The McConnell Elementary and Loftis Middle school PTAs announce they will be hosting a Town Hall style debate forum with Dr. Greg Martin and Joe Smith, both running for the District 3 County Commissioner seat in Hamilton County.
The Town Hall Forum will be held on Monday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m. in the Loftis Middle School cafeteria. Questions for the candidates may be submitted for consideration to loftispta@icloud.com. All questions should include the name of the person submitting the questions as well as where they are located within Hamilton County.
While many people think of PTAs as fundraising machines, Parent Teacher Associations were formed to be advocacy groups for the youth of the nation, said officials. Rebecca Marshall, president of the McConnell PTA, believes in the power of a PTA to inform their community. "The PTA's main purpose is to allow each child's full potential to become a reality by empowering families and engaging the local community in our public school system. We feel that by sponsoring such an event we are able to foster an environment in which our community can come together to make the best educated vote possible."
The two PTAs joined forces to be able to host an event that would be beneficial for their membership and community as a whole, and would facilitate voters being more informed about the candidates running for office this year to fill the seat vacated by Marty Haynes who was recently elected to property assessor for Hamilton County.
Joe Smith, running on the Independent ticket, believes in the access it gives to candidates. “This opportunity gives the people of our community a chance to hit me on the spot. This is important, because taking your questions and answering is vital to representing you,” said Mr. Smith.
Dr. Greg Martin, running for the Republican Party, believes in the opportunity to not only meet candidates, but have an open discussion about our community. “Political forums like this one are important and give voters a great opportunity to meet candidates running for office. I encourage everyone to come out to this event, and I look forward to discussing my views on the key issues facing our community," said Dr. Martin.
While the forum is being hosted by both local PTAs, the event is open to the public at large. Both the McConnell and Loftis PTAs hope that people will attend to learn more about the candidates. The event will be held just before early voting starts.