Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams will face both a Democrat and a fellow independent in the June 6 general election.
McAdams, who is running for a third term, said focusing on the city’s infrastructure, particularly streets, remains a top priority.
In the general election, McAdams will face Shun Pearson, an independent, and one of three Democratic challengers — Tavarris Cross, Kenderick Cox and Jelani Barr.
The Democrats will have a party primary on May 2. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held on May 16.
Democrat Sheriel Perkins, a former mayor whom McAdams has defeated twice, did not file as a candidate Friday.
Perkins could not be reached for comment Saturday.
McAdams was already looking forward to her next term.
“We need to put enough money aside to do some more streets,” she said. “That’s becoming quite the challenge. We don’t have earmarks anymore.”
Another issue that will likely have to be addressed, she said, is a tax increase to help cover losses in state grants due to state budget cutting as well as a planned across-the-board pay raise for city employees.
It is highly likely that the city will not get its annual Urban Youth Grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation. That program, typically $37,000, is used to employ teens during the summer months.
McAdams said she’s trying to work the numbers to where the city can fund the program in its entirety.
“We must continue on what we’ve already improved upon,” she said, adding, “My motto is ‘Getting Things Done.’”
On the City Council, Ward 5’s Andrew Powell is facing a Democratic challenge from Eddie Lee Brown and Dot Glenn, a former Ward 5 councilwoman.
Brown, 62, a furniture finisher at John-Richard, said he has been concerned about the job situation in town for a while and has been knocking on doors as part of his campaign.
“I think we need more jobs here in Greenwood. The choice is simple,” he said.
Glenn, a Greenwood businesswoman who briefly held the Ward 5 seat, was removed by the state Supreme Court for not being a resident of the ward. Powell was elected to the seat in a special election in December 2014.
Glenn could not be reached for comment Saturday.
In Ward 6, incumbent David Jordan is facing Democratic challenger Charles Edward Stevenson and Larry “Blue” Neal, an independent.
Stevenson, 51, who is disabled, does volunteer work in the community.
“Being in Ward 6, I’ve been here all my life. We do need a change,” he said.
“We need to communicate — both black and white. We’ve got to get this place cleaned up,” Stevenson said.
He said he wants to try to “build this community back up to where it used to be.”
Stevenson said there is too much acrimony on the City Council today. “In a meeting, we don’t need to be arguing with one another.”
Neal, 65, a Vietnam veteran and businessman, has run for the Ward 6 seat several times before. He served as a Leflore County Justice Court judge for 16½ years and as a municipal judge in Itta Bena for about eight years.
He also has served as an academic counselor at Mississippi Valley State University.
“Jobs will be my No. 1 priority. South Greenwood is dying. Young people have nothing to do,” he said.
Neal said it is important that all parts of the city come together for the betterment of all. He said he has the utmost respect for Jordan but believes it is time for a change in leadership: “This is nothing personal.”
Ward 7 incumbent Democrat Carl Palmer is facing three party challengers — Rogrick Wardell, Lee Edward Scott and Robert Earl Wilson Jr.
“I’m running because the city needs new representation. It needs a fresh vision for the future,” said Wardell, 31, a physical education teacher at Claudine Brown Elementary School.
“The young people lack proper representation on the City Council. I believe we could be moving along further than it is,” he said.
He also is focused on jobs and “working with the City Council on trying to create programs targeting our youth.”
Wardell said he would like to see additional resources used for the construction of a municipally owned recreation center.
Scott, 56, a disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said this is his first time in politics.
“I want to make a change in the neighborhood. I’ve been back here for 18 years, and it’s been going around and around. It’s time to lead by example,” he said.
Wilson, 20, is a student at the Mississippi University for Women.
“I see a need for change in our city, and constituents are fed up with the policies of Mayor McAdams and the other councilmen and councilwomen,” he said.
“Young people across the nation are stepping up to be the voice for the change that many Americans are looking for in education, social and criminal justice matters,” he said. “Those are the three issues that voters in South Greenwood are ready to see a change in. I feel I am well prepared to fight for the changes we want.”
•Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
