Lynn Frazier Guest columnists to The Gainesville Sun
A special election is scheduled for Nov. 16 to fill the Gainesville City Commission’s At-Large Seat B. This is a non-partisan election and all registered voters who live within the city of Gainesville limits may vote in this election.
In anticipation of the election, the League of Women Voters of Alachua County (LWVAC) will host a virtual candidate forum on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m.
All five candidates who have qualified have been invited to participate in the candidate forum. Questions are prepared and selected by members of the League and the forum will be moderated and produced by the LWVAC.
The virtual forum is free and open to the public. It will be live-streamed to the LWVAC Facebook page and the recording will be posted to the LWVAC You Tube channel for post-event viewing. To view on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/alachuacountylwv on the day of the forum.
We are very fortunate as a city that we have five individuals who are willing to, if elected, serve on our City Commission. As a community, we need to respond and carefully consider each candidate, then vote for the one of our choosing.
Sadly, Gainesville has a history of low voter turnout in off-cycle elections. In the election last March, only slightly more than 10% of the electorate cast a vote. We can certainly do better.
To start, we should educate ourselves on the issues in our community. It is easiest to tackle this at the local level, and we have our chance with this upcoming election.
The candidate forum, as well as the columns the candidates submit to The Sun on their backgrounds and platforms, should help us evaluate the understanding the five candidates have of our community needs and their thoughts on how to bring forth solutions to problems and move toward goals.
Early voting is Friday, Nov. 12, through Sunday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Millhopper Branch Library (3145 NW 43rd Street, Gainesville) and the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office (515 N Main Street, Suite 100, Gainesville).
The deadline to request a ballot be mailed to you for the special election is Nov.6 at 5 p.m. Mail ballot drop boxes are available at early voting sites during early voting hours and at the Supervisor of Elections on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the same hours polling places are open.
Carefully consider the platforms the candidates submit to The Sun and join the League for the Candidate Forum on Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. on the LWVAC Facebook page. Then meet your responsibility as a citizen of our beautiful city and cast your vote for the candidate of your choice.
See you at the polls!
Lynn Frazier is president of the League of Women Voters of Alachua County.
As published by The Gainesville Sun, October 6, 2021
See the original article here: https://www.gainesville.com/story/opinion/2021/10/06/lynn-frazier-league-holding-forum-gainesville-city-commission-race/5900949001/
