2013 CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE - THE ANNOUNCEMENT

The following Letter to the Editors appeared in the Rappahannock Times on Tuesday 8 October and in the Northern Neck News on Wednesday 9 October.

 

 

Letter to the Editor

 

No Candidates Forum

---------

Editor,

Rappahannock Times (and Northern Neck News):

 

ESO has been considering conducting a Candidates Forum to allow the public to listen to the candidates for local offices.  We felt, in the absence of a local League of Women Voters, who traditionally sponsor candidate events, a non-partisan organization should accept the responsibility of organizing and opportunity for the candidates to appear jointly before our Essex County Voters. 

 

The candidates would provide a detailed explanation of their concerns, their solutions to perceived problems, and initiatives and changes that they would introduce.  The Forum would also allow candidates to compare and contrast their platform with that of the other candidates for similar offices.  Additionally, the public would be able to submit questions for the candidates to answer.

 

Unfortunately we have concluded that there is insufficient time to obtain approval for an appropriate auditorium, obtain an objective and experienced moderator, and obtain and collate public questions from the public.  Therefore, EssexSunshine.Org will not host a Candidates Forum until the 2015 Local and State Wide Legislative Election.

 

For 2013 we will prepare and distribute a questionnaire to each of the Board of Supervisor Candidates, School Board Candidates, and the Candidate for Treasurer.  This will be e-mailed to each candidate by noon Friday, 11 October (with a certified mail backup) and will ask for a completed responses to be returned by e-mail no later than noon on Saturday, 19 October.  The Candidate Questionnaires will also be published and available to the public at essexsunshine.org by noon on 11 October.

 

Participation, or a failure to participate, will be reported in the local media during the week of 20 October.  The completed questionnaires will be published in an unedited format on the ESO web site.  We also hope to publish the responses in the local newspapers.

 

ESO believes that each citizen should be informed of all candidates' positions on budgets, ordinances, policies, staffing, and local economic and community development views.  Candidates can be held accountable if we citizens understand their positions prior to an election.  The candidates' responses will provide a sound basis for evaluating all successful candidate's performance and immediately identify any campaign statements, promises, and plans which not kept.

 

Most importantly, the candidates' responses to the questionnaires will help you select the candidate who you believe will best fulfill the duties of the office they seek.

 

However, none of the foregoing matters if YOUhaven't registered - - OR IF YOU FAIL TO VOTE!  Be a patriot and VOTE!

 

John R. Clickener

Tappahannock