By Staff
Sales taxes, dilapidated houses, drug crimes - those are just a few of the issues that voters in Brewton and East Brewton are concerned about, according to an informal survey we took last week.
And candidates in both communities will probably hear an earful in coming weeks as they campaign for the Aug. 26 municipal election. We do have so many issues at hand, especially as we look around the region at the growth and economic development we can expect as a result of new businesses in Mobile and the things we need to do in our community to take advantage of those.
We have a full slate of candidates in both cities, and we're sure that those hopefuls will be courting supporters extensively on both sides of the creek.
Today, we are beginning a series of stories about each race in Brewton and East Brewton, asking candidates what they believe are the important issues, how they would solve their community's problems and what they bring to the table in terms of qualifications, ideas and experiences.
As we continue watching the campaigns, I urge all of the voters to pay attention to the candidates and learn more about their ideas and backgrounds. All have interesting views to share about the future of our communities, and it's important that we listen and vote. In fact, if you are not already registered to vote, you should know that the deadline to vote in the municipal election is Aug. 15.
Supporters of candidates are welcome to submit letters to the editor for publication in The Brewton Standard; however, letters will only be published until the Aug. 20 edition of the newspaper. We reserve the right to edit letters and to refuse to run letters if they are libelous.
I can't imagine seeing the kind of negative campaigning we've already seen in the presidential election infiltrating our small community, but I hope we don't have any mudslinging. We have too much at stake to put up with that.
Good luck to all of the candidates. See you on the campaign trail.
Kerry Whipple Bean is publisher of The Brewton Standard. She can be reached at 867-4876 or by e-mail at kerry.bean@brewtonstandard.com.