In what the candidates themselves predicted would be a quieter election than last year, Sean Burnett, Qaisar Q. Imam and Carol McCutcheon are competing to see who will replace Harish Jajoo for the Sugar Land City Council District 4 seat. The Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce hosted the candidates Monday at a forum, during which the topics discussed by all three candidates included diversity, infrastructure needs and future development opportunities for Sugar Land. Only District 4 residents are eligible to vote in the city’s election. “This is about grassroots, frontline issues that affect us on a day-to-day basis,” said Burnett, vice president of sales and marketing at Covia Health. “So you’re not going to hear a whole lot—I would expect—of disagreement amongst the candidates.” It was the first time the chamber of commerce filmed a candidates forum with Facebook Live, and chamber President Keri Schmidt said a peak 376 people watched the live stream. Moderator Christopher Breaux began the questions by asking candidates how they would build on the city’s diversity. Imam, senior project manager at IBM, said he was encouraged to hear diversity promotion was a priority of the current council but wanted to take things a step further. “We’ve got to get the communities involved. We don’t want to just leave them as a nice photo-op for a magazine,” he said. “[We] have got to put them on boards and commissions.” The district will temporarily gain Greatwood once the community is annexed this December, and New Territory will be temporarily placed in District 2. Annexation will cause a nearly 30 percent increase in Sugar Land’s population, which McCutcheon, a 20-year oil and gas engineer, cited this as the most pressing challenge facing the city. “When we embrace our new residents here, I would like to make sure they enjoy the same low crime rates, the same quick response times—for fire and [emergency medical services] that those of us here in the current city enjoy,” she said. Future growth, both commercial and residential, was prominent in Monday’s discussion. District 4 contains the Smart Financial Centre, the Festival Site in Brazos River Park and Telfair Tract 5, on which developer Newland Communities has proposed building a mixed-use development. When asked to imagine the city a decade from now, Burnett said Sugar Land needs to attract more people to work in the city as well as live there, and that online retailers’ growing market share will affect Sugar Land’s shopping centers. “Every time you get an Amazon Prime box at your front doorstep, think of the First Colony Mall,” he said. “I know the City Council and city staff if thinking about that,” he said. Early voting lasts from April 24-May 2, and Election Day is May 6. Voters may use any of Fort Bend County’s voting centers on Election Day.