We hope that you read our front-page story about the upcoming debate on Thursday, Oct. 6, and plan to watch the debate in person at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon theaters or stream it online on our Facebook page.
If you’re busy working, occupied or, like my wife, trying to wrangle three children under the age of 5 into bed around that time, you can watch the debate on the Larson Newspapers YouTube page:
Right now on our YouTube page, you can watch our hour-long one-on-one Meet the Candidate interviews, conducted by Larson Newspapers reporter Carol Khan, to help you get to know the personalities of the two mayoral candidates, Vice Mayor Scott Jablow and newcomer Samaire Armstrong, who are vying for the mayor’s seat.
We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of viewers who have watched and enjoyed these two hour-long interviews.
Through these conversational interviews, you can come to understand the motivations, expectations, aspirations and inspirations of the two candidates who want to be your mayor after the election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
While other such events are forums in which candidates are given identical questions and often respond with canned answers or stump speeches, this debate will encourage candidates to engage directly with each other and challenge one another’s statements.
Co-moderator and Larson Newspapers General Manager Kyle Larson and I have formulated a battery of questions, initially numbering around 20, that we have since whittled down to about a dozen, of which we will ask at least eight but perhaps as many as 10, depending on followups, during the allotted time.
After drawing to determine the order, we will ask the first candidate a question, which will be followed by a rebuttal from the second candidate. We will then ask a follow-up question of the first candidate and allow another rebuttal from the second candidate before moving on to a new question directed at the second candidate, reversing the order of the rebuttals and follow-ups.
There will be a brief 15-minute intermission so candidates and audience members can stretch their legs before we resume for the second half of the debate.
We ask that audience members in the theaters remain respectful of the space and the forum format, keeping applause and reactions to a quiet minimum so that their candidates have more time to speak. Remember that two or three seconds of applause or cheering or reaction subtracts from the time your candidate has to respond — and can muddle the audio recording so that viewers online cannot hear your candidate’s answers.
The primary election tally was very close between Armstrong and Jablow, so every vote counts and every word matters. Don’t get in your candidate’s way in your exuberance.
On Facebook this weekend, we also asked voters to provide us with one question they would like to ask during the debate, which you can do by sending us a direct message on Facebook.
We asked that the question be directly related to Sedona and within the jurisdiction of the city or within the mayor’s authority, take less than 30 seconds to answer and be both specific enough yet general enough that both candidates can answer no matter which gets the question.
Personally, I have been anticipating this debate for the last six weeks, considering my background in high school and collegiate speech and debate and in my chosen art form — slam poetry — in which poets essentially give three-minute original speeches to evoke emotion and sway an audience.
The difference between slam poetry and politics is that poetry is merely aspirational and inspirational while politics affects real-world policy. I can think of no better synthesis of my personal and professional lives then hosting a political debate affecting our city’s future.
We hope you will join us and enjoy watching candidates set out their goals for Sedona’s future.
