Politics, barbecue, music and more politics will be the order of the day on Saturday, July 23, in Williston. Candidates for Levy County offices and U.S Congress District 2 will go head-to-head in a forum at the Williston Community Center, 50 NE Main Street, 10 am – 1 pm and later at Cornelius Williams Park, on US 27, east of Williston.
The forum is sponsored by Citizens for an Engaged Electorate (CEE) and Williston AARP Chapter 912. The AARP Chapter has sponsored political forums in the past.
Citizens who wish to submit questions should come at least 15 minutes early to write down their questions. Because time is limited, no questions will be taken from the floor. Every candidate will have six minutes to speak. This is a forum, not a debate.
Opening the first hour, CEE co-founder Barbara Byram will explain Amendment 4, which will be on the primary ballot August 30 and in early voting 15 days prior. Supervisor of Elections Tammy Jones will speak briefly about the upcoming election. She will have a table at which she will be registering voters throughout the morning.
The second part of the first hour will feature both candidates for Levy County Superintendent of Schools, Jerry Lawrence and Jeffrey Edison. Because both candidates are Republican and no others are running, the primary for these candidates will be open, meaning everyone can vote. The winner in August will be the new Superintendent of Schools.
A period for questions previously submitted will close out the hour.
The second hour will be given to Levy County Commission candidates. All participating are Republicans. They are: District 1, Berlon Weeks and John Meeks; District 3, Chetley Breeden and Mike Joyner; and District 5 Matt Brooks and Danny Stevens. A question period will finish the hour.
After a short break at noon, the third hour will feature candidates for the newly drawn U.S. Congressional District 2, which includes all of Levy County. Three of the six candidates still in the running have agreed to participate in the Williston forum: Rob Lapham, Libertarian, Port St. Joe; Steve Crapps, Democrat, Live Oak; Ken Sukhia, Republican, Tallahassee. The congressional candidates will answer questions after all have spoken.
At 1 pm the forum will adjourn to Cornelius Williams Park for Smokin-N-The-Country, a barbecue festival that will have started at noon US 27, east of Williston. Musicians will share the stage with many of the forum speakers. Citizens will have a chance throughout the event, which lasts until 8 pm, to meet the candidates and ask the questions they were not able to ask during the forum. Tom Wells, an Independent running for U.S. Congress in District 3 (the seat now held by Ted Yoho), will speak at this second event.
For more information about the forum, please call 352-465-4862 or 352-465-8461. For information about the barbecue, please call 352-538-4474 or 352-872-4500.
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