Waiting for the next plant closing announcement. Waiting for that one magic industrial client that will help bring the jobs of the future. Waiting for a reply to its downtown revitalization grant application. This spring, six town council and two mayoral candidates declared they were tired of waiting and wanted to help lead Pulaski into its future. On Tuesday, they will learn which ones will get that chance.

Two incumbents - Ken Fleenor and E.G. Black, both retired businessmen - want another chance at their council seats. They face four challengers: school teacher Joel Burchett Jr., cable technical supervisor Nick Cole, schools facilities manager Lane Penn and Radford arsenal facilities manager Dan Talbert Jr.

Because the town council will lower its number of seats from seven to six with this election, the town's two mayoral candidates - incumbent Charles Stewart and challenger Charles Wade - could wield more influence on council, especially if called to break a tie.

In forums leading up to the election, all the candidates acknowledged Pulaski's dwindling retail base, concentration of elderly and low-income residents and precarious reliance on low-wage manufacturing jobs. They all also expressed commitments to see the town gets its many dilapidated buildings and junky lots cleaned up.

They all expressed faith that the town would bounce back.

"Pulaski has cycled through an ore extraction economy, a manufacturing economy and now we must move into the information economy," Mayor Charles Stewart said in his closing statement during a meet-the-candidates forum last week.

Stewart, his opponent and all the council members believe broadband Internet access will be a key factor in whether technology jobs and entrepreneurs ever make a play in Pulaski.

And whether by annexing or working with the county to extend town water and sewer service out Virginia 99 to the Interstate 81 exit, all of the candidates declared that developing that corridor was a top priority to help the town's economic prospects.

Many candidates raised - and the others agreed with - the idea of marketing more aggressively the town's natural resources, such as Gatewood Park and the soon-to-be-completed New River State Trail extension into downtown.

Very little except for their backgrounds and a little more emphasis in one or the other area seems to differentiate the candidates' ideas for Pulaski's future.

Pulaski's council, as it exists, is made up almost entirely of retirees. Fleenor, at 66, is its second youngest member. Of the challengers, Talbert is in his 40s and Cole and Burchett are in their 30s.

None of the candidates have tried to make political hay out of council's average age. The challengers all say they possess the energy and determination to see that the town solves its problems.

Fleenor, Black and both mayoral candidates, on the other hand, say that as retirees they have time to devote to the job and to get around town to hear from citizens.

In Pulaski County, there also is a town council race in Dublin. However, the mayor, Benny Skeens, and the three council incumbents, Sam Gregory, Douglas Irvin Sr. and David Shrewsbury, are all running unopposed.