Charli Sorenson

CANDIDATE FORUMS ANNOUNCED

The LWV of Kittitas County is pleased to announce upcoming virtual candidate forums, cosponsored by North Kittitas County Tribune and Daily Record newspapers. As shown in the graphic above, Monday October 4, Candidate Forum for Kittitas City Mayor, John Camarata and Richard Dean Hink will attend 5:30-6:15pm. Also on October 4th, a Candidate Forum for Hospital District 1, Position 3 will feature candidates Michael Barrow and Erica Libenow from 6:30-7:15pm.

On Tuesday, October 5th, the Candidate Forum for Ellensburg City Council, Position #2, will feature Nancy Goodloe and Joshua Thompson from 5:30-6:15pm. It will be followed by Candidate Forum for Roslyn City Council Position #6 featuring candidates Janine Brodine and Tom Missel from 6:30-7:15p. The last Candidate Forum of the evening for Thorp School District Position #3 will feature candidates David Muratore and Anne Cubilie from 7:30-8:15pm.

All of these Candidate Forums will be live streamed to our YouTube channel. You can submit candidate questions any time to info@kittitasleague.org or by texting your question to 509-654-9030. NOTE: questions will be reviewed by LWVKC volunteers to ensure they are addressed to both candidates, are clear and nonpartisan in language, and fit into event time limitations.

Thrilled with number of candidate filings

Of those in contested elections, 46 candidates filed for 23 seats across the county. In an off year election like this one, it is awesome that so many Kittitas County residents filed to run for office. It goes without saying therefore, how deeply disappointed we in the League of Women Voters are that so few of the candidates in contested seats responded to our repeated invitations to attend virtual candidate forums prior to the general election.

Why doesn’t the League hold empty seat forums?

Holding a forum with only one candidate for office (an ’empty seat’ forum) opens the League to accusations of partisanship even in elections where the contested seats are nonpartisan (such as school board or city council seats), the perception that the League favors one candidate over another is real enough that our policies prohibit holding such events except in specific last minute situations.

Additionally, the FEC, FCC, and IRS all have regulations surrounding how political candidate events must be conducted, especially when sponsored by nonprofit organizations such as the League of Women Voters. While these regulations pertain mostly to federal elections, the League uses them as the gold standard for all elections in order to ensure strict nonpartisanship.

We regret that fewer than half of the candidates in contested seats this year agreed to attend our virtual forums because it means that you, the voter, have less access to candidate information and therefore making an educated and informed choice in the election is greatly diminished.

In addition to inviting candidates to participate in our forums, we do everything we can to support candidates (including linking to candidate campaign sites, offering to publish candidate statements on our Voter’s Pamphlet webpage), encouraging candidate participation in the LWV’s Vote411 election database, and more. Voters disappointed in this year’s lack of candidate response should communicate that disappointment directly with the candidates.

Which Candidates responded and who did not?

  • Hospital District 1, Commissioner #3: Barrow = YES, Libenow = YES
  • Hospital District 1, Commissioner #5: Altman = YES, Choe = withdrew
  • Ellensburg School District, Position #5: Rowley = no response, Hilda Peña Alfaro = YES
  • Ellensburg School District, Position #4: Woods = YES, Collins = no response
  • Thorp School District, Position #3: Muratore = YES, Cubilie = YES
  • Thorp School District, Position #5: Holmes = no response, Gillman = no response
  • Cle Elum City Council, Position #1: Malek = YES, Glondo = NO (forum date conflict)
  • Cle Elum City Council, Position #4: Holz = YES, Mosack = no response
  • Cle Elum City Council, Position #5: Wayne = YES, Harper = no response
  • Ellensburg City Council, Position #1: Storey = no response, Lillquist = YES
  • Ellensburg City Council, Position #2: Goodloe = YES, Thompson = YES
  • Ellensburg City Council, Position #3: Winn = YES, del Mar Robles = no response
  • Kittitas City Council, Position #3: Sypolt = no response, Welker = no response
  • Kittitas City Council, Position #2: Shirazi = no response, Woodiwiss = YES
  • Kittitas City Mayor: Camarata = YES, Hink = YES
  • Roslyn City Council, Position #3: Aurit = withdrew, Uren = no response
  • Roslyn City Council, Position #6: Brodine = YES, Missel = YES
  • Roslyn City Council, Position #7: Weis = no response, Belew = YES
  • Fire District 2, Commissioner #4: Tucholke = YES, O’Neill = no response
  • Fire District 6, Commissioner #1: McCoy = no response, Lindstrom = no response
  • Fire District 7, Commissioner #3: Hobbs = YES, Zipperer = no response
  • Water District 3, Commissioner #3: Wasell = no response, McDonald = no response
  • Water District 7, Commissioner #1: Konkler = no response, Towles = no response