Frontiersman invites readers to participate in candidate forum

Frontiersman editorial board

For the democratic process to work well, an open and honest exchange of information is critical. Even when a candidate is running unopposed, which is the case for many candidates in the Valley's upcoming election, it's still valuable for voters to know the intentions and values of every candidate.

With that in mind, the Frontiersman will sponsor a candidate forum on Sept. 19 on the Mat-Su College campus. The forum will begin at 6 p.m., and will run until around 9 p.m. Candidates for Borough Assembly, Borough Mayor and school board have been invited, and many have already agreed to take part. The public is invited, but seating is limited to around 70 people, so it would be wise to show up early. Frontiersman will also print a recap of the event for all of our readers.

The forum will be broken up into three sessions -- one for each of the groups mentioned above. Assembly candidates will go first, followed by school board and then mayoral candidates. Frontiersman will provide a mediator and three panelists who will present the questions. Each candidate will be allowed two minutes for opening remarks and then two minutes for each response. After each candidate has responded to the initial question, an additional minute per candidate will be allowed for rebuttal comments. Panelists or the mediator may also ask follow-up questions if necessary. Finally, each candidate will be allowed one minute for closing remarks.

While the panelists will prepare some questions of their own for the candidates, the voters are the most important factor in the equation. Frontiersman invites readers to submit potential questions for consideration prior to the forum. Suggested questions will be accepted until 5 p.m. Sept. 16. You can e-mail them to editor@frontiersman.com, fax them to 352-2276 or drop a hard copy by the office. You may also mail in a question, but time is short. The mailing address is Editor, 5751 E. Mayflower Ct., Wasilla, AK, 99654.

Questions should be no more than three sentences in length, and should pertain to issues rather than to specific information about individual candidates. Frontiersman will compile the questions prior to the forum and choose the best ones. If several readers submit a similar question, we will either choose the most representative question or write a question that addresses the general issue.

There are many important challenges facing the Valley in the coming years, and the people we elect to represent and serve us will determine how we face those challenges. This forum is an opportunity for Frontiersman readers to participate in the process. We hope you will participate by sending in a question, and we hope you can attend the forum.