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Hall candidate forum focuses on minority community's concerns
0522POLITICS 0001
Steve Gailey speaks to guests during a political forum held Saturday by Ashley Bell's 20/20 Club at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Gainesville. Gailey and Richard Higgins are squaring off in the Republican primary for the chairman's seat on the Hall County Board of Commissioners, with the winner expected to run uncontested in the November general election. - photo by Erin O. Smith
African-American residents of the Newtown and Fair Street neighborhoods on Gainesville’s south side have long felt left out of the economic fortunes of the region. “That’s a very prevalent feeling in this community,” said Ashley Bell, a Gainesville attorney and former Hall County commissioner. In an effort to address the inequities present in minority neighborhoods, Bell’s 20/20 Club held a political forum Saturday for Hall County candidates ahead of the state primary Tuesday.