(Chelsea Update would like to thank Joan Sampieri, president, League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area, serving all of Washtenaw County, for the information in this story.)
The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
To fulfill its mission to encourage informed voters, the League provides candidate forums for key local races. As we approach the Nov. 3 General Election, the League is offering a series of forums where candidates will share some information about themselves, and then answer questions about issues.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be filming, and then posting more than 18 forums that include the office of the County Clerk, the County Treasurer, and Michigan House Districts 52, 53, 54 and 55.
We’ll cover the County Board of Commissioners Districts, as well as U.S. House of Representatives Districts 7 and 12. Finally, we’ll cover the 14B District Court candidates, and the 22nd Circuit Court Candidates, the Ann Arbor Library Board and School District.
In the future, we will bring you forums with more of the candidates throughout the county but as a totally volunteer organization, the current list of forums takes an incredible number of hours of phone calls to candidates to arrange workable schedules, setting up the Zoom filming, introducing and moderating each forum, and finally, posting each to our YouTube channel. Perhaps in the future, you’ll volunteer to help us expand our reach.
We have posted the first three forums, and you can find them here. Subsequent forums will be posted as they are filmed and you can get up to date information here. For more local candidate information, you can go to our Voter Guide at Vote411.org. You can learn more about Vote411 in an article about it in a future edition of Chelsea Update.
You will also be able to watch Sylvan Township’s Clerk, Kathleen Kennedy, and the City of Dexter’s Clerk, Justin Breyer, discuss the challenges and opportunities of this election at the League’s Oct. 23 Lunch & Learn. We’ll post information on how to register for that free event here.
Would you like to know more about the League and its efforts, please visit our website at www.lwvannarbor.org.
