Submit your questions for candidate forum

Candidates in the Aug. 6 elections will field questions from the voters in the Warren County Candidate Forum and debate Monday evening.

The voters are also invited to hear from the office-seekers on the stage of one of Warren County’s historical and cultural landmarks, the Park Theater.

The evening opens at 5 p.m. with candidates in contested races for seats on the Warren County Commission, followed at 6 pm by hopefuls in the Republican and Democratic primaries for U.S. House of Representatives, Fourth District of Tennessee. 

At 6:15 the conversation transitions to the 43^rd District Tennessee House primaries in the Aug. 6 balloting. 

Early voting starts Friday, July 17, and runs through Aug. 1 at the Warren County Administration Building at 201 Locust Street, the Morrison Ruritan building and the Centertown Community Center.

Citizens seeking a seat on the Warren County Board of School Commissioners, also known as the school board, will be in the Park Theater spotlight from 6:30 to 6:45.  Due to time limitations in the forum agenda, those appearing in the school board, U.S. House and Tennessee House races will offer a self-introduction and their intentions for their public service if elected or re-elected. The exact time limits for each speaker will be announced this weekend.

The evening continues as Warren County General Election candidates for sheriff take the stage from 6:45 to 7:05, followed by aspirants for county executive, 7:05-7:25. Concluding the program will be the contestants for 31^st Judicial Circuit (Warren and Van Buren counties) District Attorney General from 7:25 to 7:55.

Dr. Amy Sayward, professor in the Department of History at Middle Tennessee State University, will serve as debate moderator, posing questions submitted by local voters.

In addition to her teaching duties in graduate and undergraduate programs at MTSU, Sayward is serving in her second year as director of the university’s American Democracy Project (ADP).

The ADP is a nationally recognized initiative for “promoting civic engagement and democratic participation among students,” according to a university release announcing her appointment.

Candidate forum organizers invite written questions from the public, and these will be submitted to Professor Sayward shortly before the forum begins. The questions should be sufficiently general that any candidate for the given office can responsibly answer, organizers say.

Questions targeted at individuals or those that may be deemed as malicious or prejudicially provocative are likely to be rejected when Sayward reviews them shortly before the forum begins. 

The queries should be printed legibly on plain paper with a 25-word maximum and enclosed in a standard mailing envelope sealed by the questioner and delivered or mailed to the Main Street Media offices at 230 W. Colville St. Personal essays, political manifestos pretending to be questions and rambling irrelevancies will not be accepted in the screening process, the sponsors emphasize.

The deadline for receiving the sealed questions is 3:00 pm Monday. 

“The questions should reflect the serious, thoughtful concerns of voters and citizens. They should be directed to all the candidates in a particular race and relate to the policies and practices of that government office,” the organizers stress.

The program will be broadcast live on multiple channels, including McMinnville Public Radio 91.3-WCPI, which launched the voter-education series in 1998, the second year of broadcasting for the non-profit media outlet. Main Street Media’s WBMC 960 AM, a local news leader since its debut om the air in 1955, will also be carrying the simulcast.

BLTV Channel 6, the community-engagement service of Ben Lomand Connect, will stream the program live on its TV platform as well as its Facebook outlet.   

“In this year of America’s 250^th birthday, citizens are reminded of their responsibility in protecting and nourishing our democracy," organizers said. “It’s absolutely vital that voters, who determine the shape and nature of government power, be seriously informed about the principles and intentions of those applying for offices of trust and responsibility. The Park Theater is deeply imbedded in the history of McMinnville and Warren County, and it’s especially meaningful to have the Park as our host for this important event.”

Early voting in Warren County will be underway on Mondays 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon.