Election Engagement

Elections. Bipartisanship. Citizen Engagement.

In these increasingly acrimoniously partisan times across the country, the political parties in Gulf County have joined hands to create an atmos-phere for informed citizen-ship.

Along with The Star, the local Repub-lican and Dem-ocratic parties have agreed to sponsor a series of candidate debates in this all-important election year when commissioner seats, constitutional offices and other elected spots on the political map are up for grabs.

And the format could hardly be better.

In each debate - and the logistics as the year moves along will likely compel some tweaking - the candidates will be offered a chance to make an opening statement pertaining to, well, whatever they desire, followed by a series of questions submitted by residents/voters.

There will be time for some back and forth over individual questions and issues and with the deeply-respected County Judge Fred Witten moderating at least the first debate, the candidates will be held to a high standard of respect and collegiality even as they disagree.

The first debate for this year will involve the county's first elections of the year, those for the open seats on the Port St. Joe City Commission.

Starting at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 29 in Frank Pate Park, the city candidates will be on hand for the first discourse on the direction of the future, serving as something akin to guinea pigs, if you will, for what is to come later in the year.
As Gary Ross, president of the local Republican Party noted, this is somewhat uncharted territory and the kinks will surely work themselves out as we go along this year.

The most important aspect of this effort is, of course, citizen involvement.

This is a critical election year. No one can dispute that.

Fortunately, we in Gulf County have not been barraged by the wall-to-wall coverage that seemingly never ceases which has characterized the national race for President.

We didn't even need to wait until the end of March to know who would be the GOP standard-bearer for the White House and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have made the Democratic race already feel like the Tour de France competed on tricycle.

The din, also, has a habit of turning off too many voters and there seems so much at stake - from bulging budget deficits to global warming - to tune out a campaign that feels historic in its import.

Locally, the bottom of the front page in recent weeks has provided evidence that the races in the county are heating up, with announcements for county and city commissions or councils and for sheriff already appearing.

An aside here at the risk of digressing.

The newspaper retains its familiar stance on campaign announcements.

We will run the initial announcement, with picture, on the front page for free. After that, candidates are advised to purchase advertising because this will be a busy year and bulging ballot before it is all over.

Back on point, though, this entire debate exercise is an attempt by both parties and this newspaper to provide an opportunity for citizens to become more familiar with the candidates who will represent them and what they stand for.

It is, as Ross emphasized, an "entirely non-partisan" effort. There aren't Democrats or Republicans, just candidates seeking the chance to, hopefully, serve.

But to make for more informed citizens, the question becomes what do the voters want to know? What issues are important to them? What do they want to hear from the candidates who want their votes?

And - this is a personal interjection - why can't we have more debates of the same variety so we don't have to worry about candidates knocking on doors at random hours.

My wife, for one, gauges her voting patterns based almost entirely on who and who doesn't abide by the sign on our front door regarding no solicitations.

In any case, we, as in the newspaper and local political parties, want to know what you want to know from your elected officials.

So take a minute and either e-mail a question to us at timc@starfl.com or drop it by our offices next to the Piggly Wiggly or if you wish mail it to us at P.O. Box 308, Port St. Joe, 32456.

Leave out the personal attacks and bromides, keep the questions on the issues and we will make every attempt to make sure the candidates provide an answer that doesn't revolve around broad platitudes about change or integrity or values and on and on.

Most of all: get involved. That's what a newspaper is all about, that's what the local political parties are about, get voters engaged and informed.

So bring those questions on - we, with a huge assist from Judge Witten, will be doing everything we can to elicit clear, tangible answers from the candidates.

And we'll see you at the park for what is hoped will be the first of many debates this important election year.