Brown said as a former school teacher he believe students do not feel motivated and have a “lackluster approach” to education because teachers are not as involved as they were in the past. He said he wanted to work with the school board to figure what would help make the system better.

“The reason is because they don’t feel loved or needed,” he said. “When you know someone has compassion and loves you, then you’re going to do the best you can for that person.”

Brown also said he believed a strong recreation system needed to be in place to promote happiness and healthiness in local children.

The candidates were asked how they planned to improve economic and bring jobs to Ferriday.

Allen said once the town’s water situation is completely straightened out, he believes more companied and small industries will want to locate in Ferriday. He said he wants to also have a plan in place to put more businesses in the highway for traveling motorists who pass through Ferriday.

Brown said the town is in talks with a company for a contract that would bring 60-100 jobs to Ferriday. He said he also wants to do a study to find out what industries should be recruited using Ferriday’s resources, such as a furniture company for the abundance of woods in the town.

Conner said an aggressive approach is needed to get jobs to Ferriday. He said some kind of entity or committee of people with expertise in economic development needs to be put in place to recruit businesses with input from residents.

“We need to work for Ferriday, I don’t care if they are educated or drop-outs, they need to have a place where they can come to be heard.”

The candidates spoke to their passion for Ferriday, knowledge of the community and desire to help the residents as the reason they believed they were the best candidates.

Allen contended leaving $2 million in the bank when he left office, the numerous grants he helped the town get and his record and experience as a former mayor qualified him to lead the town again.

“We have to become unified,” he said. “We all have to work together and unite businesses, community and government. We cannot grow because we are not communicating.”

Brown said he is running not on what he has done in office but what he will do in officer and said he will work to unite residents on advisory committees to give input on important issues and put a plan in place to move Ferriday forward.

“If you want to move Ferriday forward, you have to get the people involved,” he said.

Conner said it is sad for the people of Ferriday to look around town and see all the promises that were made that have not been kept.

“Don’t just vote to turn back the hands of time,” he said. “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing you’ll keep getting what we’ve already got.”