By By Lydia Grimes – features reporter
Economic growth is one of the most important issues for Brewton, District 3 city council candidates said.
Incumbent Cary Barton and challenger Bill Littles are seeking the seat in the Aug. 26 municipal election.
Barton has served as the councilman for District 3 since 2000 and said he is involved with all the ongoing grants and projects throughout the city. He has also become a certified municipal official through the program offered by the Alabama League of Municipalities.
Barton said he wants to improve quality of life for residents.
Barton is a lifelong resident of Brewton and retired from the Alabama National Guard and is a Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran. He is chairman of the Deacon Board at Second St. John Church and a certified part-time Escambia County Sheriff's Deputy. He is currently employed by the Alabama Department of Transportation. He is married to Gloria Barton and they have two children, Reginald and Crystal.
Littles said he has many goals for Brewton.
Littles said he would enjoy working with other city officials to improve Brewton.
Littles served on the Brewton City Board of Education and also has experience on the Brewton YMCA board.
Littles is 58 years old and a graduate of Southern Normal School. After completing high school, he attended Alabama State University and Jefferson Davis Community College. He is the proud veteran of the U.S. Army; he attends Baptist Hill Missionary Baptist Church with his wife; he has been employed 34 years at the local paper industry, currently Georgia Pacific. He is married to Wanda Wilson Littles who is employed at the Escambia County District Attorney's Office. He is the father of two daughters, Toi Littles, a business education teacher at Southwest High School in Greensboro, N.C., and Tinker Littles Rogers (Draper), assistant principal at Tarrant Elementary School in Birmingham. He is the grandfather of two granddaughters, Zoe and Piper Rogers. He is a longtime resident of Lincoln Park in Brewton.