Murfreesboro CityTV will televise and stream the City Council and City School Board candidate forums hosted by the League of Women Voters of Murfreesboro/Rutherford County.
July 3 is the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 2 election. Early voting runs July 13 through July 28.
The first of three forums will begin at 6:00 p.m. Monday, July 16, at Murfreesboro City Hall. Full candidate participation is anticipated.
The first forum will feature the General City School Board candidates’ forum from 6-6:45 p.m. to be followed by the Special School Board Election candidates’ forum from 7-7:30 p.m. and the City Council candidates’ forum from 7:45-8:45 p.m.
There are seven candidates on the ballot running for three open seats on the City Council, including two incumbents. They are Byron Glenn, Vice Mayor Madelyn Scales Harris, Councilman Rick LaLance, Ronnie Martin, Nancy Rainier, Terry Schneider, and Shawn Wright. The three candidates who are elected will serve a four-year term. Murfreesboro City Council members are elected by voters to serve at-large.
There are five candidates on the ballot running for three open seats on the City School Board. They are Roseann Barton, Kevin Fisher, Becky Goff, Phil King and Amanda Moore.
There is also a City School Board Special Election to fill an unexpired term of Jared Barrett on the City School Board. Those candidates are Geoffrey Herring, David LaRoche, Kari Neely and Jimmy Richardson.
Candidates will introduce themselves and respond to a moderator's questions on a timed basis. A pool of questions for the moderator’s usage is compiled by a League committee using citizen input. Voters may suggest questions by emailing lwvrutherford@gmail.com. Questions are not taken from the floor during the forum.
The forums will take place in the Council Chambers of City Hall located at 111 W. Vine St. beginning at 6:00 p.m. The forums are open to the public.
Audience members should be seated 10 minutes prior to the general election School Board forum starting at 6 p.m.; 6:50 p.m. for the second special election School Board forum starting at 7:00 p.m.; and 7:35 p.m. for the City Council forum starting at 7:45 p.m. No partisan materials can be on display in the forum.
The Forum will be televised live on Murfreesboro CityTV located on Comcast channel 3 and 1094, AT&T channel 99; and streamed on Roku, YouTube at www.youtube.com/cityofmurfreesboro, Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/cityofmurfreesboro, and on the city website at www.murfreesborotn.gov/citytv and www.murfreesborotn.gov/onlinevideos and replayed at later times and be available on demand online.
To find out when the forums will replay, please visit www.murfreesborotn.gov/citytvschedule.
For more information on the League of Women Voters of Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, contact board member Kory Wells at lwvrutherford@gmail.com or 615-898-0063. For more information about the Aug. 2 election and options to vote at any one of 28 new voting centers, please visit www.rutherfordcountytn.gov/election.
CityTV is promoting the forums on Comcast Xfinity channel 3 and AT&T Uverse channel 99 with a 38-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) viewable on YouTube at https://youtu.be/vAPXz8DemWY.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Membership in the League is open to men and women of all ages. For more information about this program and the League, visit lwvrutherford.org. The League attempts to scheduled forums for all contested general elections. In order to assure impartiality and comply with FCC rules for televised events, a majority of candidates must agree to participate in order for the League to go forward with the forum.
