VIDALIA &045;&045; It’s a love of the place they call home that has the three District 3 alderman incumbents coming back for more. They will face two challengers, Paige Ozburn and Bill Staggs.

Jon D. Betts

Jon Betts likes the fact that the issues voters in Vidalia bring up the most are typical human complaints.

&uot;People don’t want the cost of utilities going up, people don’t want taxes raised,&uot; he said. &uot;In Vidalia, we don’t have a lot of issues.&uot;

Betts, who is finishing out his first term as one of three aldermen representing District 3, hears a lot about taxes in his job as tax collector.

&uot;I’m very conservative in nature and I try to look at and do what’s the very best for the town.

&uot;I ran because I wanted to maintain what we’ve been doing here. It’s a good place to live and work and raise a family. And that’s the reason I’m (running) again.&uot;

Betts said his previous private sector jobs with oil companies provided him with the necessary management skills to hold a public office.

Richard &uot;Ricky&uot; Knapp

Ricky Knapp knows what it means to walk the streets and hear the people’s needs.

Prior to his recent retirement, Knapp worked for the U.S. Postal Service and spent every day with the public.

&uot;It required me to be out in the community every day, seeing people and a lot of times hearing their concerns,&uot; Knapp said. &uot;I noticed things that needed improving and noticed problem areas. I met a lot of people doing that and it was easy to talk to them and listen.&uot;

Knapp is serving in his third term as a District 3 alderman.

&uot;I like the community and I like the city, that’s why I decided to run.&uot;

Knapp said he thinks the biggest issue affecting Vidalia is economic development and bringing and industry to the area, but he said he thought other things had to come first.

&uot;I really think before we get any type of big industry, we may need to address the means of transportation for industries. We don’t have a major airport, we don’t have an interstate and we don’t have railroads. We do have the river and we need to focus on a port facility that an industry could use.&uot;

Other than economic development, Knapp said drainage was still a problem facing Vidalia that needs to be addressed.

Maureen &uot;Mo&uot; Saunders

In office for eight years, Mo Saunders said she has seen major progress in Vidalia and prides herself on the town’s charm.

&uot;I love Vidalia; we have such potential,&uot; she said. &uot;I just do it because I love Vidalia and I believe in this town.&uot;

The issue facing the town that stands out most in Saunders mind right now is recreation for the children. She currently serves on the Recreation Board.

&uot;I am for finding something for our children to do to get them off the streets,&uot; she said.

&uot;But no, I’m not for raising taxes. I feel like we can find the money somehow.

&uot;Our children are our future and what’s important and we have too many children sitting in the correctional facility. I believe in it and I am going to fight for new recreation for our children.&uot;

During her time on the board, Saunders said she’s seen big advances in economic development and knows there is more to come.

&uot;We are still working on it,&uot; she said. &uot;You can’t do things over night, it takes time. People don’t understand how hard it is to get things.&uot;

Saunders pointed to the new convention center, which will be built in the coming months, as a positive economic development step for the town.