Three recently elected city councilors will kick off their respective terms Thursday with an early-morning swearing-in ceremony scheduled for 9 a.m. at the council chambers.
Incumbent councilor Kathy Lawson will be sworn in for the third time, having first been elected in 2006. Julian Mei, a local Realtor, and lifelong Martinsville resident Rayshaun Gravely will also be sworn in. Both Mei and Gravely are new to the board.
Lawson secured almost a quarter of the votes while Mei and Gravely dueled for second place. Elected candidates defeated challengers LaNita Herlem and John Wilson.
In comments made prior to the election all three candidates emphasized the importance of economic development, jobs and housing, saying the factors are linked.
“People are moving here constantly and within the limits of what we regard as housing,” Mei said prior to the election, during a forum hosted by Cardinal News. “Until you build housing, affordable housing especially, it’s hard to have substantial population growth.”
Lawson talked about the importance of making new housing affordable.
“To attract more people to the area, we need housing,” she said. “Without housing you can’t bring people. When you bring people, you bring revenue.”
Gravely previously spoke about the importance of making use of local resources and agencies, like United Way and others.
Sworn-in councilors will replace Tammy Pearson and Lawrence Mitchell, whose terms will expire Tuesday.
