Published: May 23, 2009 10:35 pm      

Getting Ready

Candidates to debate Tuesday

from staff reports



Mayoral candidates Cheri Barry and Percy Bland will face off in a one hour live televised debate hosted by The Meridian Star and WTOK-TV Tuesday. 

The event will be broadcast live from WTOK's downtown studios Tuesday at 7 p.m. It will be moderated by Meridian Star Executive Editor Fredie Carmichael and WTOK News Director and Anchor John Johnson. 

The event will be interactive, so if you have questions for the candidates, you can submit them in one of several ways. Questions can be submitted on the Meridian Star's online forum under the "Post your questions" section, e-mailed to editor@themeridianstar.com, sent @ replies to the Star's twitter account, or sent through the Star's facebook page. WTOK will also be accepting questions from their Web site, www.wtok.com, and through their twitter and facebook accounts. 

Questions will be selected by Johnson and Carmichael. 

If you are unable to tune into the live broadcast, you can catch live highlights of the debate on the Meridian Star and WTOK's twitter accounts. Audio from the event also will be available on WMOX 1010 AM radio.

Mississippi House District 82 candidates will also join the mayoral candidates and participate in a public forum Tuesday. Parents for Public Schools will hold an education forum at the EMEPA auditorium from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in which the candidates will speak about public education. Questions for the candidates can be submitted the evening of the forum. 

This will be the second debate between Barry, a republican, and Bland, a Democrat, since the primary election eliminated the other three democratic candidates. 

In their previous debate, which was hosted by WMOX 1010 AM radio, and in earlier debates that included candidates in the primary, Barry and Bland have covered a host of issues. 

Bland is a State Farm Insurance agent originally from Crystal Springs. Since moving to Meridian in 2003, he has been active in community service, working with the Boys and Girls Club, the "Get on the Bus" dropout prevention program, and organizing children's basketball and golf programs, among other things. He sits on the board of the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation. 

Bland has made education a huge part of his platform, often saying that the future of our city rests on the quality of our education. He has often said that he hopes to be a unifying voice for the city, saying that Meridian cannot reach its full potential unless its strengths and resources are united. 

Barry recently resigned as director of the Red Cross Key Chapter in Meridian, working for the organization here during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. She previously worked with children and geriatric abuse victims as an employee of the Lafayette County Welfare System and has also worked for the Lauderdale County Welfare Department. She has been active in veterans issues. 

Barry has said her priorities as mayor will be cleaning up the city and reducing crime, among other things. She has said she wants to create a diverse group of Meridianites with whom to discuss the problems of Meridian. She said has often said she will focus on all parts of Meridian and talked much of her love for Meridian.

The mayoral and Dist. 82 candidates will participate in another forum on Thursday, hosted by the Human Relations Commission. Thursday's forum will be held at the Meridian Municipal Court room in the police station on 6th St. at 6:30 p.m. Questions will be presented by a panel. 

The municipal election for mayor and council will be held June 2. The special election to fill the Dist. 82 seat, which was previously held by the late Rep. Charles L. Young, Sr., will be held June 9.