arts Award.

Folmar was criticized by some of the city's residents that he didn't do enough to attract minor league baseball back to the city nor secure the location of a Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail facility in the city.

One of the premier golf trails in the nation, the RTJ course in the area was finally located in Prattville, a nearby bedroom community.

However, Folmar supporters say that this was a shrewd decision that risked no capital outlay, but allowed the city to reap the benefits of filling its abundant hotel rooms with golfers traveling to play the Trail.

At the time, Montgomery's Lagoon Park Golf Course was one of America's top 50 municipal golf courses.

He was defeated in 1999 by political newcomer, attorney Bobby Bright, in an election that stunned many in the community who thought Folmar's re-election likely.

After leaving the city limelight, Folmar went into a mobile document shredding venture before being appointed in 2003 by Governor Bob Riley to run the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, where he served a relatively quiet tenure as the agency's commissioner until Riley left office early in 2011.

Bright later served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011.

Folmar battled cancer and other health ailments in his final years before he died at the family home on the evening of November 11, 2011.

On the night of Folmar's death, current Mayor Todd Strange lauded the former city leader as his mentor, inspiration, a good man, a family man, a Christian and a valuable leader of the city.

One notorious incident of many was his crackdown on rock-n-roll concerts in the city-owned Montgomery Civic Center --- a mass arrest of concert-goers carrying drugs, paraphernalia and minors with alcohol and beer at the facility early in his tenure set the tone for his administration, according to some.

Folmar defended his actions after he had attended many concerts and witnessed personally the abuse of drugs and alcohol, particularly by minors.

He noted on many occasions he saw a young girl "puking her guts out" after consuming too much vodka.

Subsequently, few live rock-n-roll acts appeared in Montgomery during his tenure.

The arrests were later nullified by a federal judge who rebuked Folmar's tactics.

Further incidents against entertainment venues included a noise curfew against a motorsports park located about two miles away from a residential area.

Folmar was part of the city effort to relocate the Alabama Shakespeare Festival from Anniston to Montgomery, on land and money both donated by Winton "Red" Blount, a wealthy construction magnate and former U.S. Postmaster General.

The Festival along with the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (a city facility) were located in the Winton M. Blount Cultural Park.

The City of Montgomery Parks and Recreations Department maintains the grounds.

Folmar was also instrumental in pushing for the growth and development of the city's long-running street festival, Jubilee CityFest.

Languishing and drifting without direction under the loose guidance of an ad hoc coalition of the community's arts and entertainment groups, Folmar said the glorified block party should grow or cease and challenged leaders to take the festival to the next level.

As a result, the free "block party" was changed to a paid-admission event with multiple stages with national headline acts.

The Montgomery Zoo was another area where Folmar put resources and passion to grow the small five-acre zoo to the sprawling 40-acre facility it is today.