No direction at All Candidates Meeting

Dear editor:

I would like to start by saying thank-you to the Greater Innisfil Chamber of Commerce for hosting the "All Candidates Meeting" last Thursday, October 19th, and to Georgian Downs for their sponsorship of the evening.

This was an opportunity for the residents of Innisfil to meet the candidates that are running for office in our upcoming election.

I do, however, have a couple of comments (complaints) of the evening. I personally felt that the candidates running in this election were not given proper direction on many factors of the evening. For one, the microphone should have been stationary, not hand held. This made it very difficult for candidates to hold the microphone, speak and turn the pages of their speech.

All candidates should have been given an opportunity to arrive early to test out the microphone in order to become familiar with it and it's use. This would have given anyone new to this type of platform a chance to understand how the microphone should be held and how close to their mouth it should have been (many people have not had an chance to speak with the use of a microphone before. This in no way indicates their inability to do the job needed for this town). The podium was on wheels that were not in the

locked position. A couple of times I felt it was about to go off the stage. The moderator for the evening should have set the tone, speaking in a clear and confident manner, he did not.

Candidates were given a very limited time to give their speech. This did not allow them a chance to finish the last and probably most important line of their speech. Yes, a time limit should be set, candidates must be informed of this in advance, but to cut them off with only about 10 or 15 seconds to go was not necessary.

Residents were given an opportunity to write down questions, turn them in and have the moderator ask the candidates to answer them. For one, at the beginning of the evening the moderator told us of this format, but stated that questions could be directed to specific people or to a certain ward (question to be answered by anyone in that ward). This did not happen. He, the moderator would read the question, but in a manner that could not be heard, never misunderstood. The candidate would have to re-read the question, then answer it. Many times it was not even one that was directed to that particular candidate or even to do with their ward. The candidate would answer the question to the best of their ability,

but because I, a member of the audience, did not know what the question was, because I did not hear it correctly, the answer did not always make sense. I feel residents should be given the chance to ask their own question by having a microphone set up for their use. Each person would be allowed one question at a time, then would have to return to the end of the line in order to ask another. This allows the candidate to be completely clear about the question being asked and the resident would have an opportunity to clarify it if need be and/or comment on it.

Candidates were only given 30 seconds to answer a question and then a little bell was rung, therefore we still did not get the information given to us that we wanted to hear or needed to hear. During this time all candidates, with the exception of one, had the bell ring and not allowed to finish.

This one candidate (not her fault, but that of the bell ringer) did not have the bell rung once and had more than the 30 second allotment that the others were given.

I also felt that candidates were not to make comments about other candidates, nor put them down in any way. This did happen, but by only one candidate. Just because there are new names and faces in the running does not mean these people

are not qualified, knowledgeable, or care about this town, Innisfil, it's residents and our lake, Lake Simcoe. Having your picture in the paper on numerous occasions because of the fundraising a person has done or the committees they are on, does not mean that other candidates that have not had the opportunity to have their picture printed or choose to keep a low profile about their works in the town does not mean they are not involved, dedicated or have helped out in their own way (possibly anonymously).

Let's give all the candidates the respect they deserve. Whether it is someone that has been on council before, presidents of various organizations and groups or a new person running for council, let them all be heard and listen carefully to their platform and what Innisfil means to them and how they can make a difference. It is important to call them personally, read their literature and go out to any open forum that is put on for your benefit as well as the candidates.

Change is good, balance is good, but most important dedication, knowledge, accountability and the best interests of the resident's of Innisfil and the welfare of this town is what counts.

Lenore Dempster