Candidates in the upcoming county election will have a chance to explain their platforms, answer questions and meet with the public at an upcoming forum hosted by the Gilmer Chamber.
The candidate forum will take place Monday, April 22, at the Piedmont Community Center, 824 Industrial Boulevard. A meet and greet session will start at 6 p.m., followed by a Q&A at 6:30 p.m.
The forum is open to candidates running for post 1 commissioner, superior court clerk and school board post 4.
All other races on the election ballot (sheriff, coroner, tax commissioner, magistrate judge, probate judge and school board posts 1, 2 and 3) are uncontested with only incumbents running.
Incumbents are welcome to participate in the meet and greet, but the Q&A will only feature those running in the contested races, noted Jennifer Grimmer, Gilmer Chamber CEO.
Candidates for post 1 commissioner are Karleen Ferguson, Jim Parmer and Doug Rink. Candidates for court clerk are Amy Johnson (I) and Carol Daves. Candidates for school board post 4 are Michele Penland (I) and David Settel.
During the forum, candidates will answer questions submitted by the public, and they will also have three minutes each to address how they would serve if elected, according to the chamber.
“There will be no rebuttals or back and forth. It’s a question and answer (format) so people can get a sense of the candidates,” Grimmer said. “The chamber is politically nonbiased, and we don’t have a political action committee. This is something we do for the community and specifically for our businesses.”
Questions for candidates can be submitted on the chamber’s website (GilmerChamber.com/Blog).
“The questions are being submitted now, and we’d really like to see more,” Grimmer said. “Our intention is not to grab random questions, but to find a theme. If we have a lot of questions about housing, education or infrastructure, we would pick questions in those themes so we cover everything to the best of our ability.”
The Q&A portion of the forum will also be broadcast live on ETC-3, Grimmer noted.