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It was a full house at Powassan's all-candidates debate. Photo by Dennis Chippa
If the 300 or more people that packed the Powassan Legion thought they’d see fireworks from Wednesday’s all candidates' meeting, they were disappointed. The Legion may have been warm, but the overflow crowd didn’t see heat from candidates.
Wednesday’s event was organized by Beverley Miller, who essentially organized a one voter campaign to make an all candidates meeting happen.
“I just found out that there wasn’t gonna be one, and I just couldn’t let that happen. I am a resident of Powassan and I just felt it was something that had to be done’
With seven candidates for four spots on council (down from six in the past) and only two incuments, and three candidates for mayor, the feeling was the meeting would have become something of a free for all.
But all candidates played nice, outlined their platforms and stuck pretty much to script. They were then asked to give answers to four key issues for voters, as chosen by an on-line poll.
-What to do about proposed construction of a medical facility
-How to get more affordable seniors housing spots
-What to do about a proposed crematorium built within town limits
-What plans to develop the highway heading south from the town
Miller says this was what organizers wanted.
‘They were all questions that seemed to be in everybody’s mind and the idea was that if they had this opportunity and each candidate had to talk about it, it would eliminate the questions that would come from the crowd”
The all candidates meeting, on the heels of what some in the audience called a very difficult and dysfunctional last four years for Powassan council, didn’t have any controversy.
With no chance to debate, candidates simply stated their opinion. That was what Miller wanted, based on the past, where candidates’ meetings were confrontational, and long.
“People could come up and give their question. And it was very hard to control because if they wanted to go on and on and on how could you stop them. And it would give them the opportunity to carry on in maybe the way they shouldn’t be.”
So the kinder, gentler format was chosen, and it seemed to work, at least for the candidates. Whether or not voters got what they wanted, at least they did have a chance to hear the candidates in a public setting, a chance they were otherwise not going to have.
