Candidates Debate! Tonight!

From the MPOA:

For all you Madison political junkies who picture themselves as a Jim Lehrer moderator, here’s your opportunity to pose debate questions. PATCH is collecting  potential candidate questions for the Madison political debate on Wednesday, October 17th, at Memorial Town Hall with local candidates for state office (State Senator and State Rep) squaring off in a New England town hall meeting style debate.

Participants include Senatorial candidates, incumbent Ed Meyer and challenger Cindy Cartier both of Guilford, and State Rep candidates, incumbent Noreen Kokoruda and challenger David Dwyer both of Madison. The event is being sponsored by the Madison Property Owners Association, who has organized these local political debates for over 50 years

MPOA President Dick Duer said, “This will be the first Madison debate between candidates for State Rep, Ms. Kokoruda and Mr. Dwyer, who are battling to see who represents Madison and Durham voters. The State Senatorial candidates will be coming off a Branford debate the previous evening, and they represent voters from Madison, Killingworth, Durham, Guilford, Branford and North Branford.”

To have your question included in the debate, submit them to PATCH and we will forward them to the Property Owners Association debate committee. Questions can be directed specifically to the Senatorial candidates, or specifically to the State Rep candidates. Others can be asked of all four candidates. Candidates will be allotted two minutes for their answers. PLEASE: No personal attacks or long-winded questions will be accepted. So sent in your questions to PATCH.

Duer added, “let’s make this a real New England style town hall meeting debate, with lots of questions for our State Senator and State Rep candidates from Madison voters.” 

Debate format will be the same used for MPOA’s previous debates. Each candidate will begin with an opening statement of three minutes. Following the four individual introductions, there will be questions directed to each candidate. Each will be given three minutes to answer, with a one minute’s rebuttal time to their respective opponent. There will be an official timekeeper, and candidates going beyond their allotted time will be cut off.

Seating is limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. No political campaign signs are allowed. The Memorial town hall auditorium is located on the upper level and easily reached by the elevator located on the right-hand side of the building. There is ample parking.

The Madison Property Owners Association is one the oldest, continuously active civic groups in town, having been founded in 1928. The nonpartisan organization is dedicated to local government transparency and spending, and has a proud history as the town’s ombudsman to communicate, educate, and advocate for Madison residents on issues that affect local quality of life and property taxes. Sponsoring of these local political debates, the First Selectman’s race in odd years, and state office candidates in the even years, is one of the group’s major endeavors.