By By Arthur McLean
Atmore Mayor Howard Shell and all five city council members have officially announced their intention to run for reelection this year.
City elections for the position of mayor and all five council seats will be held in August with qualifying beginning July 6.
Webb Nall represents District 1 and is seeking his third term. Louie Turner III represents District 2 and will be seeking his second term. John Watkins represents District 3 and will be seeking his fourth term. John Garrard represents District 4 and will be seeking his third term, and Jim Staff represents District 5 and will be seeking his second term.
Mayor Howard Shell will be seeking his fifth term as mayor.
The mayor and council announced as a group this week, though the decision to run had been made earlier. Shell said he and the council wanted to wait until after the conclusion of county and state primary races before making the announcement official.
"These men are all business people and they have done an excellent job serving the city," Shell said. "I think the city would be well served to if it returned this group for another term."
So far, the only other candidate to announce his intentions to run for city office is Greg Russell who plans to run for mayor. Russell has already been out in the community campaigning.
Ernie Digmon flirted with the idea of running for mayor, and some campaign signs sprouted up in several local yards, but he has since dropped the idea due to other pursuits.