Less than two weeks remain until the Nov. 8 general election, and local candidates took to the microphones Tuesday night, making last-minute pushes to voters during the Columbus-Lowndes Political Action Committee’s final forum at the Columbus Municipal Complex.
Candidates for district attorney and county sheriff made brief statements, while candidates for chancery clerk, circuit clerk, county superintendent of education, and Board of Supervisors Districts 1, 3 and 5 answered questions posed by moderator Marty Wiseman, a political science professor at Mississippi State University. In some cases, not all questions were posed to all candidates.
The event was broadcast live on CableOne Channel 3 and will be aired again before the Nov. 8 general election. CLOPAC Board President Beth Stuart said the taped event will be re-aired tonight from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. It will also be aired Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6, from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 7, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
District Attorney
In the district attorney’s race, Incumbent Democrat Forrest Allgood is being challenged by Republican Steve Wallace.
Allgood said he feels the solution to violent crime lies in employing a habitual offender, habitual time, three strikes policy. He attributes the drop in cases appearing before a grand jury to his adherence to this policy.”What we are doing is working,” Allgood said.
Wallace attributed the drop in grand jury cases to it being “an election year” and said Allgood’s habitual offender, habitual time policy results in overcrowding jails with “small-time criminals.”
Lowndes County Sheriff
In the Lowndes County Sheriff’s race, Republican Mike Arledge faces Democrat Anthony Nelson, but Nelson had the floor to himself Tuesday night, with Arledge unable to attend due to a family commitment. Arledge sent a letter to CLOPAC officials stating he was in Birmingham at UAB Hospital with his wife and daughter, who is undergoing testing for a heart transplant.
Nelson, who was unexpectedly given the green light to move forward in the election last month after Interim Columbus Police Chief Selvain McQueen won the Democrat bid but withdrew from the race, currently serves as administrator of the Lowndes County Juvenile Detention Center.
Nelson said his 23 years of law enforcement experience, and his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from St. Leo University, makes him “the best choice” to be the next sheriff. From his interactions with the department, he said he knows “what’s right and what’s wrong” with the department, and he knows the community and its citizens. He touted strong community relations and an emphasis on citizen input as inroads to solve crime.
“How can you lead if you don’t know where you’re going?” he asked.
Chancery Clerk
Democrat Incumbent Lisa Younger Neese is looking to keep the chancery clerk’s position she has held for two terms. She is being challenged by Republican Susan Robinson.
Neese said she has “the best office in Lowndes County,” citing recent renovations and her staff and saying there’s not much she would change. She said her office is “practically paperless” now, particularly land records.
But Robinson said she would push the paperless route further, implementing electronic filing which would be funded in part by fees already in place. She also said she would make the office “more people-friendly, efficient and timely” and she would “serve the citizens equally.”
Neese supported the idea of electronic filing for bankruptcies and other records, saying she sees technology as the biggest problem currently facing the chancery clerk’s office. Among the problems Robinson sees: Fees that are “too high” and the current clerk’s salary, which she said is “tax money wasted.” The chancery clerk’s position carries a salary of $90,000 per year, with additional money for special duties.
In final position statements, Neese said she “cares about people” and “experience makes the difference.” Robinson said she is “Christian and pro-life” and believes “life starts at the moment of conception.”
Circuit Clerk
Incumbent Independent Mahala “Haley” Salazar will face Republican Justin Shelton, hoping to keep the seat she has held for 19 years. She has also served 16 years as deputy clerk. Shelton, a local businessman, co-owns The Columbus Packet.
Both said they support voter identification, an initiative voters will face on the Nov. 8 ballot. Salazar believes it will cut down on voter apathy, and Shelton said while he doesn’t believe it will solve every problem, it’s “a step in the right direction.”
Salazar is also in favor of keeping absentee ballots at the circuit clerk’s office rather than the current system, which requires ballots to leave the clerk’s office and be taken to the polling places, where they are examined, counted and returned to the clerk’s office. She believes a resolution board at the clerk’s office could render decisions on absentee ballots, making absentee ballots “a final vote.” Shelton expressed concerns over the absentee voting process as well, saying voter rolls need to be purged of inactive voters to prevent abuse of the system.
When asked how they would trim $30,000 from the circuit clerk’s office budget, Salazar said it “would be hard, but that’s not to say it’s impossible.” One thing she would not do, she said, is cut salaries. She cited recent cost-savings gleaned by shifting the court dockets to a computer-based system and said electronic filing would also save money. Shelton said he would trim the budget from the bottom up, examining office supplies, gas expenses and employee efficiency.
He concluded by saying Lowndes County needs more young people and business owners, such as himself, to stand up and become actively involved in the community as well as in the circuit clerk’s office.”It would speak volumes in changing this office,” Shelton said.
He called for innovation and greater use of technology, citing Noxubee County’s ability to accept fee payments online.
“We should be in the future, not stuck in 1990,” Shelton said.
Salazar concluded by saying she has never treated the circuit clerk’s position as a “part-time job” and adding that with presidential primaries and redistricting on the horizon, the coming year will be “tough” and is “not a year for someone to train on.”
Superintendent of Education
Three contenders remain in the race for the next leader of the Lowndes County School District: Independent Rusty Greene, Democrat Cliff Reynolds and Republican Lynn Wright.
