BRYAN, Texas — The November election is just weeks away, and officials in Bryan-College Station want to make sure voters are informed beyond the general election.
Candidates for Bryan and College Station's open City Council seats met for an open forum at the Brazos Center Monday evening.
The B/CS Chamber of Commerce hosted a socially distanced event with candidates for Bryan Councilmember districts three and four and College Station City Council Place one, three and five seats.
Residents of both cities had the chance to send their questions to the candidates online to answer during the forum.
The topics ranged from affordable housing, city budgeting and a post-COVID economy.
"I definitely thinks the priorities have shifted post-COVID," Elizabeth Cunha, a candidate for College Station City Council Place Four said. "COVID has been a big enough 'what's happening' to demand a shift in priorities, a shift in focus, a shift in budget."
After the pandemic calms down or goes away, Dell Seiter, the candidate for Bryan City Council Place Three feels the city should be good stewards of their budget.
"You're going to have less rents, you're going to have less opportunity of taxes and revenue because of people not working in a nine to five, Monday through Friday office environment," he said.
The incumbent running against Seiter, Linda Harvell also acknowledged the situation facing the city once COVID-19 slows down for good.
"This is something that nobody can prepare for. What can we do, what can we do to get people back to work?"
The next candidate forum will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Brazos Center.
If you missed Monday evening's forum, you can find it in its entirety on our Facebook page.