Family Guy

Peter, thanks. Is the debate at the high school?

Christine

Oh dur. I'm so tired from schlepping back and forth and dealing with bureaucracies I didn't see the "at." So sorry!

Christine

Christine "at" need more description, sorry I didn't mention Cafeteria.  

Christine "at" need more description, sorry I didn't mention Cafeteria.  

"If you have any debate questions you would like to ask the Candidates, please respond and I will forward them to both candidates.  Questions will approved by the candidates before the debate.   The purpose of the debate is to inform westside voters get to know both candidates better.

Please keep questions open-ended."

Peter...

With all due respect this doesn't sound at all like a debate.

Questions to be submitted in-advance?

To be "approved" by the candidates beforehand?

Keep the questions "open-ended"?

For Pete's sake - is this for real?

Tom

Fellow Community Voice - Peter Hart - recently posted news that the Mayfair Park and Fisher Woods Neighborhood

To start Debate question should be reviewed by the canidates so

that they can give informed answers.  There will also be a

time time that the public can ask questions (that have been reviewed)

The point is to have the public be given a chance to ask questions

that are not biased .

Thanks.  Pete.

Pete...

That's not good enough.

The purpose of a debate is to determine how informed the candidates are; not to give them days of preparation in crafting an palpable response.

This isn't a question of bias; rather a debate should be an opportunity to "vet" a candidate as to their worthiness or suitability to serve as mayor.

Allowing advance preparation to answer simple questions is not a legitimate mechanism for determining who the most qualified candidate is.

This is so reminiscent of the cowardly Tom Reynolds debates.

Oh, wait.  He was afraid to debate.

Tom

Pete,

A fair-minded compromise might be to have your group select the questions and then give them to the candidates to prepare in advance. That way, they can't dodge the important issues but they have a chance to develop a thoughtful response.

Here are my questions:

With Tosa involved in long-range planning that could change the direction of the community, what approach will you take to guiding the process? How do you see Tosa developing in the next few years?

What are your thoughts about the ability of a part-time mayor to perform the leadership and administrative tasks citizens seem to expect?

Christine

Kudos on the organizers for making this happen, if you don't like the debate rules, then you organize one.  I am not as worried about the debate rules as others.  There will undoubtedly be other debates under different formats and the cranks will most likely get their shot.  I agree with the overall intent of weeding out gotcha and ambush questions....which are often planted by an opposing campaign.  As far as "preparing" for questions....whats wrong with researching and preparing for the questions in ONE debate?   How many decisions does the Tosa mayor make on the fly?  Lets have a debate, see what both say and if the format doesn't work, it can be tweaked for another one.  As far as number of debates, my recommendation is that they have at least two more.  The west side is covered and now we need one for the east side north of state stree and one for the east side south of state street.  Remember, they are running for mayor, not captain of the debate team.

Thanks Tine & TG.  Will forward Tine's questions on.  

Pete...

I emailed you four questions - or at least I think I did.  It's not clear that your email connection is functioning.  If you don't get them let me know.  I'll likely send you a few additional questions before the candidate forum.

Incidentally, I think the term Candidate Forum better characterizes the venue your neighborhood associations are hosting.

I've done a great deal of debating in my life and this format isn't going to tell me anything about how a candidate thinks on their feet or their intrinsic reservoir of knowledge.  Moreover, anyone can be coached with the seemingly correct answers.  

Please encourage audience participation and moderate the knuckleheads.

That's just my personal view on it.

I'm glad you're doing it.

Tom

Problem with the date--Tosa Childrens Theater has told Tosa West

that the debate would cause a parking problem.    We are working

with Jill & Jerry to reschedule the date--maybe midweek.