Inverell Toastmasters Club public relations officer Krista Harris said while she would like to see everyone who nominated for election to the Inverell Shire Council attend the candidate forum at the Inverell RSM Club, she would also like to see as many people as possible turn up on the night too.
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Ms Harris thinks the evening will not only be a perfect opportunity for voters to get to know what each candidate stands for, but also a perfect chance for voters to make informed decisions on who they want to elect for the next four years.
The forum will have a 6pm for 6.30pm start and be held on Monday, August 22, and Ms Harris said it would be a great opportunity for the public to satisfy their curiosity at a night made specifically for it.
“We are going to have a few questions, and it gives people the chance to meet the candidates because we’re going to have a few new ones this year,” Ms Harris said.
At this stage we’re looking at two-and-a-half to three hours, so it should give each candidate time to do about a five minute talk and then we’ll have about an hour or so for questions.
- Christa Harris
She said the forum was being held because Toastmasters had noticed that there had been nothing other than a few mentions in the newspaper to give people the chance to talk to prospective councillors before the elections in previous years.
“Unfortunately due to time restraints it probably won’t be too in-depth. We’ve estimated there will be probably around 16 candidates, possibly more,” she said.
“So unless we want to spend five hours there …
“At this stage we’re looking at two-and-a-half to three hours, so it should give each candidate time to do about a five minute talk and then we’ll have about an hour or so for questions.”
Ms Harris said there would be a couple of predetermined questions followed by random questions from the audience.
“On the night you’ll be able to write a question out and we’ll look at those,” she said.
Ms Harris said toastmasters would also like to encourage people to email their questions to inverelltm@gmail.com as the organisers would be able to go through them and perhaps direct questions to the candidates that dealt with the most common themes.
Ms Harris said while the organisation was in its early stages of organisation and she was not certain who would chair the forum on the night, she did say she had someone in mind.
“I have a toastmaster who comes from outside the shire who may be able to take on that role for us,” she said.