East Ridge News Online will sponsor a candidates’ forum for the upcoming City Council election.
A large number of readers have voiced their desires to have a candidates’ forum as in years past. In the last election cycle the Ruritan Club sponsored the forum at East Ridge Elementary School. No organization has voiced any desire to present a forum, so ERNO will fill the void.
I am in the early stages of organizing the event. I do not yet have a firm date, but will make every effort to present the forum prior to early voting which begins on October 19.
I want to have the forum at City Hall in the Council Chambers. The venue is a familiar one to most citizens and can accommodate several hundred people. The seating is comfortable, a dais is already in place and the public address system will be seamless.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga political science professor Dr. Richard Wilson has tentatively agreed to moderate the forum. Dr. Wilson, as you may recall, did an admirable job of moderating the Ruritan Forum at East Ridge Elementary School in 2012.
Of course, all seven candidates _ Jim Bethune, Matthew DeGlopper, Esther Helton, Doris Rogers, Gregg Shipley, Robert Stahl and Brian Williams _ will be invited to attend and share their views on our city and what they may wish to accomplish if elected.
Each candidate will be given an opportunity to present an opening statement. At the conclusion of the questions, candidates will be allowed a closing statement.
I am asking the readers of East Ridge News Online to submit questions that each candidate will be given an opportunity to answer. There is a comment section at the end of this story which will make it convenient to submit questions. If that format is not to your liking, email questions to [email protected]
In an effort to insure the objectivity of the forum, I intend to form a committee to screen the submitted questions and select perhaps a dozen or more that Dr. Wilson can choose from during the forum. In a further effort to promote transparency, the names of the people on the committee will be announced at some point in the near future.
The purpose of the forum is to give an opportunity for voters to learn about the positions of each candidate on a variety of subjects. I’ve grown weary of talking with people in East Ridge who say they “don’t know anything about the people running.”
The forum will be videoed in its entirety and posted on East Ridge News Online for the benefit of those who cannot attend. The video of the forum will remain on the Website until after election day.
