Chamber plans 11th hour candidate forum for Washington council race

WASHINGTON — The Washington Chamber of Commerce has a candidate forum planned the day before a special election that will decide the city’s next at-large council member.

In an email to candidates and news media, Chamber Director Michelle Redlinger said the event would be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, at the Washington Public Library. While that’s less than 24 hours before polls open for the special election, Redlinger said she hoped the forum would help inform community members.

“We looked at a different format to try to accommodate the summer schedules, vacations and possible conflicts in the evening that might prohibit people from attending,” Redlinger said. “There’s sometimes a lot going on in the summer evenings.”

The event was organized on somewhat short notice. A list of the candidates wasn’t released by county election officials until July 15, and the plan to hold an election at all was finalized in early June.

Candidates and attendees are invited to bring their own food to the lunch-hour event, Redlinger said.

While the midday event at the library will be more low-key than the usual evening forum in Washington’s High School Auditorium, it will still follow its usual format: a series of questions prepared by the chamber and disclosed to candidates ahead of time will fill the first half, while submitted questions from the audience will take up the rest of the time.

Washington’s Aug. 6 special election will fill Washington’s at-large city council seat with a dedicated official for the first time in well over a year, replacing Millie Youngquist who in April was elected mayor, following a 14-month stint as mayor pro tem. The candidates — Rob Meyer, Ken Schroeder and Jennifer Durst — had all applied for an appointment to the open position in May, but went on to register as candidates when current council members abruptly chose to hold an election for the position instead.

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