Pinal County candidates to discuss views in public forum

The election spotlight will beam down on Central Arizona College Oct. 7 and 14 when the Western Pinal County Candidates Forum takes place in the Don P. Pence Center for Visual & Performing Arts.

The forums begin at 6 p.m. each night and will feature candidates running for eight key government positions impacting Pinal County.

The event is free and open to the public.

Vida Milligan-Shangoo, a Central Arizona College student and native of Orlando, Fla., will sing the National Anthem prior to the start of each forum.

On Oct. 7, candidates for the Pinal County positions of assessor, recorder, District 3 supervisor and treasurer have been invited to partake in a public forum to discuss their views on a variety of issues important to the community.

On Oct. 14, candidates for Arizona’s House of Representatives and Senate, Pinal County Sheriff, and the Judge of the Superior Court (Division 6) will take the stage at the Pence Center.

Each candidate will be provided with a three-minute time slot for opening remarks and a five-minute session for closing comments.

In between, candidates will be asked four questions and have three minutes to respond to each one. The questions will not be provided to the candidates in advance.

“This is one of the most important local elections in our county’s history,” JJ Freyermuth, the community events assistant at Central Arizona College, said. “We wanted to respond to the community’s need to get these candidates into a local forum so voters can understand how they feel about the important issues impacting our community.”

Freyermuth and Stella Garcia, a longtime Central Arizona College employee and resident of Casa Grande, are developing the event.

“We are encouraging school districts to send students to the forums so they have an opportunity to learn more about the political process,” Garcia said. Teachers should contact Freyermuth at [email protected] for more information.

The following candidates have been invited both through their political parties and by personal invitation.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

County Assessor
Paul Larkin (D)
Ron Reinagel (R)

County Recorder
John Acton (R)
Laura Dean-Lytle (D)

County Supervisor (District 3)
Tom Hollenbach (R)
David Snider (D)

County Treasurer
Rayna Palmer (R)
Dolores Doolittle (D)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

House of Representatives (District 23)
Ernest Bustamante (D)
John Fillmore (R)
Barbara McGuire (D)
Frank Pratt (R)

Judge of the Superior Court (Division 6)
Steve Fuller (R)
Janna Vanderpool (D)

Pinal County Sheriff
Paul Babeu (R)
Chris Vasquez (D)

State Senate (District 23)
Andre Campos (R)
Rebecca Rios (D)

File photo