In the issue of school safety, Greene believes “great strides” have been made, particularly with the implementation of school resource officers, who are authorized to carry guns and make arrests.
Reynolds said making safety a top priority, training personnel to recognize and handle safety issues and working in close conjunction with school resource officers, principals and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department would help.
Wright took a different approach, starting with keeping parents better informed of safety concerns, keeping principals on campus and making the superintendent more visible. He said a policy of “strict discipline” will create a safer school environment.
The three also differed in their views on rezoning the school districts in order to create more racial diversity in the classroom. Wright said he doesn’t believe any decisions should be made “solely on race,” and he thinks it’s important for schools to maintain a community environment. “I do not think it’s necessary to draw lines for racial reasons,” Wright said. Greene said the district’s lines are geographically rather than racially driven, and redrawing the lines “doesn’t make any sense geographically.” But Reynolds touted unity, saying he doesn’t know if he would or would not support redrawing the district boundaries.
“I think the greatest strength is what we accomplish when unified,” Reynolds said. “We’ve been divided far too long. It’s high time we all work together.”
All cited the importance of a visible superintendent, with Reynolds saying he plans to serve lunch in the school cafeteria every Friday and Greene saying that being “stuck over in the central office doesn’t give an idea what’s going on.” Wright said a visible superintendent would be able to more effectively solicit feedback and find solutions to problems.
Board of Supervisors
In the Board of Supervisors race, Incumbent Republican Harry Sanders is being challenged by Democrat Willie Petty and Independent Joey Pounders for the district one seat. In District 3, Incumbent Republican John Holliman will face Independent Mike Smith, and in District 5, Incumbent Democrat Leroy Brooks is being challenged by Independent Roger Larsen.
When asked about his vision for Lowndes County over the next 10 years, Sanders said he would like to see a county with no crime, no unemployment, and “everybody with a chicken in every pot.”
“Without goals, the trip’s not worthwhile,” Sanders said, adding that setting the environment to achieve goals like lower taxes and more industry incentives could make those goals attainable.
Pounders also cited the rising unemployment rate as a concern, saying he believes the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link doesn’t get enough credit for the work they do and saying his top goals would be for the county “to grow and bring in more jobs.”
Petty took a slightly different position, saying he supports growth, but he’d like to see “a county where everybody feels like they have the same opportunities.”
On the issue of zoning, Petty said he was unsure if he would or would not support it, that it would depend upon if it brought economic development to the whole county, and Pounders said he would hold public meetings to talk with the voters before making a decision.
“You’d love to straddle the fence,” Sanders said. He said he understands private property owners don’t want to be told what they can and cannot do, but if a hog farmer became his neighbor, that might be different. “There has to be a happy medium,” Sanders said.
He supports a comprehensive plan, which the county does not currently have.
As far as whether or not the Trotter Convention Center should be expanded, or a new convention center built, none of the three favored a new one.
Sanders said it is a question better asked of the Columbus City Council but that he doesn’t feel Lowndes County is large enough or draws the types of events or crowds that could financially support a large convention center.
“The city needs to take care of what they’ve got,” Sanders said.
Pounders believes it would be cheaper to expand the Trotter and improve parking.
Petty said he would have to examine whether or not Trotter has a consistent record of being overcrowded for frequent, not just one-time events.
District 3 candidates were asked whether they see public disagreements between supervisors as a negative, with Holliman saying he feels the supervisors have “accomplished a lot,” and Smith seeing it as “a negative but also a part of government.” Both agreed work should be done to make heavily-traveled South Limbergh Road safer through widening and resurfacing.
In District 5, Brooks cited leadership and being “a voice” for the citizens as the top priority, while Larsen said preparing young people for the area’s industrial job opportunities is important.
Larsen said the county can’t prosper if the city doesn’t prosper, so he believes the supervisors need to do whatever they can to make sure the city is “viable and prosperous.”
“People can’t just run to the county and escape it,” Larsen said.
Brooks said he thinks the supervisors have been frugal with resources and doesn’t see “anything wrong with what we’re doing.”
Brooks was open to merging some parts of city and county government but said data would have to be analyzed to determine what pieces could merge successfully and what is in the best interest of the county.
But Larsen wasn’t enthused, saying he prefers some separation, particularly between the police department and the sheriff’s office, because it offers a system of checks and balances in case one department “goes rogue.”
“Better to have two houses and let them knock heads a little,” Larsen said.
In closing statements, Sanders said he has been “instrumental in moving the county forward in economic development,” adding that the supervisors have done a great deal to bring new industry to the area and worked hard to keep the industries they’ve attracted.
Petty “wants to improve some things” and sees it as a top priority to make sure the city and the county are “on the same page and not fighting each other.”
Pounders reiterated his push for more jobs and more cooperation with the Link, saying he feels his people skills are an asset.
Holliman said he has been a voice for the citizens, and he believes District 3 is in “better shape” than it’s been in a long time and that he has “fought to get it where it’s at.”
Smith was succinct, calling the election “a simple choice” between the status quo or someone who will provide “a voice” for the people.
“I do hear a different drum, because I am a leader,” Brooks said, citing his 28-year record. “It’s an obvious choice: Just do what you’ve been doing.”
Larsen said after 20 years of attending almost every Board of Supervisor’s meeting, he knows the personalities and the issues the district faces. “I will listen to everyone and represent everyone,” Larsen said.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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