Welcome to the Lakewood Observer Virtual Debate

[Jeff Endress]

We wish to welcome all of the candidates for the office of Mayor of the City of Lakewood to the Lakewood Observer Virtual Debate. It is our hope that through this forum, we will empower the electorate as never before, by providing them with information, the positions of the candidates and the opportunity to make informed decisions for this very important election.

Before we start, we felt it important to review the time lines for this on line debate.

1) On August 31, at noon, all candidates will submit to this discussion area, a list of the three most important issues they feel that Lakewood is facing. (Posts submitted prior to noon should only become visible at that time);

2) On Wednesday, September 5, the three media experts shall each post a question to each candidate regarding each of the areas of concern identified by the candidates (9 questions total);

3) Thereafter, on September 9th, at 9:00a.m., the responses of the candidates to the questions posed will be posted (If posted earlier, they will not become visible until 9:00 a.m.);

4) Once the responses to the media questions have been posted, the candidates are invited to amplify and expound upon their responses, discuss the responses of the other candidates. The on line debate will be live for a period of 99 hours.

5) The 9/18 edition will have a section dedicated to the on line debate and public forum. Each candidate will be given 1000 words (approximately one full page) in which to summarize their impression of the on line discussion, amplify their position and make their case to the public. The 1000 word limit will be strictly enforced. The remarks of each candidate WILL NOT BE EDITED, CORRECTED OR IN ANY WAY MODIFIED FROM THE FORM IN WHICH THEY ARE SUBMITTED, HOWEVER, ANYTHING BEYOND THE 1000 WORD LIMIT WILL NOT BE PRINTED. Candidates submission must be made through the Member Center, not later than 9/15, midnight, to allow time for printing.

Thank you to all the Candidates for their participation in this historic civic experiment.

Jeff Endress

[Thomas J. George]

Jeff,

Among the many important issues facing Lakewood are a. safety b. development/infrastructure and c. housing

Mayor Tom George

[Suzanne Metelko]

Ryan Demro is a full time teacher and does not access the internet for personal reasons during work hours, nor does he have access to the internet during the hours of 7:30 a.m - 5:00 p.m.

Issues:

Safety
Infrastructure
Sustainability

[Ed FitzGerald]

Congratulations on designing a great format, and I look forward to participating in all of it.

Top 3 issues:

1. Crime: Trends and Strategies.
2. Housing: everything from high-end condos to Section 8.
3. City finances: taxes, fiscal policies, and economic growth.

[Jeff Endress]

Thanks to all three candidates for identifying their top three issues. I should note that while Mr. Fitzgerald's post appeared later, this was an internal Observer problem and not as a result of a tardy submission.

This forum will now be locked, yet remain visible, until the questions by the media for each issue are posted. Those posts will be made on September 5th.

Jeff

[dl meckes]

Jeff-

Have the candidates been notified to email their answers to you so you can post all of the answers at the same time?

[Jeff Endress]

DL

I have emailed all the candidates and received confirmation that their responses will be submitted to me and that I will post them simultaneously. This is a copy of the email that went to each candidate:

Gentlemen:

Let me first thank you for your initial posts.

We had hoped that our software would enable us to hold your individual posts for simultaneously posting. This was not, unfortunately the case. We want to assure that the process is as transparent as possible, and that all are treated fairly and equally. Because we are unable to assure that your anticipated posts responding to the media questions will appear simultaneously if posted directly to the Deck, I would request that, instead, they be submitted to this email address, and I will see that they are all posted at the same time.

I will pledge to each of you that I will not open any of those emails until I am preparing the post for the deck. I will also assure you that I will not provide any of the information which I receive to ANYONE, except as it shall appear on the posting on the Deck.

The questions from the media will be posted on 9/5, as soon as all are received. Your responses should be submitted to me so that they may be posted at 9:00 a.m. on 9/9.

If you have any questions, please give me a call. (Home 216-XXX-XXXX, office 216-XXX-XXXX) I would also appreciate your acknowledging receipt of this email.

Again, my thanks for your willingness to participate.

Jeff

I am awaiting the questions from one moderator and will be posting them all this evening.

[Jeff Endress]

We are anticipating receiving the Candidate's answers to the media questions shortly. For the sake of clarity, each Candidate's answers will be posted on a separate thread. The Candidates themselves are invited and encouraged to comment on the answers posted, but this forum will only be open to the Candidates themselves. Discussion of the answers, or additional questions should be posted in the "Resident's Comments" section. We would hope that the Candidates will follow that discussion, and provide response to any questions asked, this is entirely up to each individual candidate.

Jeff