By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green city and school candidates will participate in a “speed dating” type of event in October. Rather than using sweet talk to get a date, they will be working to win votes in the November election.
For the first time, the Bowling Green League of Women Voters will be trying a new format called “Face2Face: Meet the Candidates,” according to League member Ellen Dalton.
The candidates event will be held on Sunday, Oct. 8, at the Veterans Building in Bowling Green City Park. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with the program starting at 7 p.m.
In the past, the candidates sat at a long line of tables at the front of the room, with the audience sitting in rows in front of them.
But this year, the room will be set up with a series of round tables. Audience members will sit at the tables, along with one League of Women Voters facilitator and a rotating candidate.
At the beginning of the program, each candidate will have one minute to introduce themselves before going to their first table.
Audience members at each table will have about 10 minutes to ask questions of the candidate at their table. At a signal from the moderator, candidates will move to the next table in rotation and the 10-minute question period will be repeated. By the end of the evening, each candidate will have sat at every table, and each audience member will have met every candidate face-to-face.
The League of Women Voters believes the format will appeal to candidates and prospective voters.
And it will resolve the problems caused in the past when candidates didn’t show up. The rules were that if one candidate for a position didn’t show up, the opposition candidate couldn’t participate. That shortchanged the voters.
“As League of Women Voters, we are bound by the ‘empty chair rule,’” Dalton said.
In this format, candidates can choose whether or not to participate – but they can’t prevent their opponents from participating.
The new format will also ensure that the same question is not asked many times, with the answers being very repetitive. And it will benefit voters who have specific questions.
“If I’m an audience member and have a particular question I’d like answered, I have a better chance of asking that question,” Dalton said.
While new to Bowling Green, the face-to-face format is being used elsewhere.
“Other leagues in Ohio have done this,” Dalton said. “Others across the country have done this, too.”
A negative of this type of candidate event is that it cannot be livestreamed or taped for voters to view at a later time.
“That’s not going to work with this format,” she said.
It is estimated the candidate event will last about two hours.
Only those candidates who are facing opposition on the ballot will be invited to the event. That includes two candidates for Bowling Green Mayor, two for Bowling Green City Council at Large, two for Bowling Green City Council First Ward, and seven for Bowling Green Board of Education.
The seven candidates vying for three seats on the Bowling Green Board of Education are:
- Stephen Bateson
- Joseph M. Edens
- Howard A. Gonyer
- Steven C. Goyer
- Tracy Hovest
- Brian A. Paskvan
- Peggy A. Thompson
Two candidates running for mayor are:
- Democratic incumbent Michael Aspacher
- Green Party Joseph Rosario DeMare
Two candidates competing for an at-large City Council seat are:
- Democratic incumbent Jeffery J. Dennis
- Republican challenger Eric J. Peck
Two candidates appearing on ballot for First Ward Council seat are:
- Republican David Drain
- Democratic Damon Sherry
Running unopposed for City Council seats are three incumbents: Second Ward council member Joel O’Dorisio, Third Ward council member Rachel Phipps, and Fourth Ward council member Bill Herald. Because they are running unopposed, they will not participate in the candidate forum.
Co-sponsors of the candidate event include the BGSU branch of the American Association of University Women, the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce and the BGSU Retirees Association.
