By By Arthur McLean and Chuck Bodiford
The Alabama Democratic Conference endorsed the incumbent mayor and all incumbent council members in Atmore's municipal elections, set for this Tuesday.
Local ADC Chairman Dr. Ullyssess McBride released a statement with the group's endorsements Wednesday, including incumbents Mayor Howard Shell, and council members Webb Nall, John Watkins, Louis Turner III, John Garrard and Jim Staff. Watkins and Staff are unopposed in their bids for re-election.
The ADC held a meet the candidates session at Atmore City Hall last Tuesday night to hear from each candidate. Although the session was for ADC members to reach a conclusion about the current city races, the public was also invited to attend.
Each candidate received three minutes to address the assembled audience, which consisted of approximately 100 people night. Several candidates chose to highlight their qualifications; others spoke of recent accomplishments for the city, while others spoke of their plans for the future.
No questions from the audience were allowed during the program during the candidate's presentations.
"The Mayor and City Council appear to have the resolve, experience, and understanding of money to turn Atmore around," the statement read. "This is not the time for inexperience and experimentation."
"This administration (Mayor and Council) has spent considerable time, energy, planning and money getting the City of Atmore industrially prepared," said McBride. "The Utility Department is poised to move in a moment's notice to assure industrial customers that before the plant is ready the essential utilities will be in place. Members of this administration have gone "half way" around the world to look at potential industry face to face. The City of Atmore has very supportive contacts in Washington and Montgomery. Additionally, large tracts of land are now available that can get the attention of major corporations."
Several candidates complained about the program format, but McBride, chairman of the Atmore chapter of the ADC, said the conference has had the same format for every election of many years. "The ADC has never had a Q&A session," McBride said.