Five of the six candidates running for mayor of Pine Bluff in the Democratic Primary sat down recently for a segment of The Newsroom, the occasional video feature produced by The Commercial.
The candidates — incumbent Mayor Shirley Washington; former Pine Bluff City Council Member Joni Alexander-Robinson; State Rep. Vivian Flowers; Marine veteran and former police officer Charles Washington; and former director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department Samuel Glover — were interviewed by the editor of The Commercial, Byron Tate. (Council Member Steven Mays Sr., another candidate, declined to be interviewed.)
Tate said the newspaper opted for individual interviews with candidates as a way to “drill down” into why they were running for office and what they hoped to accomplish.
“There have been any number of candidate forums during this election cycle,” Tate said. “We have done those before, and much can be gained from them, but the 10 or more hours that we spent collectively with the candidates allowed us to delve further into what each candidate brings to the table. I want to thank each one of them for making themselves available, and we hope our readers are more informed when they go to the polls because of these segments. I also want to thank Eplunus Colvin, our reporter, who makes these Newsroom productions possible.”
To watch these segments, visit pbcommercial.com/225thenewsroom/.