|
|
|
Candidate Forum informative, sometimes
contentious, and--successful |
|
October 9, 2014 |
It was standing room only at the Kootenai River
Inn for the Election 2014 Candidate Forum
organized by local unaffiliated volunteers Rick
Braun and Len Pine. The event was held Tuesday,
October 7.
(see photos
below)
An estimated 130 people were in attendance. All
candidates for local area Idaho legislature
positions and for the Boundary County Commission
were invited to attend the event. Out of 12
total candidates running for those positions, 11
attended. The following candidates were in
attendance:
State Senate District 1
Christian Fioravanti, Constitution Party
Idaho House of Representatives, District
1 Seat A
Heather Scott, Republican
Laura Bry, Democrat
Idaho House of Representatives, District
1 Seat B
Andrew Sorg, Democrat
Sage Dixon, Republican
Boundary County Commission, District 1
LeAlan Pinkerton, Republican
Ron Smith, Independent
Boundary County Commission, District 2
Terry Capurso, Independent
John White, Independent
Tim Tucker, Democrat
Walt Kirby, Republican
The intent of the meeting was to provide an open
forum where voters could see and meet with the
candidates directly. At the start of the
meeting, each candidate was allotted four
minutes to introduce themselves and provide
information about their philosophy and political
positions.
 Following
this introductory period, each candidate was
given ten minutes to take questions, as members
of the audience stepped to a microphone set up
on the floor.
"There were a couple of somewhat contentious
moments, as might well be expected in a diverse
political setting such as this," said Rick
Braun, one of the event's organizers.
What issues are on the minds of many Boundary
County voters? Many questions for the candidates
dealt with the State of Idaho taking over the
ownership and management of what are currently
federal lands in the state. The Common Core
State Standards Initiative, the sometimes
controversial educational initiative adopted
across most U.S. states, also led to many
questions for the candidates. Taxes, the
Community Restorium, and plans for the Evergreen
School building also came up in questioning,
among other issues.
"The forum was a tremendous success in attaining
the goals and objectives that I
hoped to achieve in the development and
promotion of this event," said Mr. Braun.
He continued: "I believe that many members of
our community learned a great deal of
information about the candidates that they did
not know before this event
and in many cases confirmed their affirmation to
vote for particular candidates, and in many
cases the information that was gained, changed
their original thoughts about a candidate or may
have caused them some second thoughts about that
candidate."
Mr. Braun further indicated that the Kootenai
River Inn provided a very nice setting for the
event, decorated the tables for the candidates,
and set up all of the seating for the audience. |
|
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
