The Board of Realtors held the first candidate forum of the upcoming city council election. Three candidates are running for spots in the First Ward and two are running in the Fifth.

Pat Kelley and Andrew Hutchinson are vying for incumbent Clyde Ruffin’s seat in the First Ward and Matt Pitzer and Arthur Jago are competing for the Fifth Ward spot.

Kelley is the co-founder and treasurer of the Ridgeway Neighborhood Association, and Hutchinson is an MU senior and former outreach coordinator for the Columbia Housing Authority’s Moving Ahead program. Jago is a business management professor at MU, and Pitzer is a portfolio manager at Shelter Insurance.

Thursday’s discussion focused on the Unified Development Ordinance, a new set of development regulations to be considered by the city council in the coming weeks, and the city’s recent deal with Aurora Organic Dairy Farm to bring a plant and over 100 jobs to Columbia.

The discussion remained positive, the candidates focused on their platforms and the changes they want hope to make if elected.

I have been assigned to cover Kelley’s race, and I look forward to the experience I will gain in campaign and election coverage.

Here is a link to the story: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/city-council-candidates-discuss-unified-development-ordiance-and-dairy-farm/article_650dd6e2-f4bf-11e6-9bef-9799f72c3d5a.html