Loading ...Meet the candidates this Thursday
by Mountain Girl ~ January 13th, 2009. Filed under: Election, Events, MWCDC.
The following candidates for City Council District 2 will be attending the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation’s community forum Thursday, January 15 at 7PM. All are welcome to attend.
- Georgia Blotzer (I)
- Chris Metz (R)
- Brendan Schubert (D)
- Theresa Smith (D)
If you’re not sure who is running or what their opinions are on the issues that matter to you, this would be a good opportunity to find out. There will be no Q&A nor will the candidates be engaging in a debate. Candidates will have a few minutes to introduce themselves and talk about why they want to represent our community.
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January 13th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Please make an effort to attend if you have any questions/concerns about this election or if you just want to learn who’s running.
We’re all working on a short time frame – the election is Feb 3rd – but it is important to the community to be involved in who represents us on city council as Mt Washington represents ~29% of the district.
There will also be a presentation from the City regarding streelights on Grandview Ave.
January 14th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Why no “Q&A”? Shouldn’t the candidates be expected to respond to voters’ questions? Otherwise, it seems to me, this has the look of mere window-dressing.
January 14th, 2009 at 9:40 am
This is, after all, a CDC forum. The candidates aren’t the only item on the agenda. A debate or Q&A would have to be a separate event I would imagine.
MG
January 14th, 2009 at 11:01 am
The goal is to keep this simple, and not turn it into some kind of debate. Legally, a CDC (or any nonprofit) can not advocate or endorse a political candidate.
If each candidate gives a 3 minute speech, then everyone is getting a fair turn. If a Q&A were added, we would have to allow everyone equal time to answer each question and we would need to moderate the discussion – or possibly be guilty of unintentionally favoring one candidate. My preference is to steer clear of any grey area and keep it fair for everyone involved.
I would suggest that you hang after the meeting and talk driectly to any candidate you like. That way you can ask direct questions and get direct answers.
And to MGs point – - there was discussion of a separate event, but with the timeline so limited (official candidates were announced in late dec) we just made room for it at the already scheduled membership / community forum meeting.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Thanks for your response. Please don’t get me wrong…I am grateful to the MWCDC for scheduling this forum. However, I don’t think that simply providing the venue where voters can ask questions suggests that MWCDC is engaging in any prohibited advocacy or endorsement. Non-profit organizations (e.g. the League of Women Voters) routinely hold candidate Q&A sessions. My regret is that there is so little time between now and the special election that this might be the only opportunity for the public to ask the assembled candidates the questions that are on the public’s mind. Again, thanks for scheduling this…it is a public service that is appreciated.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Well to be quite hoesnt, these meetings are less formal than they sound, and if people have burning questions, they will most likely ask no matter what the format of the meeting is.
It has been my experience that the residents of the 15211 are not shy and are more than willing to speak up
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 am
I have heard from various people that Theresa Smith was the one who stole the show at this event!
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:17 am
I think that’s subjective. They all had interesting things to say.
MG
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
Well actually there was no stealing of anything because it wasn’t much of a show by any of the candidates.
Personally I was offended by the condescending tone of Teresa Smith. She made it sounds like she was gracing us with her presence and personally I don’t think she would make a good City Council person. She seems to be “in” with the current administration in the city and that isn’t what I’m looking for in a candidate.
So Matt H. I was there … and NO she didn’t steal the show. If anything she turned everyone off.
The fact that she said that she is glad Mr. Wallace wasn’t in the race because then she would have some “real competition” was a blatent slap in the face to the very qualified candidate we have up here in Mt. Washington.
I hope that whomever wins this race will remember that the folks in 15211 are watching.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
“I don’t think she would make a good City Council person. She seems to be “in” with the current administration in the city and that isn’t what I’m looking for in a candidate.”
Oh really? Let me tell you something. The only thing Theresa is in with is the community. Theresa has run on a community 1st platform and her record which is one of community involvement and service. She has always put others 1st and her community 1st before anything else. The last thing Theresa will be is a yes vote for the administration on every issue. Theresa will look over everything and determine if it is for the best interest of our District. That’s sound quality leadership if you ask me.
I never met someone who has attended so many meetings. I thought I attended a lot of meetings until I met Theresa and started to see her at everything.
Theresa is an amazing person who is going to make a great councilwoman.
Theresa didn’t slight anyone whatsoever. Your being a little bit dramatic in your characterization of what was said by Smith.
Also know that if the 15211 candidate wins there will be plenty of us in 15220 & 15205 “watching”.