NAACP Set to Host Candidates Forum

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A Candidates Forum is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 15, for candidates running for a number of elections this year, hosted by the local NAACP chapter.

Candidates for Tom Green County Judge and Law Place Two County Court are expected to participate, along with other county and state candidates. Members of the public will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session after the contestants have presented their platform.

“Having this forum at the city, county and state level allows people to hear from the candidates, so of course in Tom Green County there will only be interested people by Tom Green County, but when the state participants come in, they’ll be interested in the statewide aspects,” Sherley Spears, president of the San Angelo NAACP.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak this week, the forum will now be held virtually from 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Not only do they strive to educate the community about potential future leaders, but they advocate that every vote counts.

“We want to remind people again that they cannot use this opportunity to be able to vote for granted. That there was a lot of blood and sweat and tears and murder and all kinds of things that now allowed us to have this opportunity,” Spears said.

With the MLK holiday fast approaching, Sherley shares that the NAACP is still working hard to get public restrooms at Martin Luther King Memorial Park, a staple for neighborhood kids they’ve been working to secure for over six months now.

“We want people to support what they were trying to do, but we don’t want to bother citizens with the need to raise these funds, so we worked with some of the foundations and secured grants from other clergy. help us, but we want people to realize that the NAACP, our new theme, is moving forward doing the necessary work,” Spears said.

To attend the virtual forum, you can find the zoom link on the NAACP Facebook page.