Opinion

SOME FINAL OBSERVATIONS BEFORE ELECTION DAY

Of all the candidates for office in the Royston city election Tuesday, November 8, Mayoral candidate Bill Stewart seems to be running hardest. Not just his signs, which are well distributed throughout the city, but also his zealous efforts to meet the public.

From the day of the fall festival, when he was accompanied by councilman Kenneth Roach, to his more recent forays downtown with his pastor, Mr. Stewart has demonstrated a tireless enthusiasm to win. He has also done a lot of door-to-door campaigning. None of the other five candidates (one for mayor and four for council) has been quite so active.

A couple of Sundays ago, Mr. Stewart made appearances at two of the black churches in town. If hard work pays off, he will win hands down.

The mayor's race, however, is not a slam dunk. Lee Strickland, who has shown a lot of political savvy over the years, will do a good job of contacting his supporters and getting them to the polls.

The council races may turn on who the mayoral candidates' supporters vote for. While incumbent Kenneth Roach looks safe, the two positions opened by Stewart and Strickland's decision to run for mayor are up for grabs.

There is support on both sides for specific candidates. Whether this will manifest itself by some voting for only one or two candidates, rather than for three, makes this race a wild card. (There are four candidates running for three council seats. The top three will be elected.)

This election has been relatively quiet. There has been no public forum, and, except for the questionnaire responses in The Anderson Independent and the Franklin County Citizen/News Leader, no public pronouncements have been forthcoming.

Hopefully, with a new mayor to be elected, there will be a heightened interest that will result in a big turnout. That way everybody wins, especially the city.