Few residents attend forum to meet Metro Council candidates
Sabrina D. Brown
Diversity Institute Fellow
07.28.03
The political candidates outnumbered voters July 24 at the “Meet the Candidates” forum hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists.
About a dozen of the 19 candidates for the at-large seats on the Metro City Council Board came prepared with campaign brochures, personalized pencils and finger nail files, stickers and flyers to distribute. But during the two-hour meeting at the Bordeaux YMCA, only six people showed up despite news coverage of the event on WTVF News Channel 5, The Tennessean and The City Paper.
For organizers, the turnout was not surprising.
Lelan Statom, NABJ president and forum organizer, said the event competed with several other political forums that week, including the Women’s Democratic Picnic which was also held July 24.
Statom also said that there may be low voter interest because the incumbents for the two top spots in the Aug. 7 election are running with little or no competition. Mayor Bill Purcell has no serious challengers, said Statom, and Vice Mayor Howard Gentry, who attended the forum, is running unopposed.
Absent voters missed the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the candidates, Statom said.
Chris Utley, who described himself as a member of the Bordeaux neighborhood association, said he needed to be there.
“It’s important to know if the candidates at large are, for example, business friendly or neighborhood friendly,” said Utley. “It’s important to have contact with the at large council members…they are the ones you go to if your district council person is not listening.”
Mos Davies, a retired lawyer who showed up for the event, said he heard about the forum through word of mouth.
But some people never got the word.
Talesha Utley, who was working as a daycare employee at the other side of the building, said she had no idea what was going on at the end of the hall. She said if she had heard about the forum, she still may not have attended. Utley said she relies on acquaintances to tell her about the candidates and who she should vote for.