Huntsville Mayoral Candidates Court Senior Citizens



Huntsville’s three mayoral candidates got the chance to know what’s on the minds of the people who have seen it all.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association hosted a mayoral forum Saturday morning. Attendees asked what candidates Tommy Battle, Loretta Spencer, and Jackie Reed would do for the city’s senior citizens.

City services, downtown parking, and accessible transportation were the issues that garnered the most attention from the retirees, particularly the expansion of the existing shuttle buses.

All three candidates expressed some desire to revamp or expand the system.

Downtown development also sparked questions about parking for seniors and long waits to get licensing permits. One question urged the candidates to consider satellite offices around the city.

“I’d probably support more the county having satellites than the city,” said Battle. “It’s a business case, those costs outweigh the limited number of interactions you have in your licensing with the city.”

Spencer and Reed agreed.

“I think the licensing department is the only one we could really do. We’ve done so many things with the county, collaborating with them, that I don’t see why we couldn’t work that out, too,” said Spencer.

The municipal election is a mere 16 days away. The deadline to register is Friday, August 17th.