At the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce’s Fannin County Political Forum on Monday night, 18 candidates for six different contested local elections spoke: Sheriff, Chief Judge of Magistrate Court, Commission Chair, School Board, Tax Commissioner and District 7 Representative.  The even lasted from 6 to 9:30 pm.

The format was the same for all groups of candidates.  First was a three-minute opening statement.  Then each candidate got two minutes to respond to the moderators’ question. Finally, each candidate gave a closing statements.  All candidates in each race answered the same questions.  The questions were more to get at the general vision of the candidates in terms of priorities, challenges and how to administer tasks of their offices. Almost all questions were those from the moderators.  The audience had a chance to submit questions at the door.  However, time constraints restricted audience questions to just three total throughout the forum.

Candidates did not debate each other.  For the most part, the candidates just spoke about their own ideas.  They let their words and examples show contrasts, but did not specifically say this candidate is wrong in their beliefs and why.  In other words, the information flowing across the stage was much more courteous and lower-keyed than the ongoing US Presidential race.

The only invited candidate that did not attend was John Williamson who had to miss due to an unalterable schedule.  He is contesting for the State Senate seat.  Current State Senator Steve Gooch did speak.  He said that some pressing needs that will better north Georgia economically are rural healthcare, better tourism promotion for north Georgia outside of the state and tax reform.

See Related Posts:   Sam Snider and Speaker Ralston Speak at Fannin Forum

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