Mayor Morris Flewwelling admitted candidates have hard time listening instead of talking, but that is exactly what those running for city council had to do last night.
ReThink Red Deer took a fresh approach when it hosted the first civic election forum of the campaign season at Red Deer College.
The evening was centered around candidates interacting and engaging with voters through thoughtful conversation in small groups.
“It’s a little more honest discussion and probably a more constructive discussion than someone just stating an opinion,” said even organizer Lorne Daniel.
And the set up, which saw members of the public and candidates split off into 10 groups of about eight, received rave reviews from those in attendance.
“I think it got real engagement,” said Flewwelling. “This was lively.”
He said other forums that give each candidate a couple of minutes up in front of a large audience to address a question as “artificial.”
Mayoral candidate Hilary Penko also praised the forum, saying she benefited from the small group discussions.
“It proved an opportunity to have an exchange of ideas,” she said.
“It was collaborative and I gained a lot of knowledge from this.
First-time city council candidate Paul Harris said the forum style should be used as an example to create ongoing communication between councillors and constituents.
“The best way to engage the community is through dialogue,” he said.
“The community wants to be heard. The wisdom is in the community.”
TerryLee Ropchan, who is running for city council, wasn’t worried that the round table discussions didn’t really provide an opportunity to present her campaign to voters.
“I don’t think tonight was really about getting my message out,” she said. “It was about hearing from everybody else. I think it was really important to gauge what other people think and what they’re feeling about our city because that’s how the new council will move forward.”
Members of the public who attended the event also seemed impressed with the set up.
“It was a little bit of a personalized opportunity to really ask some of the tougher questions you may not have the confidence to ask if you had to ask in front of a hundred people,” said Heidi Olstad.
“I think it will be interesting to see though, how that translates into whatever happens in the coming year. We had a chance to speak but will that translate to actual policy changes and decisions at council?”
The only downfall Olstad noted was that the forum didn’t provide the opportunity to hear from every candidate.
Evening discussions included crime prevention and safety, social issues, the economy, budgeting, citizen involvement, key community qualities, decreasing use of resources, infrastructure and facilities, and more.
Also running for city council are Buck Buchanan, Matt Chapin, Jason Chilibeck, Jeffrey Dawson, Cindy Jefferies, Lynne Mulder, Gail Parks, Chris Stephan, Clarence Torgerson, Tara Veer, Jim Watters, Frank Wong, Dianne Wyntjes and Calvin Yzerman.
Many of the candidates running for trustee positions with the Red Deer Public School District and Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division also attended the forum.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com