The Petal Area Chamber of Commerce is giving Petal voters a chance to meet and hear from the seven candidates who have placed their name in the hat for the upcoming March 17 special election to fill the vacant alderman-at-large seat on the Petal Board of Aldermen.
The chamber will host a candidate forum at 6 p.m. March 5 at Petal Civic Center, 712 S. Main St. in Petal, where each candidate will be able to discuss their platform and ideas for their political run.
“One reason we’re doing this is because there are so many candidates, and people have a choice,” said Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce. “I think some of these candidates are new to the scene here in Petal, and most of our citizens don’t know them.
“So this is going to be an opportunity for them to meet these candidates and find out what their agenda is, in terms of if they win the election. And also, I happen to know some of these candidates might consider going on to run for mayor next year, so this is a precursor to the candidates we may be looking at next year.”
Each candidate will be given few minutes to introduce themselves and their plan for the alderman-at-large seat, after which point audience members will be given a chance to ask questions of the candidates. At the conclusion of that portion of the event, which is expected to last about an hour, attendees will have the chance for one-on-one meetings with the candidates.
“We’ll have a microphone, and (attendees) can just ask their questions from the floor,” Wilson said. “(Then afterwards), candidates are just going to walk around and talk to people and answer questions independently.”
Wilson said she’s looking forward a good response to the forum.
“I’m expecting a good turnout,” she said. “People enjoyed the last forum quite a bit, and I think that we’ll have some people interested in coming to another forum.”
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on election day, and anyone in line by 7 p.m. is entitled to cast a ballot. The winner of the election will fill the remaining term of former Alderman-at-Large William King, who retired effective Feb. 1.
Candidates include John Brady Amacker, Andrew "Drew" Brickson, Larry Carraway, Jeffrey Ginn, Mike Lott, Ann McWilliams and Jeff Sapp.
“It’s an important race,” Mayor Hal Marx said at a recent board meeting. “I hope that we do have a good special election turnout.
“Sometimes it’s low, but I hope that everyone will come out and meet all the candidates and then go to the polls to vote.”
