We don’t mean to alarm you, but Election Day is less than a month away.
The year also ends with an odd number, which means it’s time for residents to select their local leaders. That’s exciting not only because local news is what we do here at Spotlight News, but because the upcoming election will provide our readers a chance to pick the people who make policies that will most directly impact their lives. Though picking a president or congressperson is a big deal, to be sure, it is your councilperson who handles the things like property taxes, potholes, emergency services staffing and leaf collection.
So we are very pleased to announce we’ll be doing more than ever this local election season to prepare voters to make an informed choice come Nov. 5. In addition to providing coverage of the races, we’ll again be partnering with the Albany County League of Women Voters and other local sponsors to hold a series of candidate forums.
These events will provide the opportunity for you, the voters, to ask questions of the candidates. We hope you’ll attend and use what you hear and see when you make your decision at the polling place.
In the Town of Colonie, we’ll be holding two debates this year thanks to help from the Colonie Chamber of Commerce. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites at 400 Old Loudon Road, Latham, we’ll have Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan and her Republican challenger Todd Drake for a breakfast program from 7:30 to 9 a.m. There is a $20 cost associated with this event to cover the breakfast, and registrations can be made through the Chamber’s website at www.coloniechamber.org/events.
A week later, on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the Holiday Inn Albany at 205 Wolf Road, Albany, we’ll have a program running from 7 to 9 p.m. with the supervisor candidates and candidates for Town Board. This will be in the more traditional style of forums we’ve held in the past, in which no meal is served and audience members can submit questions in written form at the event.
We’ll be holding an event in the Town of Guilderland this year on Monday, Oct. 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Guilderland Public Library, 2228 Western Ave., Guilderland. Candidates running for Town Board and for town supervisor have been invited to this event.
A busier event will take place in the Town of Bethlehem on Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Bethlehem Town Hall, 445 Delaware Ave., Delmar. The event will start with statements from candidates for town clerk and town justice, then move on to a forum with the candidates for highway superintendent in which the audience may provide written questions. Candidates for Town Board have been invited to participate in a forum immediately following, and the event will wrap up with a debate between the candidates for town supervisor.
All these events are open to the public and, with the exception of the Colonie breakfast, are free to attend. We merely ask that members of the audience refrain from politicking for their candidates until after the event is concluded and come equipped with an open mind and preferably a few questions to ask. If you can’t make an event, you’ll be able to find coverage in the following issue of The Spotlight.
Whether you come out to hear from the candidates or not, you’ll be able to read up on their positions through the League of Women Voters’ Vote411 questionnaires at www.vote411.org. Local candidates for office have been invited to upload their answers to the league’s questions, and their answers should be available in the coming days on the website.
As always, thank you for reading The Spotlight. We’ll do our best to make sure it pays off this and every election season.