Staff report

Connell Towns has announced his candidacy for Dallas County Commission District 1.

He currently holds the office and is seeking a third term.

Towns, 47, has been instrumental in the installation of a storm shelter in the Selmont area and the installation of traffic light at Roosevelt Ave., the site of several traffic accidents. He is also a volunteer for Help a Child Smile and works with the Sardis Community Fellowship Summer Feeding and Summer Enrichment Tutoring programs.

He is a member of the Mt. Olive No. 1 Baptist Church, Sardis, where he is a deacon under the leadership of the Rev. A.L. Brown. He is also a member of the senior choir, vice president of the male chorus, Sunday school secretary and chairman of the program committee. He will officially kick off his campaign at the church at 2 p.m., April 13.

He and wife Loretta have two sons, Roderick and Connell Jr., and a grandson, Christopher.

Towns is a 1978 graduate of Southside High School. He attended Concordia College where he studied elementary education.