On Sunday, March 19, the League of Women Voters - Whitewater Area hosted a candidate forum for the Whitewater Municipal Judge candidates. More than 30 people were in attendance. A recording is now available on Vimeo, thanks to Whitewater Community TV.

Candidates for Municipal Court Judge are Art Coleman and Patrick Taylor (incumbent). The majority of municipal court cases involve traffic, and ordinance matters, including first-time drunken driving offenses. Juvenile matters, such as truancy, underage drinking, drug offenses and curfew violations are also a significant part of municipal court caseloads.

During the one-hour forum, candidates answered a variety of questions, some of which included, what should be the relationship between the municipal court, the city manager, and the city council, what does a municipal judge do, what is restorative justice, and what role does or would it play in your courtroom, and how would you help defendants who have mental health issues. 

The League was assisted in running the forum by Whitewater High School students under the supervision of the League and Whitewater High School social studies teacher Greg Stewart. WHS Senior Alex Martin moderated the forum.

Between now and Election Day, April 4, go to VOTE411.org to learn more about the candidates in this race and others. Haven't used VOTE411 yet? Visit the website and enter your address to see your polling location and personal election ballot. You can compare candidates' answers to questions posed by the state League for state-wide races and by the League of Women Voters-Whitewater Area for local races.