It was an informative evening during the Meet the Candidates night held at the Crossroads Senior Center in Roosevelt
Wednesday night
. The format was mostly prepared questions and candidates each getting a timed turn to respond. Candidate for Mayor, J.R. Bird, said the reason he wanted to run for the position is because he loves Roosevelt and wants to see it succeed. He said he believes everyone that has served has done an excellent job but that he recognizes that there is still so much to do in the town. Albert Foster, also running for Mayor, has served on the city council for about 6 years. As the owner of a human resources consulting company, Foster said his desire is to learn the best practices and bring them back to Roosevelt. It was also a calm forum between the candidates for City Council. David Baird said he feels Roosevelt City has done a good job of bringing recreation activities to the community and that he feels transparency has improved. Something he said he feels needs to be done better is supporting safety as a highest priority and would like to see more done to support the state of the local economy. Wendy Nicholson said she felt the city could improve on making meetings that are posted online more accessible and that it would be appropriate to have an open session during city council meetings to invite public comments or concern. She also emphasized a need for varied recreation for all ages. Steven Timothy complemented Roosevelt City on the many projects they have done in recent years and pointed out the current State Street construction going on. He also commented on incentivizing businesses and community programs to help the city grow. Finally, current city council member Dustin White emphasized the the people you serve are the number one priority in public office and encouraged the community members to get involved and help make the improvements they would like to see in the community. Many Roosevelt citizens attended and a few even asked questions of the candidates before the meeting closed.
