Sonny Coulter, who served four terms spanning parts of four decades as mayor of Phenix City, has died.
Coulter died Thursday at his Phenix City home, Vance Brooks Funeral Home director Lance Brooks confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer. He was 81.
Funeral arrangements and his obituary are pending.
Russell County coroner Arthur Sumbry Jr. told the Ledger-Enquirer that Coulter died from undisclosed natural causes and was receiving hospice care.
Coulter served as Phenix City mayor from 1989-95, 2001-05 and 2008-12.
Jimmy Wetzel served on the Phenix City Council during Coulter’s final term. Despite being on opposite sides of the controversy that led to the 2008 appointment of Wallace Hunter as Phenix City’s first Black city manager — Wetzel voted yes, and Coulter voted no — Wetzel still respected Coulter.
“Sonny was a servant of the people,” Wetzel told the Ledger-Enquirer. “He loved the people of Phenix City, and the people loved him. He had that pleasing personality about him, and he never, ever met a stranger.”
Jim Lynn, a former Ledger-Enquirer reporter and editor, chaired one of Coulter’s campaigns for mayor.
“But there was really no managing his campaign,” Lynn told the L-E in an email. “He knew what to do and did it flawlessly, with more determination than I’ve seen in most political candidates.”
Lynn recalled an example of Coulter’s determination when Lynn was a Phenix City Housing Authority Board member while Coulter was mayor.
“Sonny could play hardball politics when he thought it was necessary to move Phenix City forward, like the time he convinced me and Sammy Howard that it was critical that we fire a Housing Authority director in order to move downtown and riverfront development forward,” Lynn said. “He had Phenix City in his heart, and was always, 24-seven, doing what he could to make this a better place. He pioneered cross-jurisdictional cooperation with Columbus and provided a level of leadership the community hasn’t seen since, frankly.”
Another example of Lynn experiencing Coulter’s determination as mayor came via a phone call while Lynn was vacationing on St. Simons Island.
“There was something he wanted to discuss with a group of us, a major step toward getting the ‘Triangle’ cleared for development along the river,” Lynn said. “He jawboned me into driving five hours back to Phenix City for a two-hour meeting, and talking to me by cellphone the entire drive. Vacation be damned. He was that determined.”
And yet, Lynn noted, Coulter also showed a more diplomatic side, calling him “quite the statesman. He would have made a great congressman or governor, actually. He had a unique blend of intelligence and political acumen and dogged determination to get things done.”
Phenix City resident Susan Wiggins, retired vice president for stakeholder relations at the W.C. Bradley Company in Columbus, told the L-E in an email, “I can’t remember ever seeing Sonny Coulter that he didn’t have a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. His love for his hometown was unbounded, and he really spent his life in service to the betterment of the entire tri-city community.”
Wiggins worked with Coulter on community projects, including early visioning of the Phenix City downtown and riverfront development.
“The only thing we ever disagreed on that I recall was SEC football, his Auburn War Eagles vs. my Alabama Crimson Tide, but we had a lot of fun disagreeing” she said. “His engaging personality and ability to influence others helped build and develop strong partnerships on both sides of the river that benefited both Phenix City and Columbus. Loving husband, father and grandfather, Sonny Coulter was, simply stated, an influence for good in the world.”
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