Local grassroots progressive organization WNC for Change will host a Sept. 6 Q&A forum for Asheville City Council candidates at 6:30 p.m. at Nazareth First Baptist Church, located at 146 Pine St. The event is the first forum of the campaign season, and will be preceded by a short meet and greet.
All nine of the council candidates who are vying for three open seats this year were asked to fill out a questionnaire as a precondition for being invited to the forum. Based on those responses, the organization invited six of the candidates to participate: Saul Chase, Lael Gray, Marc Hunt, Chris Pelly, TJ Thomasson and Jan Davis.
Jan Davis is the only one of them that won’t be in attendance, as he’s on vacation. All the candidates except for Bill Russell filled out the questionnaire. Their responses are online here.
WNC for Change formed during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign as a response to his call for “a new spirit of patriotism.” The volunteer organization seeks to support progressive local candidates as well as the initiatives of President Obama.
The organization’s board formulated a list of questions for the candidates; the group will also invite members of the public to weigh in during the event.
“We’re hoping to educate the community about where these candidates stand on the issues that matter,” explains Sarah Zambon, secretary for WNC for Change.
So let’s see, all the candidates filled out the questionnaires except Bill Russell.
Based on the responses, they’re not inviting Mark Cates; though they want to educate the “community” on the candidate’s stances.
I guess WNC for Change President, Drew Reisinger, is afraid of differing view points from his own, open discussion, and honest debate.
Not terribly surprising; the progressives don’t really want to hear other voices.