A Franklin Forum presenting the candidates for two contested positions on the town council will be hosted by The New Franklin Register newspaper. This forum will be held Tuesday October 17th, 7PM, at The Ouleout Valley Post 1689 American Legion, 327 Main Street, Village of Franklin.
Six town officers will be before the voters this November: supervisor, clerk, highway superintendent, justice, and two councilmen. Term of office will be two years for supervisor, clerk, and superintendent, and four years for justice and councilmen.
Only the positions for the council are being contested, and those candidates have been invited to present themselves to the voters this October. For the two council seats, there are three candidates. The two incumbents are Garret Sitts (Republican Party) having served 10 years and David Grant (Republican) having served 4 years. The challenger is Trish Tyrell (independent, Democratic Party endorsement).
Until recently, these elections have been uncontested with low voter turnout. However the last few contested elections brought out 600 and 770 voters to the polls. Franklin and Treadwell forums have been held preceding these elections to give the voters a chance to get to get to know the candidates.
This forum will begin at 7:00PM. Afterwards light refreshments will be served during an opportunity for conversations.
Moderator will be Tom Briggs, mayor of the Village of Franklin. (John Campbell, who had agreed to be the moderator, had to withdraw.) Each candidate will be offered an opportunity for a three minute opening statement. This will be followed 30 minutes of questions from the audience. The formal part of forum will conclude with the candidates offered an opportunity for a one minute summation.
The NFR is under the auspices of Franklin Local Ltd. a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to informing the community, rebuilding the local economy, promoting community solidarity, encouraging volunteerism, and advocating for sustainable development.
This forum is an informational event. Both Franklin Local and The Ouleout Valley Post are non-partisan, and their hosting does not imply an endorsement of any candidate or candidates.