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Published on: 10/31/2009
Last Visited: 10/31/2009
Lee Moore, who is taking on incumbent Brian James to govern the city of 800 people, says students at Emmanuel College, a private Christian school inside the city limits with an enrollment of about 700, should not participate in Franklin Springs politics.
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James' supporters accuse Moore of trying to suppress the student vote because James is an administrator at the college and, in a city with only about 400 registered voters, a handful students could make the difference.
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"It seems like we've gotten into mudslinging and rock-throwing, and I don't want to go there," James said.
One thing James and Moore agree on: The issue of students voting is the city's most contentious in memory.
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James likewise defended the college and said it has brought jobs and grants to the city.
Students always have been welcome to vote in Franklin Springs during his two terms as mayor and 12 years on the city council, James said.
While the issue of students voting has come to dominate the election, James pointed to his leadership in rebuilding Franklin Springs after the 2004 tornado as the reason voters should keep him in office.
The city built a new City Hall and fire station in 2006 without going into debt and at no cost to local taxpayers by using insurance money and grants, he said.
"It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I guess," he said of the storm.