Saturday, Sep. 29, 2012

Candidates forums scheduled in October

Two nights of political debate are scheduled in October in Los Banos.

"Community Candidates Night" forums will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 at Los Banos City Hall, 520 J St. The Los Banos Enterprise will sponsor the debates.

The forums will feature hourlong question-and-answer periods with school board, state Assembly/congressional, City Council and mayoral candidates.

November will mark the first time districting will be used for school board elections.

OCT. 8: Candidates for the Los Banos Unified School District's Board of Trustees: Colleen Menefee and her opponent Dominic Falasco; Jack Vasquez and competitor Carole Duffy; and Tommy Jones and his competition Thomas Higby will be featured during the first hour. The second hour will feature Assembly District 21 candidates Adam Gray, Democrat, and Jack Mobley, Republican, as well as Congressional District 16 candidate Brian Whelan, Republican. Whelan's opponent, Democrat Jim Costa, has a scheduling conflict and will be unable to attend.

OCT. 15: Los Banos City Council candidates: Elizabeth Stone, Deborah Lewis, Steve Hammond and Arkady Faktorovich are scheduled for the first hour and mayoral candidates Mike Villalta and Joe Sousa.

The forums will be moderated by Enterprise columnist and retired educator John Spevak. Audience members will be allowed to submit written questions as well. Index cards and pencils will be provided at the beginning of each forum. The Pacheco High School FFA Officer Team is scheduled to help staff during the first forum. Tentative plans have been made for the Los Banos High School FFA program to staff the second forum.

The forums will be shown live on TV via Comcast channel 96. The forums will also be available on the website of the Los Banos Enterprise about a week after they occur.