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Monday, October 12, 2009

Meet the Candidates Wednesday Evening

Details about tomorrow evening's event in American Fork.

The American Fork Youth City Council, a shadow government advised and incited by young-at-heart, real Councilman Shirl LeBaron, is hosting a meet-the-candidates event tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, October 14, at Shelley Elementary School. The address is 602 North 200 West in American Fork. This is not the last such event scheduled in this election cycle, but it's the last one before early voting begins next Monday.

State Representative John Dougall is the moderator. He does a lot of these, and he's very good at it.

If you can't come for the entire evening, come for part of it. Here's the schedule:

6:00 p.m.: Doors open. The public can mingle with the candidates while the latter set up their literature tables.

6:30-8:00 p.m.: City council candidates Marc Ellison, Jess Green, Dale Gunther, and Heidi Rodeback (a.k.a. MFCC), who are running for two available seats, answer questions posed by the moderator, at least some of which presumably will have been submitted by the audience. Candidates have one minute each to answer each question, in addition to two-minute opening and closing statements. One minute isn't very long, but it should allow the asking of at least a dozen questions.

8:05-9:05 p.m.: Mayoral candidates James Hadfield and Heber Thompson answer questions in the same format. The time allotted should allow for about ten questions.

9:05-9:30 p.m.: Mingle with the candidates. This is a good chance to ask them questions that might require more than 60 seconds to answer and to have them expand on their earlier answers. Don't be shy. None of them bite.

As usual, I will report and comment here after the event, in a format and at a length yet to be determined. But if you want to ask your own questions or get a firsthand sense of who these candidates are, filtered through your own biases instead of mine, there's no substitute for being there.

If you're on Facebook and would like to RSVP, do it here.

Here are three tips for you, if you're coming:

1. If you have a question to submit, write and revise it in advance. If necessary, you can then very easily copy it to the card or paper they give you when you get there. When I don't do this in advance, I usually end up having to rewrite my questions two or three times before I'm satisfied, and sometimes I miss the boat, so to speak. Or the hat. Whatever.
2. Remember that candidates have one minute each to answer your question, and frame it accordingly.
3. For further information about the candidates, you've come to the right place. Right now, LocalCommentary.com's home page is a good place to look. There are 15 informational links there before you even get down the page to my own commentary. And if you check the American Fork Archive here, you'll find my posts from September 3, 4, and 5, discussing a meet-the-candidates event which occurred before the primary.

I'll see you there, or, if not, at least here.

Copyright 2009 by David Rodeback.
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