Editor's note: Your turn to ask the candidates

Talk about it

The Bulletin is hosting televised public forums on Monday, Oct. 1, for candidates running for Cottage Grove City Council and mayor and the same positions in Newport.

We’ll be moderating the forums and are teaming with the South Washington County Telecommunications Commission, but we want your help.

What would you ask the candidates?

We’re aware of some topics in each city that are worthy of exploring in a forum, but we’re also looking for other, not-so-obvious questions. Are there neighborhood concerns you’d like the candidates to address? Are you happy with or frustrated by your municipal services or how either city is being governed? What do you want to know about the challengers who filed to run for office? Do you see issues not being addressed in either city? Maybe you have a question about pothole repair, police protection, snow removal, parks or property taxes. Here’s your chance to ask about any of those issues or, hopefully, others that you’ve thought about.

I’d like to hear from you if there is something on your mind that you want addressed by the candidates. Email or call me by the end of this week with suggested questions or issues we should cover during the forum. (I’m at 651-459-7600 and swente@swcbulletin.com.) You can also submit questions on the Bulletin’s Facebook page.

It’s worth mentioning again who is running. In Cottage Grove, mayor candidates include incumbent Myron Bailey, Chad Magle, Chad Rediske and Lezlie Schriver. Council candidates include incumbents Justin Olsen and Jen Peterson, and challengers Tina Folch, Michael Fouts, Matthew Kowalski and Lisa Meyer.

In Newport, mayor candidates include incumbent Tim Geraghty, Steven Gallagher and Paul Hansen. Council candidates include incumbents Tom Ingemann and Bill Sumner, and challengers Dan Flood and Katy McElwee-Stevens.

In addition to encouraging you to submit questions, we hope you’ll attend the upcoming candidate forum. It will begin at 7 p.m. and run until about 9 p.m. It will be in the council chambers at the current Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 80th St. If you can’t make it in person, be sure to tune in to SWCTC’s Channel 18, where it will be broadcast live and replayed before the Nov. 6 election.

Tags: opinion, viewpoint