News
Nelsonville City Council and Auditor Candidates Speak with Voters at Candidate Forum
By: Anna Azallion
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With elections coming up on November 5th, the League of Women Voters held a candidate night in Nelsonville. Candidates running for Auditor and for City Council introduced themselves to community members at the forum and answered questions.
After opening statements from the candidates, they rotated through the tables, answering questions posed by Nelsonville community members.
Each candidate sat at a table and spent 8 minutes talking with community members. A volunteer from the League of Women Voters announced when time was up and asked candidates to rotate to the next table.
A lot of questions were asked but there were some issues many people said they were concerned about.
“Our revenue stream is drying up and we need to find a way to regenerate some new money,” Betty Jo Parsely, a Nelsonville resident, said.
“Housing issues are a big thing whether it’s like affordable housing or bringing existing housing up to code,” Rees Wyant, another community member at the forum said.
Other issues community members said they’re concerned about included infrastructure, crime and the opioid crisis. Candidates had a variety of solutions to the problems including rent control, police foot patrols and reassessing the current budget.
The League of Women Voters said the format of this forum was new, but they felt people enjoyed it. Other community members at the forum said they liked the opportunity to talk to the candidates in small groups.
“I thought the League of Women Voters did a great job. I thought each one of us getting to have a candidate come to the table and mix with the people, I think it was informative for those candidates,” Parsely said.
The candidates running for City of Nelsonville Auditor include:
- Garry Dickerson
- Taylor Sappington
The candidates running for two different categories of seats on Nelsonville City Council include:
- Dottie Fromal
- Andrea Reany
- Gregory Smith
- Cory W. Taylor
- Anthony E. Dunfee
- Wanda K. Johnson
- Shadrick I. M. Paris
- McCray Powell
- Linda Watkins
For more information on the November 5th election, visit the Athens County Board of Elections website.