Connel Towns is concerned about his community. That’s why he’s running for the District 1 Dallas County Commission seat.

Towns, the current commissioner for District 1, said that he’s concerned about everyone in his district and ensuring that it becomes clean and safe. &uot;For the last 3 1/2 years, my main focus has been meeting their needs about cleanliness and safety,&uot; Towns said. &uot;I want to keep on working toward a better and clean, safe community.&uot;

As commissioner, Towns has worked on cleaning his district, demolishing old and abandoned buildings and working with the Selma-Dallas County Centre for Commerce on bringing more industry to the area. He’s also the founder of the Selmont-Sardis-Minter Community Development Center.

Towns thanked his constituents for their clean-up efforts since he’s been in office. &uot;They’ve continued to clean their community up,&uot; he said. &uot;If elected, I’ll continue with efforts to clean up. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’ve done some great work.&uot;

Towns noted that a clean community has an impact on brining industry to the county. &uot;If we want to bring business here, we’ve got to focus on three things: cleanliness, education and crime. If we can show that we can have a clean, safe community with good education for our children, that plays a big part in bringing businesses to Selma.&uot;

Towns said that crime was a serious problem in Selma and Dallas County. &uot;The people will have to take back their community,&uot; Towns said. &uot;We can come together to solve this problem. We can speak out and speak up. We, as a community, must step forward and take action.&uot;

Concerning jobs, Towns said that his work was ongoing. &uot;I encourage young people to prepare themselves,&uot; he added. &uot;To get involved in what’s going on around them.&uot;

Roads are also a major concern of District 1 residents, according to Towns. Many have been paved under his leadership, but more need to be. &uot;Next term, I’ll focus on paving and maintaining more roads,&uot; he said. &uot;That is an issue to a lot of residents in District 1, especially in Sardis and Minter.&uot;

Another issue of interest to Towns’ constituents is recreation. He plans on creating programs for the area’s youth and elderly, including afternoon tutorials and an elderly day care center. &uot;We don’t have anything for our young people to do,&uot; Towns said.

Work has already begun on that. According to Towns, a youth mentoring program is already up and running. &uot;I encourage all the residents to get involved in that program,&uot; he said. &uot;Last summer, they had about 100 children every day.&uot;

Towns works closely with the Sardis Unity Churches Fellowship, a group of churches that work collectively on bettering the community. &uot;I think our future is moving forward,&uot; Towns said. &uot;I encourage the people to work together to move things forward to make a better Selma and Dallas County.&uot;

Residents can help shape their future by attending meetings of the Selmont-Sardis-Minter CDC, which meets the first Monday of each month at Tipton Middle School at 6 p.m.

Towns was born and raised in Dallas County. He graduated from Southside High School and works for Meadowcraft as a production supervisor. He is married to Loretta Towns. They have two children – Roderick, 24, and Connel Jr., 17.