September 26, 2007
Candidates forum draws crowd
There was quite a crowd at last night's meet the candidates forum at the Dryden Fire Station last night, and I don't think they just came for the cider and cookies. Given that the Historical Society had an event just down the road, I was very impressed with the turnout, especially in September.
Crowd at meet the candidates forum.
The Republicans did a joint opening statement with a PowerPoint presentation, with candidate for Supervisor Cheryl Nelson doing most of the talking. Democratic candidates each gave a three minute opening statement, and then League of Women Voters President Kay Sharp opened the floor to questions.
The Journal article seems to do what Journal articles often do, covering controversy but losing a lot of the substance. While yes, everyone agreed that "economic development is good", the Journal didn't note either party's plans to do something about it, and missed what may have been the most interesting conversation on the subject in years. Peter Schug of Cayuga Press talked about how there really wasn't anyone at the town to help him find a way to stay in Dryden, and current board members Mary Ann Sumner and David Makar talked about how the departure came to the board, highlighting the need for better communication.
Mary Ann Sumner talks about planning Dryden's future.
The Town Justice candidates, Jason Leifer and Chris Clauson, were more involved in the event than I'd expected, getting questions from the floor which tested the limits of what they're allowed to talk about under New York State's ethics rules. (I don't think any rules were broken; it just was strange to see how certain conversations really aren't allowed.)
Cheryl Nelson talks about her work with the county.
I'm hoping that future events will let candidates get deeper into town issues, talking about their vision for what we can do in Dryden for the next few years. The next event will be next Tuesday, October 2nd, at 7:00pm at the Etna Fire Station.
(I'll report on the rest of the Journal in a separate story tonight.)
Posted by simon at September 26, 2007 12:49 PM in Ithaca Journal , politics (local)Note on photos