Mayor hopefuls answer questions during public forum
Incumbent Mayor Frank Jackson and mayoral candidate James Hobbs, currently on the Italy City Council, congratulate each other after a “Meet and Greet”/Debate on Monday inside the Italy Community Center. Both men are committed to the future success of Italy. (Barry Byers)
Italy — What began as a meet and greet with the current Italy Mayor Frank Jackson and his challenger James Hobbs as they both welcomed the public into the downtown community center, turned into a debate near the end of the evening without a moderator on hand to coordinate the discussion as originally expected.
Hobbs, who relocated to Italy with his wife Joyce four-years ago and is currently on the city council and co-owner of Hobbs Feed & Supply, passed out a sheet detailing a few of his goals before and during the meeting while Mayor Jackson, in his 14th consecutive year, stood at the podium ready to get the discussion rolling.
Mayor Jackson and Hobbs were cordial to one another throughout the evening in handling everyone’s questions ranging from city infrastructure to what both candidates envisioned for the city’s future as far as new business was concerned.
Both Mayor Jackson and Hobbs fielded tough questions and managed to answer with relative ease considering the situation. When Hobbs was posed the question, “Will you strive to overturn the city ordinance that prohibits property owners from building smaller dwellings,” Hobbs stated, “Yes.” Mayor Jackson made no comment regarding the question.
One of the more volatile questions posed to Mayor Jackson was in reference to water quality issues that have been an ongoing problem for the city for many years. The mayor addressed those concerns by commenting on recent solutions being utilized, in particular, a chlorine substitute that has been less harsh on clothing when being washed. There was a light flurry of statements and snide remarks near the end of meeting from audience members, mostly geared at being angry at Hobbs for even challenging the Mayor. However, some of the criticisms, it seemed, may have came from non-eligible voters.
Overall both candidates did an admirable job maintaining their composure while responding to a few emotionally charged comments and questions. The bottom line, was either candidate able to swing voters from the other side whether it was leading up to or during the evening. Whatever the outcome, either of the candidates would do good jobs if asked to lead the city thru what could be some critical years in regards to city growth. Both candidates pledged to remain committed to improving the City of Italy in one capacity or another regardless of the election results.