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Andalusia City Councilman Presley Boswell has announced he has qualified to seek reelection in District 4 of the Andalusia City Council.

“It has been an honor to serve on the Council,” Boswell said. “We have so much momentum going in our downtown redevelopment, retail development, and work to make Andalusia a destination location. I want to continue to be a part of that.”

A fixture at most public events, Boswell was honored for his participation in and promotion of all things Andalusia by the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce earlier this year with their Distinguished Citizen of the Year award.

Boswell said he fell in love with Andalusia from the start, and has called it home for almost 50 years.

A native of Weogufka in Coosa County, Boswell moved to Pell City and went to work in the Birmingham steel mills as a young man. During that time, he also published “Hills and Hollers,” an outdoors publication which he distributed free in outdoors shops and venues. He also started the Alabama Federation of Bass Fishermen, which was a bass tournament trail.

He first came to Andalusia in 1978, after he met the woman who would become his second wife, Hilda Parrish Boswell, who lived here.  His first wife had died in an automobile accident.

“I just fell in love with the place,” he recalled. “It was the right-sized city, and of course, Hilda was here.”

When the steel mills closed, he went to work for Santa Fe Drilling, which at the time employed about 200 people from the Covington County area.

In 1980, in a break from the oil fields, he purchased a small radio station in Andalusia, WCCG. Boswell said he ran the radio station for nine months and only lost $20,000. That was when he decided to go back to the oil fields.

It turned out to be a good career decision. He lived in 16 countries, worked in 27, and was able to schedule his work in ways that allowed him to visit international points of interest. He retired in 2004, but continued in a consulting role until 2006.

When he retired in 2006, he began attending city council meetings.

“I was interested in all the positive things going on in Andalusia,” Boswell said. “I was humbled when I was appointed to the District 4 seat when Ralph Wells stepped down. Ralph and I talked at length about the things he wanted to continue to see, and I think he would be proud of our continued progress.”

“I’ve loved the town ever since I’ve seen it,” Boswell said. “And I’m humbled and honored to serve on the council. I humbly ask for your support in the August 26th municipal election.”