The lineup for the 2012 candidates forum is set.
Nearly all of the candidates running for elected office on the Nov. 6 ballot have reserved a spot at the forum, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 25 at the Clark County Cooperative Extension Office.
The forum is sponsored by the Clark County Community Education¿Program, the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce and The Winchester Sun.
Cora Heffner, Clark County Community Education program director, said this is the first time the forum won’t have 100-percent participation by the candidates.
Graham Johns will moderate the event while community volunteers will serve as timekeepers and runners. They also will assist with audience questions.
The 73rd District State Representative race leads off the event with both incumbent Donna Mayfield and challenger JoEllen Reed agreeing to attend. Mayfield is serving her first term as state representative after defeating Don Pasley in the 2010 election. Reed has served as both a Winchester city commissioner and a Clark County Fiscal Court commissioner.
Nearly all of the candidates for the Winchester Board of Commissioners agreed to attend the forum. All four incumbents, Kenny Book, Rick Beach, Shannon Cox and Kitty Strode, will seek re-election and attend the forum. Lone challenger Ralph Harrison has not reserved a seat at the forum. Harrison previously ran for mayor of Winchester but was defeated by Ed Burtner.
Beach said his attendance is just part of his philosophy to be as available to his constituency as possible.
“I’m always ready to share with our voters,” he said. “I always keep my telephone line open and my email (available). This is another forum to discuss what we’re doing.”
Three district seats of the Clark County Board of Education are up for grabs in November and nearly all of the candidates will attend the forum. Dr. Beth Griffith and Steve Graves are looking to fill the seat vacated by B.J. Swope in District 2.
Griffith considered her attendance at the forum fairly academic.
“Especially for people who have not already met me and who do not know why I wanted to run for the school board,” she said. “We have made a lot of changes in the school system in the last few years and there are more big changes coming up. I want to make sure that these changes are made properly and the students benefit from them.”
The District 3 seat will be contested by incumbent Debbie Fatkin and challenger Michael McGowan. Both are scheduled to attend the forum.
Only one of the candidates for the District 5 seat has reserved a spot in the forum. Incumbent Deanna Wolf is scheduled to appear, but challenger Ashley Ritchie has not reserved a spot. Attempts to reach Ritchie were not successful.
Each candidate will be allowed two minutes to give a statement. Fifteen minutes will be alloted for questions and one-minute answers from the candidates.
The event will be filmed and aired on TV cable channel 5. The event will also be streamed online at clarkcountyforum.com. It can also be heard on WKYN 107.7.
Contact Casey Castle at ccastle@winchestersun.com.
