New Mayoral Candidate, New Issue
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The race for mayor is getting even more crowded with state school board vice president Ella Bell officially announcing today.
And other candidates are already diving into the issues.
There are now at least four candidates making a push for mayor.
And there’s a new issue being raised by one today, red light cameras.
She’s used to sitting on the state board of education, but now Ella Bell wants to focus her attention on city politics.
“I want to be the mayor for all the people of Montgomery.,” said Bell.
She’s from montgomery and one of the first things she wants to do is bring people together so everyone can walk their community at night and not be afraid for their safety.
“We have not achieved the status of the beloved community as espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King 50 years ago from these very steps. That is to say that there is too much in the way of polarization in my opinion. I think that if we get our community to get together we can improve so much of that,” said Bell.
Candidate Dan Harris says he was surprised to hear Bell was running. Current Mayor Todd Strange says he’s expecting an even closer race now.
“I’ve known Ella for a long time, she’s been on the school board for a number of years. I’m not going to say the more the merrier, but come on in the water’s fine,” said Strange.
Across town, Artur Davis was already campaigning, drawing attention to the redlight cameras in town. He says the city is using the cameras to boost revenue, not to actually help save lives.
“If this were truly about safety, why not do what communities all over america have done and take the simple step that doesn’t cost anybody anything of adding seconds to the duration of the yellow light,” said Davis.
He wants to get rid of almost all of the city’s cameras except for the five busiest intersections. However, they would only be used to observe, not actually ticket drivers.
Mayor Strange says while the city does make some money, the cameras have had a real impact.
“There is some revenue, albeit is declining. What we’re seeing is the incidents of running red lights and traffic accidents in those intersections have declined, some 50 percent some as much as 80 percent,” said Strange.
Strange and the others are expecting even more candidates to announce for the seat.
It’s looking more likely that there will be a runoff once election time comes.
