AUBURN - Joe Kime hasn't quite made up his mind about who he's going to cast his ballot for in the Cayuga County Legislature race.
Mark Genito / The Citizen
Cayuga County legislative candidate Art Wenzel, right, talks politics with supporter Howard Gehring, of Auburn, during a break in Wednesday's city and county office candidate forum at the Holiday Inn.
Cayuga County legislative candidate Art Wenzel, right, talks politics with supporter Howard Gehring, of Auburn, during a break in Wednesday's city and county office candidate forum at the Holiday Inn.
As a new homeowner in Moravia, Kime is looking for a candidate who has the concerns of property owners at heart. That's why he came to the 2005 Candidate Forum Wednesday night - to get some confirmation from the two District 9 candidates.
The third annual candidate forum, sponsored by Options for Independence, Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency, Auburn/Cayuga NAACP and IGNITE, was the only public opportunity for residents to ask questions directly to candidates for county Legislature and Auburn City Council. Only one of the candidates, Philip Simkin, who is running for District 3 legislator, did not participate.
While Kime was interested in hearing about property and rental issues - he is also a landlord - none of the questions dealt directly with property ownership. But Kime still felt the forum was valuable to hear all the issues.
“It makes sense if you're going to vote,” Kime said.
Candidates for county legislative positions opined on a number of topics selected by the audience previously not addressed in the various televised forums, including homelessness, attracting and retaining young professionals and Medicaid and temporary assistance. Most of the questions reflected issues of concern for the sponsoring agencies.
There were few private residents who attended Wednesday's forum simply to become more informed voters. The majority of those in attendance were either city or county officials, or members of the various sponsoring organizations.
There were a few interested citizens like Kime who came out to get some answers to questions before Nov. 8. Howard and Katie Gehring recently moved back to Auburn and were interested in learning more about the city council candidates.
“We're trying to catch up with what's going on,” Katie said.
“We wanted to be involved in the political process. At least we'll know what we're supporting,” Howard said.
The Gehrings, who live in District 11, would like to see Legislative candidates with new ideas and came out to see if anybody rose to the challenge.
“I'd like to see some younger people in office. I believe we need some new blood, some vibrant young people with new ideas,” Katie said.
The city council questions ran the gamut from the debate over a full-time human rights office to the influence religious beliefs have on political decisions to the candidate's favorite sports teams. If you base your political decisions on sporting preferences, Matt Smith is a Cowboys fan, Bob Hunter likes Syracuse basketball, Bill Graney favors the Dewalt NASCAR team and Jerry Morgan Sr. roots for the Bills.
Some in the audience, like Sennett town supervisor Dave Sikora, didn't need the candidates forum to help him make a decision as to whom to vote for. But Sikora came anyway just to see what issues people were talking about and how the candidates answered the questions.
“Tonight could be make or break for the candidates. They're under a lot more pressure to impress the audience,” he said.
The third annual candidate forum, sponsored by Options for Independence, Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency, Auburn/Cayuga NAACP and IGNITE, was the only public opportunity for residents to ask questions directly to candidates for county Legislature and Auburn City Council. Only one of the candidates, Philip Simkin, who is running for District 3 legislator, did not participate.
While Kime was interested in hearing about property and rental issues - he is also a landlord - none of the questions dealt directly with property ownership. But Kime still felt the forum was valuable to hear all the issues.
“It makes sense if you're going to vote,” Kime said.
Candidates for county legislative positions opined on a number of topics selected by the audience previously not addressed in the various televised forums, including homelessness, attracting and retaining young professionals and Medicaid and temporary assistance. Most of the questions reflected issues of concern for the sponsoring agencies.
There were few private residents who attended Wednesday's forum simply to become more informed voters. The majority of those in attendance were either city or county officials, or members of the various sponsoring organizations.
There were a few interested citizens like Kime who came out to get some answers to questions before Nov. 8. Howard and Katie Gehring recently moved back to Auburn and were interested in learning more about the city council candidates.
“We're trying to catch up with what's going on,” Katie said.
“We wanted to be involved in the political process. At least we'll know what we're supporting,” Howard said.
The Gehrings, who live in District 11, would like to see Legislative candidates with new ideas and came out to see if anybody rose to the challenge.
“I'd like to see some younger people in office. I believe we need some new blood, some vibrant young people with new ideas,” Katie said.
The city council questions ran the gamut from the debate over a full-time human rights office to the influence religious beliefs have on political decisions to the candidate's favorite sports teams. If you base your political decisions on sporting preferences, Matt Smith is a Cowboys fan, Bob Hunter likes Syracuse basketball, Bill Graney favors the Dewalt NASCAR team and Jerry Morgan Sr. roots for the Bills.
Some in the audience, like Sennett town supervisor Dave Sikora, didn't need the candidates forum to help him make a decision as to whom to vote for. But Sikora came anyway just to see what issues people were talking about and how the candidates answered the questions.
“Tonight could be make or break for the candidates. They're under a lot more pressure to impress the audience,” he said.
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