Published: May 07, 2009 09:06 pm      

Candidates speak out at public forum

ORANGE — With election fast approaching, candidates for two local races spoke out at a public forum Thursday night in hopes of gathering last minute support.

Greater St. Paul Fellowship Christian Church was the host location for a public candidate forum Thursday night. Candidates running for office as council members for the City of Orange were in attendance, as were several candidates seeking positions on the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees.

Candidates for the City of Orange election in attendance were Place 2 incumbent Jimmy Sims and his opponent, Elgin Browning. Place 4 challenger William Whitney Mello was also in attendance.

Place 4 incumbent Deborah Mitchell had already made a commitment to a previous engagement and was unable to attend, as was her husband, Eric Mitchell, an incumbent member of the West Orange-Cove CISD Board of Trustees.

School board candidates in attendance included incumbent Pete Amy, and challengers Richard “Dicky” Taylor III, Erick Guillory and Essie Bellfield.

Rev. C.R. Young of Greater St. Paul Fellowship Christian Church served as moderator for the event and allowed each candidate an equal of amount of time to present a response to his questions.

Young closed Thursday’s forum by asking each candidate what issues they would address if elected and why they are a good candidate for the position.

Mello led off the responses by stating helping area businesses through the current economic recession was one goal he would like to tackle during his time as a council member, if elected.

Mello said he would like to see more jobs come to the community, plus he believes helping new businesses open up and keeping existing businesses competitive is key to helping Orange through the current recession.

He also expressed a desire to reduce crime because “crime is an issue for everyone and people need to be more involved in order to reduce crime.”

Sims, a 4 year council member, would like to make sure “fair housing” is available for young people and young families.

He also believes the city and the citizens need to work together “as a community to provide a nice, safe place to live.”

Browning said the city needs to come up with a “strategic plan” for growth over the next four to five years.

Browning also said city officials and council members need to have “some honest discussions” aimed at putting the city, and citizens, on the right track for the future.

School board member Pete Amy led off the responses by candidates for the two school board positions by stating the school board needs to partner with the cities of Orange, West Orange and Pinehurst to improve the current housing situation because students and their families are unable to come back to the school district if they have no place to live.

Amy also said the school board needs address financing issues, and to find a way to increase parental involvement, which he believes is key in improving student test scores and participation.

Essie Bellfield, said, if elected, she doesn’t want to make any quick decisions. She wants time to sit back and study the issues, such as the budget, and then make well thought out decisions based on what is best for the students and the district.

Bellfield also commented housing is a key figure which needs to be addressed because there is not enough housing available to allow the district to grow.

She also said she would like to see parents and teachers improve relationships, such as attending Parent Teacher Association meetings. By doing this, she believes, students will benefit from greater involvement both at home and in school.

Taylor said he is passionate about children and will work hard to represent the interests of children of the West Orange-Cove school district as a member of the school board.

He said he may only be one man, but he knows by working together with other school board members, they will be able to help the children of the school district in many areas, such as improving test scores and parental involvement.

Guillory said, if elected, he would serve the community as their collective voice on the school board. He said he would listen to the opinions of his voters and his opinion would be theirs.

Guillory said he believes one problem with the current school board “is they do not listen to the people, as with the recent transportation issue” in which so many people turned out to address the school board.

Registered voters in the West Orange-Cove school district will be able to submit ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, at four locations.

Voting locations can be found at Anderson Elementary School, 902 W. Park Ave., for precinct 1 and 2 voters; North Early Learning Center, 801 Cordrey, for precinct 3, 4, and 5 voters; the Salvation Army, 1950 Martin Luther King Drive, for voters in precincts 8, 13, 14 and 15; and West Orange City Hall, 2700 Western Ave., for voters in precincts 11 and 12.

The seats for the West Orange-Cove CISD Board of Trustees are At-Large positions. A total of five candidates are seeking two open positions.

Voting locations for the City of Orange election can also be found at Anderson Elementary, North Early Learning Center, the Salvation Army, plus Little Cypress Intermediate School at 2300 Allie Payne.