CUMBERLAND — The Allegany County Chamber of Commerce will host a series of candidate forums next week ahead of the June 23 primary election.
The forums are designed to give voters the opportunity to hear directly from candidates running in contested primary races, the Chamber said in a release.
The forum schedule is:
• May 11 — House of Delegates, District 1A, 7:15 p.m., Allegany College theater.
• May 12 — County commission, 5:30 p.m.; sheriff, 7:15 p.m., T-118, Allegany College Tech Building.
• May 14 — Cumberland mayor, 6 p.m.; City Council, 7:30 p.m., Allegany College theater.
A forum featuring Frostburg candidates will be held May 18 at City Hall at 6 p.m. The city’s municipal election is June 2.
Each event will include candidate introductions, moderated questions and discussion of key issues impacting the community, the Chamber said. This includes a two-minute introduction and closing remarks, with varying time to answer questions depending on the depth. Each candidate will be reminded of 30 seconds remaining to answer and will be allotted additional time to complete their thought after the buzzer.
“The Chamber is acutely aware of the issues and challenges facing our community and our forums have always been structured to allow for important questions that invite candidates to provide meaningful responses,” said Jeremy Irons, the Chamber’s Legislative Committee Chair. “Our goal is to inform voters, and we recognize answers to those types of questions require a bit more time.”
Races without primary competition, including uncontested legislative, commissioner and Board of Education primaries, are not included in the primary forum series.
The forums at ACM will be broadcast with the help of Allegany Communications and local radio station Magic 100.5. Efforts are being made to broadcast the Frostburg program, the Chamber said.
For more information, visit alleganycountychamber.com or contact the Chamber at 301-722-2820.