On Mon. May 11 the Shreveport city council will interview potential candidates for the interim District A council position created by the resignation of Willie Bradford.
The special council meeting will be conducted by ZOOM as well as the interviews. The candidates can speak for 10 minutes and council questions can not exceed 10 minutes.
Hopefully councilman James Flurry will be able to participate from the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center where he is being treated for acute leukemia.
Factors that most likely will be considered by the 6 council members in making this selection include:
a. Race—District A is a black majority district
b. Age and maturity
c. Neighborhood of residence—Cross Lake, Allendale, Queensborough, Cherokee Park and MLK along with length of residence in District A
d. Voting record for last 6 years which would encompass the 2014 mayoral/council elections
e. Prior political office and/or political races
f. Education
g. Community involvement
h. Past interest in council matters as evidenced by attendance at meetings, communications with council members, etc.
i. Disposition/attitude
This is not an all inclusive list and is not set forth in any order of priority.
Before the fall election the council will be facing major votes on budget reductions necessitated by the COVD-19 crisis. There will be little time for the interim appointee to get up to speed on these decisions.
Usually an interim appointee has an advantage in the election for the remainder of council term. This may not be the case this year due to the budget cuts.
