By Scott White
Woodford Sun Staff
Report for America Corp Member
Last week, The Woodford Sun, the Woodford County Farm Bureau, Woodford County Republican Party (WCRP), Woodford County Democrat Party (WCDP) and former Midway Mayor and president of the Kentucky League of Cities Tom Bozarth announced four candidate forums for local office to be held.
Here are the details and how you can participate.
First, a reminder of the offices that will be discussed at each forum, along with the dates and location; all will run from 6 to 8 p.m.:
Sept. 14: First District Magistrate, County Jailer and Midway City Council, at Midway University’s Duthie Auditorium.
The remaining Candidate Forums will be held at the Woodford County High School auditorium.
Sept. 22: Versailles City Council and Versailles Mayor.
Sept. 24: Magistrate Districts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8.
Oct. 1: County Attorney, County Clerk and County Judge-Executive.
Each office will begin with a timed one-minute introduction by each candidate in which they can introduce themselves. The moderator will then ask each candidate a question, and candidates will have a set time to respond. Questions will then continue in a rotating format.
Former Fox 56 anchor Marvin Bartlett will moderate the three Versailles Candidate Forums, and Fox 56 anchor Miranda Combs will moderate the Midway Candidate Forum. Lynn Pruett of the WCDP and Nick Nash of the WCRP will jointly keep time, with, again, each candidate having the same amount of time to answer each question.
How to participate
Here is how you can participate . . . and, we, the organizers and the candidates, are counting on your participation.
The questions for each office will come from those submitted by Woodford County residents, which must be emailed to forum@woodfordsun.com no later than Sept. 7.
In the email, type in the name of the office in the subject line. For example, Versailles Mayor, Versailles Council, Magistrate, County Judge-Executive, etc. Then, you may type up to three questions in the text of the email. You must also include your name and a phone number we can call to confirm you sent in the question. You may send an email for as many of the offices as you like, but only one email per office. So, for example, you can send an email in with up to three questions for the Midway City Council race and a separate email in with one question for the County Clerk race.
If you do not use email, or prefer to submit your question(s) by paper, then provide the same information as if you were emailing them on a single page of paper, with one page for each office you are submitting questions for, and drop it off at or mail it to The Woodford Sun at 184 S. Main Street, Versailles, KY 40383. On the envelope, write “Candidate Forum Questions.” The same Sept. 7 deadline for email submissions applies to mailed or dropped-off submissions.
Once the deadline passes, all of the emails will be printed and separated by the office. Then, Jeremy Dotson, president of the WC Farm Bureau, Pruett with the WCDP, Nash of the WCRP and Bozarth will meet and select the questions to be asked for each office at the forums. The questions will be sealed in a large envelope and hand-delivered to the moderator just prior to the scheduled forum. The questions will not be shared with the candidates before the forum. We believe if a candidate is running for an office, then they should know the issues on the minds of voters. And, the format we are using will eliminate any risk of “gotcha” or irrelevant questions.
Make sense? If you have any questions, call or email Scott White at The Woodford Sun at (859) 873-3211 or email scott@woodfordsun.com.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the forums. These are being put on so all voters in Woodford County can hear from the candidates who are asking for your vote. You will also be able to watch all the Candidate Forums, streaming on the Sun’s and Farm Bureau’s Facebook pages.
One more note – we heard you! Since we announced the Candidate Forums last week, many have asked the committee to also hold forums for the other offices. We are now working to hold another Candidate Forum for the Kentucky House and Senate seats, the only contested Woodford County School Board seat and the Woodford County Soil Conservation District supervisor seats. Look for the details on this additional forum soon.
And, remember, this is not a rally or Fancy Farm. There will be no chants, cheering, signs or audience questions or comments permitted. Let’s all be respectful of each other and the candidates—they deserve our appreciation for their willingness to seek public office and serve our community.