Jan Dempsey

Dempsey was elected as the first female mayor of Auburn in 1980.{{Cite document |title=Resolution no. 80-60 |publisher=City of Auburn |date=1980-07-30 |place=Auburn, Alabama}} In 1984, Dempsey was re-elected and established the economic development office.{{Cite web |last=Koachak |first=Jacque |date=2008-11-26 |title=Parks retires after quarter century on IDB |url=https://www.auburnvillager.com/news/parks-retires-after-quarter-century-on-idb/article_d317224e-36f2-5261-a223-08ec083e6d68.html |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Auburn Villager |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Loden |first1=Kevin |title=Mayor Dempsey, Incumbents Victories In Auburn Elections |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-opelika-auburn-news/170562067/ |access-date=18 April 2025 |publisher=The Opelika-Auburn News |date=July 11, 1984 |page=1}} One of the biggest things that she is known for is her improvement of the Auburn city school system where in 1986, she put in $600,000 of general city funds into the system. Ever since then, the council has kept contributing to the growth of the school system.{{Cite web |title=From ‘The Loveliest Village’ to a booming city: Auburn’s path of growth - The Auburn Plainsman |url=https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2019/01/from-the-loveliest-village-to-a-booming-city-auburns-path-of-growth |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.theplainsman.com |language=en-US}}

In her first year in office, she initiated a 20 year plan with her Auburn 2000 Plan.{{cite web |title=CompPlan 2030 The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Auburn |url=https://www.auburnalabama.org/compplan2030/Complete%20Document%20Updated%203-20-20.pdf |website=City of Auburn |access-date=23 November 2024}} This plan set into place the council-manager form of government, saw the expansion of the water and sewage systems, helped develop the Auburn Technology Park along with partnerships with many other businesses, oversaw the expansion of recreational sports facilities, helped improve the roadways, implemented an affordable housing program, and supported many other developments.{{cite web |title=Auburn 2020 |url=https://static.auburnalabama.org/media/apps/www/2020/aub2020.pdf |website=auburnalabama |publisher=City of Auburn |access-date=15 April 2025}} She signed in Auburn 2020 in 1998, which was the goals and directions for Auburn by the year 2020.{{cite web |title=Auburn 2020 |url=https://www.auburnalabama.org/2020/aub2020.pdf |access-date=20 November 2024 |website=City of Auburn}} Her leadership of these plans was praised by mayor Ron Anders Jr. as he began preparation for the Auburn 2040 Plan.{{cite web |title=Serving our community and its future |url=https://www.auburnvillager.com/opinion/serving-our-community-and-its-future/article_90286328-5b1f-11ef-9d48-c7bdf1b949e3.html |website=The Auburn Villager}}

Dempsey ran for Alabama House of Representatives in 1998 against Mike Hubbard.{{cite web |last1=Kjar |first1=Scott |last2=Laband |first2=David |title=On 'Home Grown-Ness' in Politics: Evidence from the 1998 Election for Alabama's Third Congressional District |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30026289?searchText=%22jan+dempsey%22&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2522jan%2Bdempsey%2522%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_phrase_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Acd85289bc03511286de7fbe30c8828bf&seq=4 |website=jstor |access-date=16 April 2025}} She also had the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center named after her.{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Lorie |date=1999-01-04 |title=Growing pains: Auburn developing faster than ever |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-opelika-auburn-news-dempsey-arts-cen/170837146/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The Opelika-Auburn News |pages=1}} She helped launch the Community Market, part of the Food Bank of East Alabama, and served in leadership roles.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=The Observer |date=2025-03-10 |title=Altar Call {{!}} A salute to the people feeding families |url=https://opelikaobserver.com/2025/03/10/altar-call-a-salute-to-the-people-feeding-families/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=The Observer |language=en-US}} Dempsey was appointed by Bill Ham Jr. to the Urban Core Task Force in 2006, created to review zoning regulations for downtown Auburn.{{cite web |title=City of Auburn Planning Commission MS-2017-01683 ‘Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment–Structure Height in the CEOD |url=https://lwval.org/lwv-eastalabama/2018-02-08%20Planning%20Commission%20-%20Structure%20Height%20in%20the%20CEOD.pdf |website=League of Women Voters of Alabama |access-date=16 April 2025 |date=January 24, 2018}}

Dempsey has three children Lydia, David, and Richard.{{cite web |website=Concept to Closing |url=https://concepttoclosing.com/women-in-business/ |title=Women in Business Luncheon for the Auburn Chamber |access-date=18 March 2025}} She was married to Dr. Richard Lee Dempsey until his death in 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-05-11 |title=Dempsey, Dr. Richard Lee |url=https://oanow.com/obituaries/dempsey-dr-richard-lee/article_97bfcf38-9906-52b4-a67a-cacfc88a0515.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Opelika-Auburn News |language=en}}

{{Election box begin no change

| title=1998 Alabama House of Representatives District 79 election{{cite web |title=Elections Data Download |url=https://www.sos.alabama.gov/alabama-votes/voter/election-data |website=Alabama Secretary of State |access-date=18 March 2025}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| party=Alabama Republican Party

| candidate=Mike Hubbard

| votes=8,356

| percentage=58.27}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| party=Alabama Democratic Party

| candidate=Jan Dempsey

| votes=5,971

| percentage=41.64}}

{{Election box write-in with party link no change

| votes=12

| percentage=0.08}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes=14,339

| percentage=100.00}}

{{Election box end}}

{{reflist}}

{{Mayors of Auburn, Alabama}}

Dempsey

Dempsey

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)