LAUREL HILL — The City Council still needs to fill a vacant seat on the board, but that doesn't mean residents aren't interested in the position.
Mary Bradberry, a resident of seven months, and Daniel Lane, who's lived here 18 months, expressed interest in filling the seat Clifton Hall vacated in November, but city leaders have voted 2-2 on motions to appoint each of them for the seat.
Council members Johnny James and Willie Mae Toles voted in favor of Bradberry at a Jan. 2 meeting but Larry Hendren and Betty Williamson opposed the motion. Hendren and Williamson voted in favor of Lane, but James and Toles opposed the motion.
The deadlock doesn't take Bradberry and Lane out of the running, though. Mayor Robby Adams referenced 18 months in which Hall's seat was left vacant prior to his arrival on the council.
Providing economic opportunities for residents and addressing poor city road conditions would be her top priorities, if elected, Bradberry said.
"Our people as a whole need work; we need to recognize what we have in our community…" she said. "(Residents) need to come first; that is what Laurel Hill is all about."
Lane, a retired construction project manager, said he has nearly 40 years' commercial construction experience and could advise on the city's poor roads system.
"There seems to be a need of someone in this council that can (handle) a lot of construction concerns," he said.
"I know the ultimate end — dissolving the city — is down the road, but for right now we still have to suffer the consequences of all of the roads we have now," he said.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Will there be another 18-month wait for a fifth city leader?