“South Sound residents have the chance to see all of their major local candidates for the November election in one place over two consecutive nights.

The League of Women Voters of Thurston County and The Olympian are sponsoring candidate forums Wednesday and Thursday, at The Olympia Center.

Wednesday will feature candidates for Olympia City Council and the Port of Olympia Commission. Thursday brings hopefuls for the Lacey City Council, Tumwater mayor and Thurston County Commission.

The league has taped interviews with candidates in past elections, said Barb Theiss, the leagues voter services chair. But this years event will be live and open to the public…

Theres not much more time for campaigning. The Nov. 3 election is little more than a month away, and mail-in ballots must, by law, be mailed to voters at least 18 days before the election, according to the Thurston County Auditors Web site,” quoting The Olympian.

NOTE: MAYOR HARDING IS RUNNING UNOPPOSED, SO THERE IS NOTHING TO DISCUSS WITH HIM SINCE THERE IS NO RACE.
DURING THE CAMPAIGN 4 YEARS AGO AND THROUGHOUT HIS TENURE, MAYOR HARDING HAS NEVER HELD A TOWN HALL PUBLIC FORUM. HE HAS ONLY ALLOWED THE PUBLIC TO SPEAK TO HIM ABOUT CITY ISSUES DURING A CITY COUNCIL SESSION, AND LIMITED TO 3 MINUTES UNLESS ON A PRESSING ISSUE – LIKE THE RECENT WATER BILL INCREASES.

TWO CANDIDATES ARE ALSO RUNNING FOR THE SAME VACATING YELM CITY COUNCIL SEAT AND YOU WILL NOT HEAR THEIR VIEWS AT THE CANDIDATE FORUMS, EITHER!

UPDATE – OCTOBER 2ND, 2009
Yelm City Council Candidate Jennifer Littlefield tells the Yelm Community Blog she “agreed to appear for the forum; however, my opponent either wouldn’t or couldn’t appear, so the League canceled our forum date. They have a no “empty chair” policy and don’t do forums for single candidates. I just wanted to clarify that point as your statement implied an unwillingness to participate.”