3 weeks away for what is scheduled to be one of the most interesting elections yet as the voters of Hattiesburg will decide who controls the Hattiesburg City Council. The city council controls all of the money for Hattiesburg, the city's policies, and amending or creating new laws for the city.
This is interesting because for the first time since the council was created, there's a slight possibility that 4 out of the 5 city council members could be African Americans. For the record, although Hattiesburg is a majority African American city, the city council has always been controlled by the minority, in this case, white Americans.
But that could all change which would be huge depending on if either 1 out of the 2 African American candidates win their election on June 8.
Who are they? Picasso Nelson who is running in Ward 3 against City Council President Carter Carroll and Ken Chambers who is running in Ward 1 against Councilman Jeffrey George.
Ken Chambers has a greater chance of winning than Picasso Nelson because more African Americans live in Ward 1 than in Ward 3. However, Nelson is not completely out of the race although him defeating the current city council president would be a huge upset.
Chambers poses the greatest threat to the current status quo and perhaps is the reason he's been targeted. First, George filed papers asking he be disqualified by the Democratic Party but they decline which led him to challenge Chambers in court. The special appointed judge allowed Chambers to still run which was a blow to George losing his challenge in court and now must face Chambers in the general election on June 8.
Then Chambers was abruptly arrested and his mugshot was blasted on all local media. People we spoke with in the community of all races viewed this as an attempt to make Chambers look bad to voters.
He was arrested on a secret indictment according to our sources from a charge from years ago. The charge is a dispute over $500 with one of his friends which doesn't warrant a secret indictment according to judicial experts.
According to a source, Chambers name doesn't appear on Forrest County indictment list which is why it is under federal review by the Justice Department to see if Chambers was racially targeted violating his Civil Rights or was it an attempt to suppress or illegally influence the upcoming election.
If either Chambers or Nelson can get more people to come out and vote for either one of them, that mean the agenda in Hattiesburg shifts dramatically with more funding going to the local school district, black communities, and the rise of more black businesses.
Comments