Join us at the Edmonds Center for the Arts Thursday, Oct. 12 for a lively evening of “Candidate Conversations” with Edmonds mayor and city council hopefuls.
This event is co-sponsored by the Edmonds Center for the Arts and the My Neighborhood News Network. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the event will start at 6:30 p.m.
Participating candidates include:
Edmonds Mayor
Mike Nelson and Mike Rosen
Edmonds City Council Position 1
Chris Eck and Roger Pence
Edmonds City Council Position 4
Michelle Dotsch and Mackey Guenther
Edmonds City Council Position 6
Kevin Fagerstrom and Susan Paine
The event is festival seating with no reserved seats. Admission suggested donation is $7.50 to offset the venue rental and associated costs. You can buy your ticket here. Please note that all are welcome. Email myedmondsnews@gmail.com to request a free ticket. In addition, the event will be live-streamed and recorded on YouTube for future viewing.
The evening will include:
- Candidate self introductions
- A discussion between the two candidates for each race regarding three or four major topic areas facing the city. What are their solutions? Where do they agree and disagree?
- Audience questions, asked by those attending. Participants will be chosen at random from those who have indicated they have a question for a particular candidate/race.
- Each city council candidate — including those running unopposed — will be provided a table in the Edmonds Center for the Arts lobby for further discussion with voters both before and after the event.
Format for Candidate Conversations
The evening includes a series of conversations between the two candidates for each Edmonds City Council and Mayoral race appearing on the November 2023 general election ballot — four conversations total throughout the evening.
The two candidates running against each other will appear on stage with the moderator, who will pose a series of questions that are appropriate to that particular race. The goal is to have the candidates engage in a discussion with each other. An estimated five minutes will be allocated for each topic.
After 20 minutes, we will open the floor to audience questions, which will be chosen at random. Volunteers will invite attendees who want to ask a question to place a ticket in a box as they arrive. When we get to the question session, the moderator will draw a ticket and ask the person holding that ticket number to come to a microphone.
Rules for those selected to ask a question:– The question itself must be asked in 15 seconds, and it can be directed to one or both candidates. It will be timed.
– Candidates’ answers are limited to one minute each. The answers will be timed.
– Do not ask questions that have already been addressed during the conversations.
– The moderator reserves the right to interrupt anyone asking a question that is deemed inappropriate.
There will be a five-minute break between the first two candidate conversations and a 20-minute intermission before the second two conversations are launched.
This event sponsored by:
Participating sponsors also include Alliance of Citizens for Edmonds, Asian Service Center, Coalition for an Accessible and Resilient Edmonds, Edmonds Civic Roundtable and Under the Rainbow.
And just an FYI that an earlier comment was removed at the reader’s request. However, the explanation stands for why we are charging: We have to cover the cost of the venue. We don’t want any campaign money associated with paying for this event nor do we want organization sponsors to pay for it because in the past we have been accused of having sponsors influence the outcome. I will cover the cost of any ticket admission for anyone who is unable to pay – no questions asked. Also, it is free to watch remotely. — Teresa
I applaud your willingness to sponsor this event, Teresa, and I believe the cost is completely justified. Actually, I think $10 would even be just fine. We need more opportunities to hear from candidates for local office, as those races often get lost in the shuffle of state and national elections. Thank you again for doing this.
In deleting a comment of another reader at his request yeterday, a reply to that comment — and my reply to it — disappeared from this thread. Am reposting that exchange so there’s a record of it:
From: Alicia Crank
Compromise: How about offering tix for free, and adding a donation option to the Eventbrite, so residents who could want to help cover costs can do so?
From: My Edmonds News
We will certainly accept donations from anyone who wants to make them to cover the cost of those who can’t afford it.
Where/ how can I watch the live stream? (I’d be glad to pay the ticket price but might prefer to watch live from my hone).
And if I waited to watch on utube later, how would I find it?
The livestream hasn’t been set up yet but will be soon. It will be on the My Neighborhood News Network YouTube channel.
Thank you – I found that website. Didn’t know about it. If I “buy” a ticket, but watch live, that means someone else won’t be able to attend. I think someone on here asked about donating–that’s what I’d like to do if I’m going to watch it live. But don’t know how to make a “donation” in lieu of a ticket.
You can make a donation of any amount at any time here. https://myedmondsnews.com/membership/