At 23 years of age, Conrad "C.J." McCormick is the youngest person running for Bethel City Council in this election. No stranger to the process, McCormick regularly attended city council meetings while a high school student in Bethel.
He says that his youth would help the council, and suggests that a young candidate for the job of city manager should also be considered.
“What a young person brings to the table is new and creative ideas to problems that maybe have been around for a while,” McCormick said. “The issue that we’re facing right now with not having a city manager, I think that would be something that a young person might be able to bring a different level of perspective on because, being a young person, I think we’re inclined to maybe trust younger voices in a position like that.
McCormick may have a tough time in his bid for one of the three open seats on the city council because his name is not on the ballot. He missed the filing deadline to be listed as a candidate, saying that he made a mistake in the paperwork.
“And I wasn’t aware of this until the day before the deadline. And I was almost so heartbroken by the fact that I missed the deadline that I almost called it quits, but a lot of people encouraged me to do it. So I thought, you know, people have won on a write-in candidacy before; I might as well stick with it," McCormick said.
McCormick said that he sees ways that Bethel can improve its response to the pandemic. One example he gave concerned quarantine enforcement.
“And then, I also think there might be something to look into when an individual has a positive case and they’re not quarantining. I think there might be something to look into with that. I guess what I would really like to see is just an ironed out process for how they’re going to enforce some of these mandates, like set up a fine, or something, like, that is sufficient,” McCormick said.
McCormick is one of four candidates running for the three open seats on Bethel City Council, and is the only candidate running a write-in campaign. All of the candidates have been invited to talk to listeners on Coffee@KYUK this week. A live, on-air forum with all the candidates has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
KYUK invited all four candidates running in the 2020 Bethel City Council election to join us on our morning talk show Coffee@KYUK. We are writing a news article based on each of those interviews. Candidates Rose “Sugar” Henderson, Conrad “C.J.” McCormick, and Michelle DeWitt accepted our invitation. Mayor Perry Barr did not.
