With Election Day fast approaching, Jolt & Jive and the University of Minnesota Crookston have partnered to sponsor a Meet the Candidates Forum on Wednesday, October 2. The Forum will be held in Kiehle Auditorium on the University of Minnesota Crookston Campus from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. KROX Radio will carry the forum live on the radio.
Kirschbaum explained that the schedule is intentional to make it work for people who may be coming from out of town. “ We are going to start off with the State Representatives, Mike Christopherson, and Steve Gander, and then we are going to go to the County Commissioners after that,” says Kirschbaum. “The reason being if people are coming from other parts of Polk County they may not be interested in City Council or the School Board.”
There will be tables set up for each of the candidates so that after the program, you can stop and talk to them. “We will have a table outside for each of the candidates, well, probably for the Commissioners; they just get one because, obviously, they aren’t running against each other,” said Kirschbaum. “We are trying to get them exposed to the community and let the community ask as many questions as they want to.”
Kirschbaum says questions will not be taken live on the night of the event. Instead, a media campaign will be held to gather the public’s questions via surveys, written responses, and online. The team making the list of topics and questions will consist of former council members, county commissioners, and more. “They are people who have been former City Council members, County Commissioners, School Board members, and just some Community Leaders,” says Kirschbaum. “They will pull it together, and we will have some fun questions.”
The largest group of candidates for the evening is the School Board. “There are seven people running for the school board; that’s exciting,” says Kirschbaum.
Submit a question for the candidates by September 20 at z.umn.edu/meetthecandidate24
The schedule for Meet the Candidate is as follows:
6:00 – 6:05: Welcome – Chancellor Mary Holz-Clause
Moderator Introduction – Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Rosemary Johnsen
6:07 – 6:27: MN House of Representatives District 1B
Republican: Steven Gander – endorsed
Democratic Farmer Labor: Mike Christopherson – endorsed
6:30 – 6:45: Polk County Commissioner Candidates
Commissioner District 1: Mark Holy, incumbent
Commissioner District 5: Paul Reese, incumbent
Commissioner District 3: Gary Willhite, incumbent
6:50 – 7:20: Crookston City Council Candidates
Ward 1: Kristie Jerde, incumbent, and Bishop Jensen
Ward 3: Clayton Briggs, incumbent
Ward 5: Wendy Ault, incumbent, and Derek Brekken
At-Large: Morgan Hibma, incumbent
7:25 – 8:00: ISD# 593 School Board Candidates
Mike Theis, incumbent; Malissa Burnette; Lorri Capistran; Jaclyn Martin; Adam Schiller; Kayse Thompson; Connie Wilkins
