City of Blue Ridge voters will be offered a first hand look at the candidates for mayor and city council when the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce hosts a Candidate Forum Wednesday, October 6, beginning at 6 p.m.
The event will be held in the Performing Arts Center on the Fannin County High School campus.
Chamber President Jan Hackett announced the forum this week in conjunction with an invitation sent to all 13 candidates for mayor and the five council posts. All the seats are up for grabs in the November 2 city election, and all are contested.
As of press time Monday, mayoral candidates Rhonda Haight and Donna Whitener and council candidates Brian Higgins, Dr. William Whaley, Mike Panter, Richard Arnold, Nathan Fitts, Jacqueline Brown, and Angie Arp had agreed to attend.
Hackett said the event will follow the chamber’s long-established format for forums.
Manda Gwatney and Steven Miracle will serve as moderators.
Each candidate will have a two-minute opening and closing statement. Several questions will be presented with candidates having two minutes to answer each.
Questions will be created by the chamber’s Governmental Affairs Committee, with input from local citizens. Members of the public attending the forum will also be given the opportunity to submit questions.
The purpose of the forum “is to provide opportunities for voters to learn more about candidates,” Hackett said in her invitation.
Candidates will be asked to follow certain rules at the event. No signs are allowed on the lawn of the PAC, but campaign literature can be distributed. No campaigning is allowed inside the PAC auditorium.
The event will include as many COVID-19 procedures as possible. There will be free face coverings for those attending, which will be encouraged but not required. The PAC is large enough to offer opportunities for social distancing.
The event is being held in conjunction with ETC 3TV.