One town election will soon see at least four new faces on a council with five seats.
Residents in the town of Riverview will be faced with choosing a mayor and a full council in municipal elections set for Aug. 28.
Incumbent mayor Carl Smith is seeking re-election to the seat he has held for 20 years. He faces challengers Dennis Ray Hammac and Adam “Spanky” Sexton for the top spot in the town.
Only one council member has chosen to seek re-election. Barbara Tindell serves on the council in the place 2 position. She is being opposed for the seat by political newcomer Melissa Smith-Britton.
All four of the remaining council positions are up for grabs after current council members in places 1, 3, 4 and 5 said they were ready to give up their seats.
In place 1, Judy Hudson and Donald W. Fuqua will be battling for the seat while Lisa McCall and Tressa Richards will each be hoping to land the spot for place 3 on the council.
In place 4, Linda Evans Brunson will face Billie Jo Miller in a duel for the seat with Kenneth Mills and Sandra Townsend running for the place 5 position.
The reason behind a full slate of candidates can be attributed to a resurgence of a desire of the citizens to remain a sovereign town.
Mayor Carl Smith said in a July interview that notice from four council members put the future of the town government in jeopardy.
“When they said they didn’t want to run for the seats again, we started considering what we might need to do,” Smith said in July. “We didn’t have anyone coming forward to say they were interested in those seats and we were concerned we might not have a full council in place. That would mean we’d have a situation of not having a town government in place.”
Following a mid-July town meeting, Smith said several members of the community stepped forward and made a commitment to the town to run for office.
Those who threw their names into political ring have done so in an effort keep the town government alive and squash ideas of incorporation into East Brewton, Smith said.
Riverview elections will be held at the Riverview Town Hall on Aug. 28 with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.