Federal Hill Association holding candidate forums

The Federal Hill Association will host candidate forums in the first floor City Council chambers for City Council and mayoral candidates during the first week of October.
The schedule calls for District 2 council candidates to answer questions from 6 to 7:45 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1. District 3 council candidates will follow from 8 to 9:45 p.m.
The council candidates for District 1 are slated to field questions from 6 to 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3.
The mayoral candidates will wrap things up from 8 to 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 3rd.

Statement from the Federal Hill Association about the forums:
In the interest of serving our members as well as all the citizens of Bristol, the Bristol Federal Hill Association (BFHA) has organized public forums for candidates to the Bristol City Council and Mayor’s office. Every effort is made to assure all candidates can participate if they so desire.
The forums consist of two parts. The first section is dedicated to the candidate’s response to several issues presented to them before the forum. These topics are determined by a committee of BFHA members and generally focus on city wide issues relevant to most voters. The second section is dedicated to candidates’ response to questions offered by members of the general public who choose to attend the forum. These questions are written on cards and presented to the candidates by the forum moderators. Because it is a forum on issues, similar questions are summarized by the moderators and those that they deem are not relevant to a public forum are omitted. The moderators are neutral, and their function is to assure each candidate adheres to time limits on their responses and that the forum remains focused on the issues presented.
The BFHA is a community organization, and has never endorsed a political candidate. Our purpose in conducting the forums is to hear what the candidates have to say on issues relevant to the BFHA and its members and the city as a whole. We believe it is an extraordinarily valuable means for all Bristol voters to better understand the candidates’ positions and ideas. The emphasis is on challenging all the candidates and compelling each to help educate the voters about them. It is an attempt to help city voters make informed choices. We make every effort to assure these forums are apolitical, and that they are fair to each candidate to the degree possible regarding scheduling, time to prepare answers to the issues presented before the forum and time to present their positions and ideas at the forum.
We strongly believe there is a need and a benefit to these forums, and anticipate organizing them again for this year’s general election. We hope all the candidates will feel compelled to participate, and will do all we can in the coming weeks to schedule a date that is suitable for each of them. We also hope that as many voters who can will attend the forums to help emphasize to the candidates they are an important means of expressing the merits of their candidacy. We are currently working toward coordinating dates for forums in October, and will publicize them as soon as they are confirmed.

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