Ron Sparks (politician)

Infobox_Politician
name = Ron Sparks

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|275px
caption = (Photo courtesy Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries)
birth_date = birth date and age | 1952|10|29
birth_place = flagicon|Alabama Fort Payne, Alabama, U.S.
residence = Montgomery, Alabama
death_date =
death_place =
office = 28th Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries
term_start = 2003
term_end = Present
predecessor = Charles Bishop (D)
successor = Incumbent
constituency =
office2 = DeKalb County, Alabama Commissioner
term_start2 = 1978
term_end2 = 1982
predecessor2 = Auzie Anderson (D)
successor2= Cecil Shirey(D)
constituency2 = 3rd District
party = Democrat
religion = Baptist
occupation =
majority =
relations =
spouse =
civil partner =
children = 3
website =
footnotes =

Ronald D. Sparks (born 1952 in Fort Payne, Alabama) is the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries in the state of Alabama. Sparks is a member of the Democratic party.

Early Life and Career

Sparks is a graduate of Fort Payne High School, and before beginning his political career worked in Fort Payne's iconic sock mills. He later served in the Coast Guard, and was awarded several commendations in that service. Following his discharge from the service, Sparks graduated from [http://www.nacc.edu/default.htm Northeast Alabama Community College] in 1978. At the age of 24, he became one of the youngest County Commissioners ever elected in the State of Alabama, defeating a two-term incumbent.

After an interlude in the private sector, in 1993 Sparks was appointed Director of the DeKalb County 911 System. The county was just beginning its system, and Sparks was responsible for overseeing the construction of headquarters, procurement of equipment, hiring and training of staff, and the assignment of street addresses to over 30,000 homes and business by a field crew. [http://www.agi.alabama.gov/the_commissioner Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries: Commissioner Ron Sparks] ] Sparks was elected the President of the Alabama chapter of NENA, the national society of 911 officials, in 1998. [ [http://www.al911.org/officers.htm Alabama NENA: Officers] ]

Department of Agriculture and Industries

In 1999, Sparks was appointed as Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, where he ran the day-to-day operations of the Department. In 2002, Sparks was elected Commissioner, winning 54 out of 67 counties, and defeating his Republican opponent in the general election by a margin of 53%-47% [ [http://www.sos.state.al.us/downloads/election/2002/AL-2002-General-Certification.pdf Alabama Secretary of State: General Election Returns 2002] ] . In that campaign, Sparks was briefly criticized for appearing in media produced by the Department. However, he responded that the media in question was time-sensitive, and that the then-Commissioner had scaled back his involvement in the Department’s operations following his own defeat in the gubernatorial primary a few months earlier. [ Editorial: “Plugging Sparks,” "The Birmingham News", October 9, 2002, p. 8A] In this campaign, Sparks became one of the rare Democrats to win the endorsement of the Alabama Farmers Federation. [“Farmers Group Endorses Riley, Bishop for Governor,” "The Birmingham News", April 26, 2002, p. 1B]

During his first term as Commissioner, Sparks pushed for country-of-origin labeling for food and agricultural products, citing health problems and under-cost dumping associated with imports from certain countries. He also initiated the establishment of state laboratories for expanded testing of food and agricultural products. Sparks also led efforts to open the Cuban market to Alabama farm products, traveling to the nation and meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, leading to Cuba’s agreement to begin imports from Alabama. ["Alabama's Cuba Trip Reaps $18M, More Expected," "The Huntsville Times", December 22, 2004, p. 13A]

He was re-elected in 2006. During this campaign, even "The Birmingham News", which had criticized Sparks four years earlier, spoke favorably of Sparks's handling of a mad cow disease scare that could have threatened the state's cattle industry. ["The Mark of the Beast," "The Birmingham News", March 29, 2006, p. 8A] Sparks built on his 2002 margin, defeating his Republican opponent by a margin of 59%-41%, making Sparks the leading statewide candidate on the Democratic ticket. [ [http://www.sos.state.al.us/downloads/election/2006/general/certification-statewide-offices-12-29-2006.pdf Alabama Secretary of State: General Election Returns 2006] ]

During his second term, Sparks has continued the expansion of the state lab system. When a salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes occurred in the spring of 2008, Sparks acted to secure verification that tomatoes grown in Alabama were not suspected of contamination with the disease, and to facilitate marketing of those tomatoes as "safe." ["Food Sellers React Quickly to Outbreak of Salmonella," "Mobile Press-Register", June 11, 2008, p. A2]

Sparks is the 2007-08 President-Elect of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. He will take over as President of the association at its annual meeting in September 2008. [ [http://www.nasda.org/cms/7197/9060/14101/14120.aspx NASDA Elects Officers at Annual Meeting] ]

Future

It was rumored that Sparks would run for the Senate seat currently held by Jeff Sessions, but he declined to run to avoid a primary with state Senator Vivian Davis Figures. [cite news |Birmingham News staff |title=Sparks says he won't seek U.S. Senate seat |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/06/sparks_says_he_wont_seek_us_se.html |work=Everything Alabama |publisher=Alabama Live |date=2007-06-12 |accessdate=2007-06-13 ] Sparks backed the 2008 presidential effort of Hillary Clinton. ["Clinton, Obama to Increase Focus on State," "Mobile Press-Register", January 10, 2008, p. A1] Sparks, who is ineligible for a third term as Commissioner, has been mentioned as a candidate for governor or lieutenant governor in 2010. ["Political Site Looks as Far Ahead as 2010," "The Tuscaloosa News", July 28, 2007, p. 2B]

References

External links

* [http://www.agi.alabama.gov/the_commissioner About Ron Sparks]