Candidate Forum Held for Crockett City Races
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – Tuesday, April 18 saw The Messenger and the Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce host a candidate forum for the city council races and the mayoral contest. Once again, the public showed their interest and civic spirit, filling the hall and causing additional chairs to be brought in to handle the rush.
President of the chamber Karl Balmer opened the forum by welcoming the candidates, their families and the public at large before inviting Crockett Pastor Shane Sibley from Central Baptist Church to give an invocation. Crockett ISD students Emili Cruz and Alonzo Cervantes led the pledge of allegiance before this reporter introduced the candidates.
The first order of business were the candidates for precinct one, made vacant by the recent move of Councilman Gene Caldwell to precinct two. The three candidates for the position are Samantha Wiley, Joe Don James and Dennis Ivey.
The three took turns answering the questions, while being respectful of each other, the time allotted to them (two minutes per question) and the public who came to hear them. They each gave their answers, each in their own way and style, letting the public get to know them better as people – and beyond just their political views or views on the city’s business.
Asked the vital question, “Why you? Why now?” each gave their unique perspective on why they would be the best candidate.
“Why not me?” began candidate Joe Don James. “Somebody has to do it, right? There is a lot to be said for the ‘old guard,’ but sometimes the old guard needs to move on. If we keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, nothing is going to happen. I don’t have any special interests, I wasn’t asked to do this by anyone. I have a unique set of skills with my 45 years of experience dealing with city, county, state and federal government. My biggest set of experiences has been with emergency services, serving people. And that’s what I am here to do, to serve.”
“‘Why Samantha?’ It is a good question to ask,” said Samantha Wiley. “This city needs someone who is proactive, knowledgeable, concerned about the citizens and not afraid to fight for what is right. This city needs someone who has character, ethics, morals, integrity and who will do the right thing. Someone who is about change for the better – someone like me. Your voice will be heard and everyone’s voice will matter. The true answer will be seen when I am elected to office.”
“I have spent my life serving people, serving two different terms in the chamber of commerce,” said Dennis Ivey. “I received the highest award you can receive from the Lion’s Club for service. I have served our community in so many ways and as pastor of Harvest Church, I have served a lot of people and a lot of families in hard times. I have a desire to do this, my heart is in it and I will give everything I have. I believe in the city of Crockett and the good we can do for Houston County as well as the county seat. I think Houston County is the greatest county in Texas.”
The race for Crockett city council precinct two sees incumbent Darrell Jones against challenger Gene Caldwell. Jones flatly refused to come and participate, while Caldwell agreed but due to a previously planned trip, was unable to attend. The Messenger produced a video of Caldwell answering the questions which was posted to the chamber’s online and social media portals.
Next, incumbent mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher took the podium with challenger Connie Strban. The two were polite and respectful, never in fact mentioning their opponent in their remarks. The sticky question of what to do with CEIDC was on the agenda.
“Obviously, we need economic development,” said Connie Strban. “We desperately need good leadership and growth. I moved here from Palestine and I cannot help but contrast the growth between their business park and ours, which both started about the same time. I cannot address the current situation because there is an ongoing investigation. That is for the courts and the legal system to address.”
“It is a necessary project for the city and is an extension of the city,” said Dr. Ianthia Fisher. “Do we have some concerns? Yes, we have concerns. We have to be careful to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our economic development is not able to reach enough people – the original setup was for large industry. We have not attracted large industry because we do not have the manpower. When you do have large industry and they shut down, they destroy our community for a moment. We want to help develop our community of small businesses and help maintain them in the community for a longer term.”
Lastly, the candidates were asked why them and why now and each gave their unique take to summarize why they want the job and what they think they could do better than their opponent.
“In the 17 years I have been here and as a real estate broker I have met so many people who are moving into Houston County,” said Strban. “I have had the experience working with my nine agents and the can tell you all about working with me. People are coming, whether we like it or not. From what I have seen from the demographics, we could easily increase the population of Crockett by close to 50% in just a short number of years. We have to be ready for that. I want our community to move forward, capitalizing on our history, moving forward on all of these areas we have talked about tonight.”
“The Bible says, ‘To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.’ To God be the glory, this is my season. In the four years I have been mayor, God has lined up things that have worked very well. Based on my faith, education and community involvement and my professional experience, I have brought a level of expertise to the city of Crockett. I have brought a calmness, we are able to talk, to have council meetings where we got things accomplished. I am proud of the record and the things I have done, because they were done systematically.”
The Messenger would like to thank all of those who helped make the event possible, especially the candidates themselves along with the chamber members and of course the public who showed their support for our local elections.
The next candidate forum will be held in Grapeland for the city council and school board elections Monday, April 24 at 6 p.m. at The Station on US Highway 287.
Tuesday, April 25 we will hold our forum for our Houston County hospital board candidates, again at 6 p.m. at the Crockett Civic Center.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
