Randy Speck, the top vote-getter in the most recent race for Albany City Council, may be new to holding public office, but he is definitely known by the public, both city, county and area wide.

Speck is known by different social media names, and columns in the newspaper (including the Clinton County News Reader’s Write section), but his main passion since he was a young man was radio, and when running for a seat on the council, he used the slogan, “Your Radio Voice,” which he borrowed from his late father and a past Clinton County Coroner.

Speck, 63, is a native of Clinton County and son of the late Daryl Speck and Glenda Boils Speck, the latter who now resides in neighboring Monticello.

“This is my first time in politics,” he said. “However, I believe that I am very suited for this new role. Having grown up in radio, I have been serving the community since I was 16 years old. At the radio station, I was taught my profession by people whose job it was to serve the community. I learned from the best. Their passion was my passion. Their mission was my mission, which was to serve the community and I have been doing that for a long time, and I am both humbled and very excited to be able to serve my community as a member of the city council.”

Speck recently retired after eight years as a Clinton County EMS dispatcher, where he noted the late Charles “Chuck” Stockton helped him to get that job, but still goes in a day or two a week to fill in, and says now he wants to get back into radio full time.

He has also worked at WKYR radio in Burkesville and WFLW in Monticello, as well as being a long-time voice at WANY in Albany.

The new councilman is the father of three children, Marina, 30, J.D., 27, and Elijah, 26, and has two grandchildren, all of whom currently live outside Clinton County.

Speck said he always wanted to serve on the council and moved from outside the county to the city a few years ago. He also noted he had been life long friends with new Mayor Steve Lawson and when Lawson decided to run for office, it was the right time.

Speck has been a member of the Albany/Clinton County Recreational Park Board for 15 years and a member of the Industrial Development Authority for 11 years. He was recently on the Foothills Festival Planning Committee and was part of the committee as early as 1984.

He said by far the most pressing single issue facing the city is “water” and feels most everyone else on the council would probably agree. “It (water) was on most citizens’ minds while I was campaigning,” he said. “Even while working at 911, a lot of the calls concerned water problems,” he said.

Speck also would like to see city council meetings streamed live on social media outlets for those persons who cannot attend in person, saying some other area cities and counties provide that service to citizens.

“People need to be kept more up to date, with more accountability,” Speck said.

“Another thing I would like to see is everyone come together with a common goal (of) beautifying our town and working together to keep it that way,” he said.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t want it that way. Many people express concerns about that to me. If each of us will do our part, we can make it happen. All it will take is for everyone to get on the same page and work toward it,” he said.

‘If people would spend just one day a month cleaning up the areas around their homes or businesses, it would make a huge difference,” he said. “If everyone works together toward the same goal, we can succeed.”

He continued, “I am happy we have a downtown revitalization group. Let’s all work with them. I believe we can accomplish great things as a community by working together.”

Speck feels the new makeup of the council will be a good group to work with, with one returning member and two members having already served previously on the city’s governing body.

“We will work well together. They (council members) have a lot of good ideas and I’m excited about it,” he added.

Speck feels the primary responsibilities of a council member are to “listen to people,” and get their thoughts, and present them to the full council and mayor, as well as assist the mayor in carrying out his duties.

He also feels it is very important to work with other government agencies outside city government, such as the county, local boards like the Chamber of Commerce, IDA, Area Development District and state officials in getting things done.

With relation to working with the county, Speck noted the two bodies “feed off each other” in many ways and thinks the entities will get along well together. He noted he was a life-long friend with the county judge (Ricky Craig).”

He also added he and others on the council, as well as Mayor Lawson, would be attending a lot of meetings, as well as many Lake Cumberland ADD meetings as possible, including going to Frankfort on occasion.

Councilman Speck said he hopes the city is able to maintain and provide services without raising taxes, saying hopefully they can find alternative funding sources. “People are under too much of a tax burden already,” he said.

He said a goal would be to continue to provide services needed and improve upon those services, as well as improving in other areas.

“I would like to see all facets of city government and its citizens work together for the betterment of out community. We can do great things working together,” he said.

“I grew up around Mayor (Steve) Lawson and his family and I have been close friends with them for many, many years. We have talked a lot over the years about how our fathers raised us up to be servants of the people and now here we are,” he said.

“I am looking forward to working with him as our Mayor and I (am) confident he will do a great job.”

“I campaigned as a fresh but familiar voice in city government and that is exactly what I am. I love serving our community. A couple of years after high school I was asked to be a part of a social services related group known as Clinton County Youth Action Committee, whose purpose was to provide community activities for our teenagers,” Speck said.

Through all aspects of radio, from DJ, station manager, covering news, color commentator for local sports, and more, to eventual various board appointments and working with the public as dispatcher, the new councilman has plenty of experience in working with, and listening to, the public’s concerns.

Speck concluded, “I want to thank the voters for electing me. I was overwhelmed by the show of support I received in the election. It is a great honor to have this opportunity to serve my community in this way and I look forward to it.”