By By Lydia Grimes – features reporter
Growth and youth activities are among the issues East Brewton City Council Place 5 candidates are interested in.
Durwood Mantel is challenging incumbent Wayne Howard for the at-large position.
Howard said the most important issues facing East Brewton are to continue economic growth; more emphasis on parks and recreation and improving services for the citizens of East Brewton.
Howard said he is best suited for the position because he has been a resident of the city for 60 years; he has worked with officials in Montgomery toward growth for the city; he is active in all three school systems and held office in all three; he has served on the advisory board of the Escambia County School Board; and he served on boards dealing with tri-county growth.
Howard is co-owner of a business that employs 35 people, and his family owns the business in East Brewton known as Nena's Place, which he said helps the school system.
Howard and his wife Jennifer have three daughters, Dr. Candice Howard Shaughnessy of Troy who serves as interim chair at Troy University; Stefanie Smith of East Brewton; and Abbie Howard, who is a student at Troy University, where she is an accounting major. They have three grandchildren, Matthew Smith, 6, and Joshua Smith, 6, students at W.S. Neal Elementary School; and Sara Brooke Smith, 18 months.
Mantel said he wants to see East Brewton grow.
Mantel, 59, is a graduate of W.S. Neal High School.
He has lived in East Brewton all his life and his parents were Walter and Iva Lee Mantel. He retired from Smurfit-Stone with 31 years of service.
He was a maintenance supervisor for 25 years. He is now employed as a superintendent with the U.O. Group, which does maintenance work for Georgia-Pacific.
Mantel has been married to Ellen Richards Mantel for 17 years. They are members of First United Methodist Church.