Republican candidates vying for local offices will gather Wednesday for a forum, where they are expected to outline their positions on local issues just before voters cast ballots in the primary later this month.
Montezuma County League of Women Voters will host the forum from 6 to 8 p.m. at the County Annex building, 107 N. Chestnut St. in Cortez.
A series of questions drafted by the league will be proposed to candidates for county commissioner and clerk and recorder races.
The June 30 primary will be conducted through mail-in ballots, which will be sent to eligible voters beginning Monday.
The forum features clerk and recorder candidates Lenetta Shull and Jerri Frizzell, while a second session follows with commissioner candidates Bonnie Anderson, Diane Fox-Spratlen and Rodney Cox. All candidates are Republicans. Both candidate groups debated on May 26 in Yellow Jacket.
Karen Sheek, chair of the league, said the forum reflects the larger mission of the non-partisan group, which is providing voters with a chance to be active in democracy by providing information about how local issues impact their lives.
“That’s the league’s charge,” she said. “We are an advocacy group, however, we do take issues on laws that have to do with public policy, and it’s a researched position we feel strengthens our democracy and the democracy that works for the most amount of people.”
Candidates for county clerk and recorder will participate in a 30-minute question-and-answer session, with a short break to follow.
The three commissioner candidates will then answer questions on county issues. If time permits, audience members will be invited to submit written questions for candidates. Each candidate will receive one minute for an opening statement and one minute for closing remarks.
“All the candidates will be asked the same questions,” Sheek said. “We gave them the questions ahead of time, so we can have some thoughtful responses.”
Sheek said questions for commissioner candidates will be diverse. Candidates will be asked whether they support a sales tax, other areas county government should explore to diversify income given declining revenue from Kinder Morgan Inc., and how the county should approach the drought.
Candidates for clerk and recorder will be asked about dealing with misinformation and disinformation, how they see customer service at the Division of Motor Vehicles, and what legislative changes they recommend for how the state of Colorado maintains and verifies voter registration.
“It will be a full evening,” Sheek said. “We hope we get good attendance.”
awatson@the-journal.com
