Bebe Oetjen: A keen insight
Trying to find a more community-minded, well-informed and politically-active person than Betty J. “Bebe” Oetjen would be an impossible mission.
“I love Madison and am concerned where and how my tax dollars are spent,” Oetjen said. “Grassroots is where involvement begins. I hope I can continue for more years. Without citizen involvement, I have seen public officials go astray.”
Bebe and husband William H. “Bill” Oetjen III moved to Madison in 1963. “Bill was employed by Thiokol and worked with someone from Madison. We visited them in Nolan Hills, liked the area – and bought a house,” she said.
In the 1980s, Bebe Oetjen became politically active because she saw “too many actions by the mayor/commissioners without citizen input or knowledge,” like the appointment of a city administrator, rezoning, major increases in utility bills, bad water pressure because water/sewer lines were too small for increasing population and citizens’ unanswered questions.
A Concerned Citizens Group was formed, resulting in a recall election that led to a new mayor and two commissioners.
“Alabama law in 1983 allowed recall elections for certain municipalities. Our recall election was Sept. 27, 1983. We needed a petition with 3 percent of the city population. For the population of 4,000, we needed 125 names. We got 450,” Oetjen said.
The election needed one-half the number of voters (357 people voted) from the last election to recall the two commissioners. “We had 1,042 voters,” Oetjen said.
Oct. 13, 1983, Madison held an election for two commissioners. Sonny Wilbanks, a past mayor, was unopposed. In the runoff Oct.18, Oetjen won a commissioner seat.
“Wilbanks had previously served 12 years as mayor,” she said. “He brought back a sense of confidence, which helped George Quinn and me quite a lot. We got along great.”
“Considering the state’s involvement in our mayor/council form of government, the transition was not too bad,” Oetjen said. Madison voted for a five-member council, but the state said seven. “So, Madison had seven brand new council members, along with a mayor, very new to Madison – none with previous city experience.
“Many citizens knew more about the city than the council or mayor,” she added. Madison Municipal Complex was built with the first $3-million bond that Wilbanks acquired.
“I am now, and was in 1983, concerned about future evolvement and development of Madison, Alabama,” Oetjen said.
Georgia natives, Bebe was born in LaGrange and Bill in Augusta. She graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., and worked with the State of Georgia Department of Mines and Geology and then Savannah River Plant in Augusta, where she met Bill.
Bebe then entered University of North Carolina and subsequently worked at Lockheed Aircraft as a programmer. Bill was attending Georgia Tech and Georgia State universities. Bill and Bebe married April 4, 1959, when he graduated.
By 1962, Bill was working as a chemist for Thiokol in Huntsville. After briefly working for The Boeing Company, he returned to Thiokol as a senior chemist and retired in 1996.
Bebe worked as a programmer for General Electric. After her third child was born, she retired – “if women ever retire,” she said. With two children in college and one in high school, she worked a few years for Madison Recreation Department.
Oetjen sees definite milestones that shaped Madison’s future, like the election recall in the 1980s, which rallied citizen involvement in city government, as well as the transition to mayor/council form of government, division of city into seven districts, founding of Madison City Schools with an appointed (not elected) Board of Education and annexing into Limestone County, “bringing in more citizens but also problems with Limestone County government.”
In volunteering, Oetjen was involved with her children’s schools and sports, from PTA and dance team to coaching softball. She is involved with UDC, Madison Optimist Club and Republican Women’s Club. She is a member at Madison Senior Center, Madison United Methodist Church and her fitness center for 20-plus years. “I played bridge for years. Now, I get shut-in friends out to eat at Madison restaurants,” Oetjen said.
The Oetjen children, all married and college graduates, are David of West Chester, Ohio; Elizabeth Pendleton of Pendergrass, Ga.; and Ellen Gibbons of Houston, Texas.
Two grandsons, Kyle Pendleton and Nick Pendleton, are University of Alabama in Huntsville graduates. Their brother, Blake Pendleton, is attending Calhoun Community College.
Today, Bebe Oetjen attends all meetings of council and various committees and stays expertly informed about municipal business. “I am just a concerned citizen. We need more,” she said. “My three children grew up in Madison; I hope they’re proud.”
