Our endorsements: Fremont

The News Leader traditionally has offered endorsements of candidates for your consideration. We continue that tradition this year.
Before we get started, let me be clear: some of the candidates we have endorsed won, some have lost. Some of the same traits and qualities that we saw in some of the candidates others saw we expect, and the same things that we valued, others did, at least in some races. In others, maybe not.
Clearly we have not known some of the candidates as long as some of you, and you may have a better perspective to make a choice regarding that candidate. From another perspective, our view may not be affected by the past that may or may not be relevant now. In other words, we may be more objective.
Our biggest concern is that you have good, relevant information to base your decisions on. Many elections are decided based on name recognition or popularity more than qualifications to serve. We vote for someone because we recognize the name.
We had candidate interviews in this paper and last week’s. We hope you refer to them.
If you want more information, or if you are just curious, read on.
In Stantonsburg, we believe both of the incumbents, Billy Bardin and Hubert Tyson, have done a good job for the town and should be allowed to continue to work on the projects they are involved with.
Ken Horne also merits consideration, and as we expect town council to name a replacement for Councilman Bill Edmundson, who will be elected mayor, often that is the next highest vote getter. He reflects a balanced approach, and is not a one-issue candidate, but seems to sincerely want to do what’s best for all of the town.
In the Pikeville election, again, we like the two incumbents running, Bruce Thomas and Al Greene. Mr. Thomas always carefully considers what the board is dealing with and asks thoughtful questions. The board benefits from his being there.
Mr. Greene knows the people of the town and has a good grip on what the people of the town want and need.
We believe the voters had good reasons to elect them the last time, and should continue to elect them.
We believe the voters will have a difficult decision on a third vote, as we had, but we went with Talmadge “Thiggy” Thigpen. He has a lot of experience serving on similar boards. Coming from one of the old families, he will respect the history of the town, while having the youthful enthusiasm to help the town move forward.
We also think Fremont voters will have a difficult choice to make, but again we are endorsing going with the incumbent. Devone Jones has done a really good job as mayor, helped the town start a lot of really good projects, and he has built a really good rapport between the town citizens and the town board. We appreciate his objectivity, as he has not sided with the black members of the board at times, and has tried to make decisions for the best interests of all of the citizens.
Again, those are our choices, but the ones that count are the ones you make at the polls on Tuesday. Please take the time to participate. Town elections are important.