Town board candidates speak to the forum

Sept. 30. The candidates for mayor and town board presented to a full house at Cornelius Town Hall on Monday night during the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce’s election candidate forum.

All three mayoral candidates and all six town board candidates attended the event, which drew about 70 residents — enough to fill nearly every seat in the town hall meeting room.

Mayoral candidates included incumbent Woody Washam, former mayor pro tem Denis Bilodeau and newcomer Kenny Campbell. Town board candidates included incumbents Susan Johnson, Michael Osborne, Todd Sansbury and Robert Carney, as well as former board commissioner Colin Furcht and newcomer Michael DeVoney.

Residents were invited to submit questions in advance on notecards, and the full slate of candidates was given the opportunity to respond to each in turn.

Discussion topics included the upcoming sales tax referendum, state funding for road projects, affordable housing, revitalization of Smithville, support for Cain Center and future growth of the downtown corridor.

The commissioner forum was congenial among candidates but the mayoral forum featured a few elevated back and forth moments between Washam and Bilodeau.