Furlow said he believed possible annexation was an option the city could look into. He said many of the residents outside of the city work in the city, drive on city streets and should pay their fair share. At the same time, he said, those same residents would need to be assured of what they were getting in exchange for paying city taxes if their residences were annexed.

The candidates were asked what they believed would be the critical issues for Natchez in the next four years and their plans to address the issues.

Furlow said the main issues in Natchez are economic development and job creation, the education system and tourism. He said the mayor’s job is not to lead the industrial development efforts on his own but to be a partner and a resource to Natchez Inc. and its endeavors.

Furlow said the mayor must be more involved in bringing the community together to support the school district, even though the city does not control the school district.

Middleton said the only problems Natchez will have in the next four years will be good problems. He said with the prospective 750 jobs coming to Natchez, housing for workers would be a top priority.

“Other than that, I don’t see any other problems,” Middleton said.

West said the city must avoid backtracking in the coming years in order to be successful. He said the mayor must facilitate community teamwork and unity would be critical for the city to reach its potential.

“I believe I am the best person to do that because I’ve got the guts to make everybody mad, white and black,” he said.

Brown said because of the spike in crime, he believed the city needed a stronger visible presence from law enforcement.

“We’ve got to clean up our city and take back our community from the bullies and thugs that rob it from us,” he said.

Brown also said he believed the city needed to do a better job taking care of its facilities. He said the city needed a leader with a vision to address all the different issues in the city.

“We’ll continue to do what we did before, we’ll hit the streets, call our friends, the ones we have relationships with,” Brown said. “We’ve done it in the past, and we’ll do it again.”

Five written questions were taken from the audience at the forum. One of the questions asked the candidates their thoughts on the Natchez Board of Aldermen meeting in closed-door executive sessions.

West said he believes city officials sometimes take advantage of the executive session exception in the open meetings law.

“I think sometimes we go into executive session much more often than we should in order to say what’s on our mind … I wouldn’t care if every meeting we had was in open session,” he said.

Brown said accountability and transparency in city government has been an ongoing issue the last four years, especially in the latest dealings with the casino.

“It’s important that you have openness and accountability in government,” he said. “We had it before, and if I am elected, we will have it again.”

Middleton said executive sessions are important for city officials and attorneys to discuss the inner workings of economic development deals.

“I can tell you there has been no illegal business done in executive session since I have been mayor,” he said.