Of the six Auburn residents running for Auburn mayor there is only one woman, Brittany Cannon Dement.
Dement, 30, is a native and graduate of Auburn High School and Auburn University. She currently teaches ethics and government courses at Southern Union Community College.
The Next Generation
She said she decided to run for mayor because she is invested in Auburn’s next 10-15 years.
“I want him, my son, to have the best teacher and be able to attend the best schools,” Dement said. “I want this community to be the best that it can be, not only for my son but for everyone else’s.”
The next decade and a half are important to Dement because those are the formative years for her son, Kell. She said she wants him to grow up in a community that is the best it can be.
Dement and her husband Russell first fostered Kell and eventually adopted him two years ago.
“He’s legally been ours for two years,” Dement said. “But, as a mom, he was mine the moment I looked at him.”
Being the only woman, and therefore the only mother, in the mayoral race Dement said she can relate to mother’s in the community. She wants to work with the community to better it for children, like her son and every other mother’s sons and daughters.
“We’ve got to fix these things to ensure that all children in these communities have opportunities,” Dement said. “Whether it’s for education or a job. They are taken care of, no kid goes to school hungry, no kid spends the weekend hungry at home. I feel like we can do better.”
Experience
Family is extremely important to Dement. Her husband is supportive of her and her goal to become mayor. She also relies heavily upon the things her father, a small business owner, taught her about small business, Dement said.
She plans to use her knowledge of small business to help the small businesses in Auburn.
Dement also has a background in finance. She worked in the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office for several years before leaving so she could spend more time with her son.
“I wrote and analyzed legislation,” Dement said. “I’d get phone calls to write bills. I’d be in my office at 10 p.m. during session. Writing legislation, meeting with senators and representatives, I built that repour in Montgomery.”
During her time in the legislative fiscal office, Dement learned all about budgets and built a repour of legislators and other officials in Montgomery that she knows she can call upon.
Goals for Auburn
While she worked in the legislative fiscal office, Dement realized how important it is that government is transparent and accessible.
Dement has suggested during mayoral forums and on other platforms making government documents more easily accessible and clearly labeled online to aid in her transparency goal.
“We can look at other cities and programs that they have,” Dement said. “We can include bits and pieces of those, see what has worked and what hasn’t worked and go from there.”
Dement also wants to make the government more diverse to include representation for all members of the Auburn community.
She plans to form an office of inclusion and diversity. That office would hold the mayor and the City Council accountable to ensure every group in Auburn has a voice, Dement said.
Another area of focus for Dement is economic development. She said she wants to continue to grow the economic development office for the City and the small businesses in Auburn.
“We have a wonderful economic and development department,” Dement said. “The City of Auburn has done great things. We’ve brought in businesses. We have the industrial incubator that has been wonderful in bringing in biotech and high-tech jobs to our city.”
Auburn has a special meaning to Dement and she said she wants Auburn to strive to be the best it can be. That’s why Dement wants to be Auburn’s next mayor.
“Auburn is wonderful,” Dement said. “It’s kind of where I’m vested. All of my immediate family’s here. I intend to raise my family here. So what happens in the next 10-15 years directly affects me just as it does many young families here.”
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Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman
