News outlets across the nation are reporting that candidate forums are on the decline. That makes it hard for voters to compare candidates’ views on important issues in the community — especially in small races. But one group in Orange County is fighting against that trend.
Linda Lockwood’s dining room table was covered in stacks of paper earlier this month. This is Lockwood’s fourth election in charge of candidate forums for the League of Women Voters of North Orange County.
The group put on a whopping 10 of them this year.
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“It’s such a learning experience to find out how every city is different,” Lockwood said, “and has its own little issues.”
Next OC candidate forum
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The League of Women Voters of North Orange County holds its last forum of this election season on Thursday, Oct. 24. It’s for the Centralia School District. It’s in the district boardroom starting at 6 p.m. and will run about 90 minutes. It can also be streamed online.
The group initially hoped to put on 16 candidate forums — one for each city council and school board in north O.C. But they rely on buy-in from local officials, which they don’t always get.
Lockwood said she sometimes fields calls from residents and groups begging them to put on a forum, and she has to let them down. “You don’t just have them. It…
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