Reminder: Avondale Estates mayoral candidates forum is Feb. 19
File Photo provided by Dena Mellick
File Photo provided by Dena Mellick
The five candidates running in the special election for Avondale Estates Mayor will appear in a forum tonight, Feb. 19.
The forum begins at 6:30 pm and will be held at City Hall, located at 21 North Avondale Plaza. The moderator will be Judge Stephen W. Nicholas. Each candidate will get three minutes to make opening remarks in an order chosen at random. They will then take questions from the audience. There will be 75 minutes allotted for the Q&A portion.
Rules for the forum state that questions may be prefaced by “concise” introductory remarks.
“The Moderator shall have the final authority to rule upon the appropriateness of questions, responsiveness of candidates and all other matters appropriate to the conduct of this forum,” the forum agenda says. For the complete agenda, click here.
The special election will be held on March 17. Early voting starts Feb. 23. The city is holding a special election to replace former mayor Ed Rieker who resigned unexpectedly in October to take a university teaching job.
The winner of the March 17 special election will serve only a few months.
“The person elected to fill this unexpired term will serve through Dec. 31, 2015,” an announcement from the city says. “This seat will be up for reelection on Nov. 3, 2015, and the candidate elected in November will serve a term of four years beginning Jan. 1, 2016.”
City Manager Clai Brown said during the Feb. 18 City Commission work session that unlike most elections, there will be no runoff in the city elections. The person who gets the most votes will win the election outright. Avondale Estates has a population of about 3,000 people.
Decaturish has written about the candidates in the race. You can read their profiles and their answers to our questionnaire by clicking the candidates’ names listed in this story.
The candidates are:
Decaturish will make no endorsements in the Avondale Estates mayoral race. Our Advertising Director, Jeff Cochran, has offered each candidate the opportunity to purchase advertising. Funds received from our advertisers and subscribers allow us to provide coverage of this race and many other issues that are important to our readers.
Please remember to exercise your right to vote in the upcoming election.