The News & Press to host Council and Mayoral Candidate Forum
In an effort to assist voters in the City of Darlington with their selections during the municipal election on November 3, 2015, we are hosting a Council and Mayoral Candidate Forum on Thursday, October 22nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Harmon Baldwin Recreation Center (Darlington Recreation Department) located at 300 Sanders Street.
We would like to cordially invite you, our readers, to attend.
Invitations were mailed on Friday, September 11th to the 12 members of the community who filed for an at-large council seat, and the 4 that filed for the mayor; the list of 16 candidates is printed after this invitation.
We will print the names of the candidates that have committed to participate in the forum in the September 23rd issue of the News and Press.
The event will be a time-managed forum moderated by Bill Rogers, Executive Director of the South Carolina Press Association. Mr. Rogers has facilitated forums and debates in the past, and we think you will find him to be a fair and unbiased moderator for this important event.
To insure each candidate has a fair amount of time to speak, a timer will be available with lights to signify time remaining on the countdown clock.
Each candidate will be allowed a two-minute introduction to state their platform, their intentions for running for public office, and their goals for the City of Darlington. Note cards will be permissible for candidates to refer to, if they choose to do so.
Now here is the part where you come in:
The News & Press will solicit topics and questions from our readers to get a better grasp of what is important to them to help select questions to ask the candidates.
We will sort through the questions and select those that are relevant to this election, and are recurring from several entries.
Because there are such a large number of candidates, the event will not be a debate.
After the introductions, Mr. Rogers will ask a list questions to the panel of city council candidates; each candidate will have a pre-determined response time to answer.
The mayoral candidates will be asked a separate list questions, again with a pre-determined response time.
We feel this will be an excellent opportunity for candidates to share their goals and plans with the citizens of Darlington prior the election. We will publish their responses in our newspaper and website, and will videotape the event to be shown on our website for community members that are unable to attend in person.
If you have a question you would like to be asked at the Forum, please mail to The News & Press at P.O. Box 513, Darlington, S.C., 29532; email to editor@newsandpress.net; or call 843-393-3811.
Candidates for municipal election for City of Darlington:
The following list of candidates that filed for public office in the City of Darlington by close of business Friday, September 4th.
Voters will have an opportunity to vote for four offices on Tuesday, November 3, 2015.
Note: Names are in alphabetical order.
Mayor
James Jimmy Cooper
Gloria Cheeseboro Hines
William M. Jackson
Jim Stone
City Council (3 seats)
Joan Alston
Shelia Baccus
Ronda Duke Brown
Carolyn Bruce
Linwood Epps
Bryant Gardner
John M. Milling
Ouida K. Page
Diane Sigmon
Joyce Wingate Thomas
John A. Wallace
Beatrice Wilson
