Hundreds turn out for candidate forum at Vestavia Chamber’s May luncheon

On Tuesday, May 13, the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce hosted its May luncheon with a candidate meet-and-greet and forum. All candidates running for positions in Congressional District 6 and Alabama House Districts 46 and 47 were invited to participate.  

After a meal of fried chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, green beans and peach cobbler, luncheon guests listened to three-minute presentations from each of the 11 candidates in attendance. Forum moderator and Chamber Programming Vice Chair Doug Dean asked each candidate to use their time at the podium to discuss why they are running for office, what they can offer that distinguishes them from their opponents, and an overview of their platform. 

The candidates drew numbers to determine their speaking order. For the U.S. Congressional District 6 portion of the program, Dr. Chad Mathis spoke first, followed by Robert Shattuck, Will Brooke, Tom Vigneulle, Rep. Paul DeMarco, Gary Palmer and Sen. Scott Beason.

Justin Barkley began the forum discussions with candidates running for Alabama House District 46, followed by David Faulkner. Pamela Blackmore-Jenkins was unable to attend.

Wrapping up the formal portion of the candidate forum were Rep. Jack Williams and David Wheeler, who spoke on behalf of their respective campaigns for Alabama House District 47.

Karen Odle, president of the Vestavia Hills Chamber, concluded the meeting with a quote from Aristotle that she found apropos given the election-oriented focus of the gathering: “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d rather have been talking.”

Join the Chamber for their next monthly luncheon, scheduled for June 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Vestavia Country Club. The speaker will be Lt. Brian Gilham of the Vestavia Hills Police Department.