Howardwick residents got to hear from eight of the nine people running for city council during a candidates’ forum there last Tuesday, April 17.
Coy Cooper moderated the event on behalf of a group known as the Friends of Howardwick, and a large crowd was in attendance. Local citizens submitted questions beforehand, and Cooper drew those questions at random.
Candidates attending were Brice Hawley, Vol Lindsey, James Wix, and Mary Grady – all running for two full terms on the city council – and Alderman Doc Holladay, Marietta Baird, Kay Dye, and Debbora Sharpton – all running for three unexpired terms. Johnny Floyd, running for a full term, was the only candidate not present due to health issues.
The opening question was why each candidate felt they should be elected.
Vol Lindsey said he is a retired English teacher who has seen a lot of undercurrents and valid issues in Howardwick and that he wants to see what he can do to improve the community.
James Wix said he would like to be a mediator and “see if we can get stuff done.”
Marietta Baird said her main goals if elected would be to be fair and not be swayed by anything other than the truth.
Brice Hawley said community service is his goal and that he thought his previous experience as a trustee of a home owners’ association would benefit him on the city council.
Alderman Doc Holladay, the only incumbent on the ballot, said he has constantly been involved with working to improve the city since he moved there in 1993. He also stressed the importance of mowing as a revenue source for the city and noted that less rain this year would mean less revenue. “We’re going to have to live within our means,” Holladay said.
Mary Grady said she would be fair if elected and would like to see the public more involved, especially on big issues.
Debbora Sharpton said for her honesty is most important and that the city should do nothing without the public’s involvement.
Kay Dye said her main focus is to see the community come back together.
In response to a question of how to save money for the city, candidates generally had similar answers about being good stewards of the public’s funds and funding needs over wants. Searching for new revenue streams was also a common response. Holladay focused on preventive maintenance as a way to save money, and Dye said the community can work together on projects to save money.
Regarding keeping all city employees year round, candidates generally agreed on making tough choices based on revenue although some candidates, such as Dye, also felt there was plenty of work to be done year round.
In response to a question about the public’s ability to comment at city council meetings, candidates generally agreed to the need to have involvement from the community and ways for the citizens to express their concerns and thoughts.
Hawley did mention the need to work within the rules of the Open Meetings Act.
In a question directed specifically to Sharpton and Holladay, both candidates agreed the city should follow all appropriate municipal laws.
On the idea of unincorporating the city, Dye said she only brought that up because of the recent politics but thought the city really needed to “get it together” and enforce the ordinances.
On the question of non-employees using city equipment as volunteers, Holladay said he had done it for years, and other candidates generally agreed that the city should look at its insurance policy to determine the liability of that issue.
Candidates responses to questions of employee hierarchy, determining issues of importance to the city, and what duties city employees should have were not far off from each other generally. Candidates all seemed to embrace the idea of some kind of event or community barbecue to bring the town together.
Among questions taken from the floor was one directed at Hawley, asking him to stop harassing Mayor Greta Byars. Hawley’s said he thought his political signs, which say “Got Byars Remorse?”, were just a clever play on words and that he didn’t consider that harassment.
Other comments at the meeting included a desire by Holladay to see the tree limb dump re-opened for the city, and a confirmation by real estate agent Linda Naylor that unicorporating would be a decline in property values.
Election Day will be May 5.
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