Frontiersman to host three candidate forums in coming weeks

Frontiersman editorial board

On Tuesday, the Frontiersman will host the first of three candidate forums during this round of elections. This first forum will take place at the Colony High School theater and will feature candidates for school board and borough assembly. The public is invited, and we hope to have a good turnout for the event. The other two forums, for House and Senate candidates, are scheduled for Oct. 21 at the Houston High School cafetorium and Oct. 26 back at the Colony theater.

The idea is to give the public an opportunity to meet the candidates, and to allow the candidates to answer a series of questions pertinent to their respective races.

The format will be simple, and will encourage audience participation. A panel of journalists from Frontiersman will mediate the event.

Candidates will each be given three minutes to introduce themselves and give a brief explanation of their credentials, experience and positions on important issues.

Following the introductions, the panel will open the questioning with a mix of questions provided by our readers and our staff. Each candidate will have one minute to answer each question. If necessary, panel members will ask follow-up questions, and the panel may also decide to give other candidates 30 seconds for rebuttal.

During that question and answer session, audience members will be able to submit additional questions on note cards. A sampling of those questions will also be posed to candidates.

The forums are intended to provide voters with an accurate assessment of candidates. We ask candidates to maintain their focus on the issues, and to steer clear of personal attacks. Some of the questions may be directly applicable to one or more specific candidates, but none of the questions will be of a personal nature.

We also ask the audience members to submit tasteful questions that also do not stoop to personal attacks, and we will not be taking live questions from the audience.

Frontiersman is currently collecting biographical information and some position stances from all of the Valley candidates, so we encourage our readers to look for that information in upcoming editions of the newspaper.

If you wish to submit suggested questions for this forums, please e-mail them to frank.ameduri@frontiersman.com, fax them to 352-2276 or drop them by the Frontiersman at 5751 E. Mayflower Ct., off the Palmer/Wasilla Highway.