Candidate forum to be held at Ferris Brick Fest

FERRIS – While many Ferris residents might be heading to the annual Ferris Brick Festival this weekend for the festivities, it will also be a good time to learn more about the candidates running for city council in May.

A special candidate’s forum will be hosted by the City of Ferris Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, April 13, from 2 to 3 p.m. at the city’s pavilion.

Ferris Chamber of Commerce President Jason Crenshaw outlined the forum format and said, “The Chamber of Commerce wants to thank you candidates for running for office.”

Each candidate will be given three minutes to speak.

Crenshaw said, “We are looking for three things in this speech to allow residents to understand each candidate’s platform.”

Questions to be answered include: why the candidate is running for city council; what qualifies this person to be on the city council; and what are the top three agenda items the candidate will focus on if elected.

After each candidate has outlined his or her platform, there will be a question and answer session.

“I, as president of the Ferris Chamber, will have pre-selected and numbered 16 questions,” Crenshaw said.

“We will have a corresponding jar that each candidate will draw numbers from that match to the questions.

“Each candidate will have two questions they answer, and for the sake of time we are trying to limit answers to 90 seconds or less.”

Crenshaw said ultimately the Chamber is hoping to make the forum as insightful and non-political as possible.

“There will only be two people that will have seen the question list before April 13,” he added.

“We are doing that, so no one is accused of favoritism or being shown questions prior to the event. I hope that everyone finds this to be acceptable.”

All candidates running for an open seat on the City Council in Ferris (Places 2, 3 and 5) have been invited to participate.