The dates of the Lunch Time Soapbox Forums schedule has been adjusted. It will now start on Wednesday, October 8, instead of the 1st as originally posted. The forums from that first week have been moved to October 15 and 16, Wednesday and Thursday. Those debates scheduled for Oct 8 and 9 stay the same. All candidates are being notified.

Why the change? We posted the original schedule on Sep 1 so that all could plan ahead - candidates, citizens and other forums. But just a couple days ago, the Bellingham Herald posted their forum for the evenings around our first dates - which would have been a strain for candidates and audience. We thought we were being polite to the Herald as in previous years their forums have always been in the middle of the month. So, no problem. We will take the more exciting dates near the end of the campaign. Go figure.

Both forums are of value to voters and hopefully both will be reported in the Herald and the Weekly. The Herald forum will also be on KGMI radio. Forums force the candidates to face issues and questions from citizens. Campaign ads, radio interviews and especially editorial board interviews can give very false impressions of where candidates are on issues. Face to face with citizens brings out the truth. A forum that gives the chance for live rebuttal by the opponent decreases the bull factor.

The Lunch Time Forums are structured to bring all this out. Perhaps the Herald forum will also. However, in past years the Herald editor acting as moderator has filtered which questions will be asked whereas the Lunch Time forum allows citizens to ask directly. The Herald has not published their format as we have. I'll post it here when it is known.

Do not expect comprehensive reports to be posted here on either forum. I need to make a living and cannot afford the many hours that fair reporting would require. If you can attend then take the extra effort. We need to be as well informed as we can and not rely on just one or two media sources for our information. The hot races where we all need to keep an open mind are the city 5th Ward between Hansey and Borneman, and both county council races. Chappell and Kaufman are both running good campaigns and giving good reasons to consider them over McShane and Crawford.