Gubernatorial forum is Tuesday at Lane College

JACKSON, Tenn. — Four Tennessee gubernatorial candidates will be at Lane College Tuesday night for a community forum.

“We’re the largest city between Memphis and Nashville, and it’s imperative we take a leadership role, especially when it come to issues facing the rural communities here,” Kyle Spurgeon, president and CEO of the Jackson Chamber, said.

The forum will be held in the Chambers-McClure Academic Center, or CMAC building.

The forum is being hosted with the help of several leadership groups in the Hub City, including the Jackson Chamber.

“West Tennessee will have the opportunity to strengthen relationships with each of the gubernatorial candidates that are here,” Spurgeon said. “It’s very important we make sure, not just in West Tennessee but all across the state, that we continue to push to keep the growth occurring in the rural areas as it has started in the last few years.”

The candidates will have the opportunity to answer questions on several topics, such as education and economic development.

“Candidates will get to see more of the areas that they will be working for, and Jackson, Tennessee, is one of the major cities in West Tennessee,” Ashley Ellis, an administrative assistant at Lane College, said. “This is a perfect time for Lane, as well as the Jackson community, to get out and meet the candidates.”

City leaders say it will be a perfect opportunity for smaller communities to have a voice and know if the candidates understand their needs.

“I think this is the time now to be introduced to the candidates even more so than you have in the past,” Ellis said. “This is their time to show you what they are about, what they will stand for.”

You can watch the forum live on WBBJ ABC and CBS 7 from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. The forum will also be streamed live on our website at www.wbbjtv.com/live.