City election candidate forums set

SANDPOINT — Are you prepared to vote in the upcoming city elections in Sandpoint and Ponderay?

The Bonner County Daily Bee, Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce and the Ponderay Community Development Committee invite you to meet and ask questions of the candidates on Monday, Oct. 26, at the Bonner Mall.

The free event begins at 5:30. Cookies and punch will be donated by Yoke’s.

Each candidate on the November ballot has been invited to attend and will be given a short time to introduce himself or herself to the audience.

After a very brief question and answer period, Sandpoint and Ponderay candidates will participate in a more informal roundtable discussion with voters from their jurisdictions.

“We want voters to ask questions of the candidates in a more face-to-face fashion that the larger debates we have sponsored in the past,” said Bee Publisher David Keyes. “Nearly every city council seat in each town is contested so it is vital to know where the candidates stand on matters as far ranging as affordable housing, water, growth, etc.”

Sandpoint only

On Oct. 28, Sandpoint residents will have the opportunity to hear from the seven candidates for Sandpoint City Council - and quiz the candidates with their own questions - at a candidates’ forum.

The forum will take place 6-8:30 p.m. at the Panhandle State Bank Events Center, 414 Church St. The forum is presented by Keokee Publishing, producer of SandpointOnline.com, and Blue Sky Broadcasting’s KSPT 1400 Talk Radio. Hosts are Bill Litsinger and Bob Wynhausen of KSPT’s “Face to Face,” and Chris Bessler of Keokee.

Karl Dye, executive director of the Bonner County Economic Development Corporation, will moderate the forum.

Additionally, the ballot this year includes a $17 million bond measure for expansion of the city’s lake water treatment plant. City Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk will give a short presentation on the bond and also take questions at the forum.