Last year the voters of Natchez and Adams County had the opportunity to choose both the people who would be serving the area locally at the county level and also the people who would be representing them at the state level in Jackson.

During the 2011 election cycle, your Natchez-Adams Chamber of Commerce worked hard to provide a good public venue that would facilitate an open and honest exchange of information between the candidates and the voters.

These programs were well attended, and the interest and energy our citizens brought to the forums certainly enhanced the opportunity to grow and learn for both the candidates and the voters.

Now it is decision time for the City of Natchez. Although the qualifying period has not officially ended (closing date is March 30), a number of people have already declared their interest in serving the city in various offices such as mayor, alderman, city clerk and municipal judge.

Your job, as a city resident and a voter, will be to make the best choice possible to move Natchez forward in the next few years.

Your chamber will be hosting two programs in the upcoming weeks. Their formats will be similar to the state and county forums we did last July.

The first event will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, April 2, at the Natchez Convention Center.

On April 2, we will be presenting the candidates for mayor. Each candidate will have some time to speak in the form of introductory remarks and closing statements. Each candidate will be given three prepared questions to answer individually.

All candidates will sit together to address questions submitted to the chamber office and written questions will be taken from the floor.

If you are interested in submitting a question, please send it to natchezchamber@natchezchamber.com.

Currently, four individuals have qualified to run for the office of mayor. Come and meet them, listen to their visions for the next four years in Natchez, and go to the polls in May armed with as much information as possible to choose the best mayor possible.

On April 23, again from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at the Convention Center, your chamber will host a second forum.

This time we will feature candidates for all contested races for alderman, city clerk and municipal judge.

The format will be just like the April 2 program. Here again, our goal is to let you see, hear and question the candidates for these offices.

At this point, we do not know when or if redistricting will affect these races; we will conduct our programs with the candidates and the districts as they are currently drawn.

The bottom line is this: If you approve of the job our current city leaders are doing, you can choose to give them another term. If you don’t approve of their work, you can choose someone else to do the job. In May, Natchezians, that choice will be yours.

I encourage each of you to take advantage of the forums your chamber will be presenting to learn as much as possible about the candidates so you can make the best choices possible for the next four years.

This is your home, this is your vote, and this is your opportunity to help shape our future.

Stephanie Hutchins is a member of the legislative committee of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce.