Forum to be Conducted for Mayoral Candidates

A moderated forum for Eureka mayoral candidates Kevin Coffey and Lee Kropp will be hosted at 7 p.m. this evening by the Eureka Chamber of Commerce for its members at the in Eureka.

The following board of aldermen candidates also were invited to participate: (Ward 1) Leilanai Archambault and Wes Sir; (Ward 2) Marilyn Leistner, who is an unopposed incumbent; and (Ward 3) Shannon Britt, who is an unopposed incumbent.

"This was established as a non-partisan, neutral event, which will have a moderator," said former Eureka Chamber of Commerce executive director, Michelle Drimmel, who planned the forum but resigned her position on March 18 due to her husband being transferred to Austin, TX. Her successor, Kelly Lubker, now will be on-hand.

Drimmel said after a brief forum introduction, each mayoral candidate will start with a 2-minute overview.  "They then will respond to preselected questions, which are about general issues, as well as topics such as the city budget and their platforms," said Drimmel. "And they will have a limited amount of time to answer each question."

She said no personal attacking-type of questions or behaviors will be allowed, and no questions directly from the audience are intended.  "We planned for a 60- to 75-minute, controlled forum."

The chamber's government and business committee worked on rules of engagement for the event, Drimmel said.  "It's meant to be a classy forum, not a debate."

She said the forum was geared toward covering the business aspects of Eureka. She recommends that individual voters e-mail or write to candidates on their own time if they have specific issues that they would like to see addressed.

Drimmel said chamber representatives developed a database of 20 to 30 questions, from which five to 10 will be pulled and used.

"Candidates were not allowed ahead of time to know which questions will be asked, because chamber members are interested in hearing what the two candidates truly already know," said Drimmel. "This forum is not to play on anyone's assets or weaknesses—that's not the point."

She said any attendee who does not follow the ground rules that will be set in stone for the forum will be asked to leave.

Business-related questions for candidates still can submitted at the door. But Matt Thomason, financial advisor for Edward Jones and chair of the chamber's business advisory and government relations committee states that all questions will be screened and allowed as deemed appropriate, if overall time allows.

"At no time during this event should candidates interrupt the presentation, or answer time of other candidates.  There will also be no opportunity allowed for audience members to ask questions of candidates or comment as they are given the opportunity to submit questions in writing upon their arrival," said Thomason.