Submitted by Shawn Hanegan
The Bedford Democratic Town Committee sent the following invite to all candidates in contested races in the upcoming town election.
All seven candidates who accepted the invitation and appeared at the forum agreed to the format described in the invitation.
The Bedford Democratic Town Committee invites you to a candidate forum on the afternoon of Sunday, March 7th at 3 pm to discuss your candidacy in the upcoming local election. The forum will be held via Zoom and structured to allow each contested candidate to have the floor for eight minutes. We ask that your intro be no more than two minutes, and that the remaining time be allocated to answering questions from the audience. The order of speakers will be determined randomly among those running for a particular office and the forum will proceed in the order of candidates for offices for Board of Assessors, Library Trustees, Board of Health, Planning Board, and Select Board.
We expect the forum to last about two hours. Depending on attendance, we may increase the time allocated per candidate.
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Korben did a great job in such a difficult situation. But he did with respect.
He was treated unfairly. He was interupted as he was answering questions. Also the other candidates husband was involved in it. Could Korben have brought his parents to be involved with this? I have been sharing the video on my Facebook page to my friends and family in surrounding towns.
Especially my home town of Arlington where I was born and raised. People felt it was extremely unfair how this young man was treated. We have to make sure that this in never allowed to happen again in Bedford. No one should be treated like Korben was it was not right. I was impressed with his level of maturity.
He held it together. He was put under extreme pressure. And he treated everyone with respect, sadly he was not shown the same consideration. He is a bright young man and has alot to offer this community if given the chance. I and others look forward to see Korben keep his strong interest in politics he has a great future ahead of him.
If you read the end of the invite, it states that “depending on attendance, we may increase the time allotment”. Korben is new to Bedford politics so it only makes sense that he was given more time to communicate his views. The incumbent is well known. People were trying to learn more about Korben so of course his questions were more challenging.
The guidelines suggest 8 minutes per candidate. There was also a moderator. Korben was “on” for over 20 minutes, while getting peppered with questions and having his allegiance to the constitution questioned – all while the moderator did not keep order and balance. Meanwhile, one of three questions to the incumbent was “why did they stop plowing the bike path during Covid?”. Let’s just say Korben fielded much more difficult questions.
Excellent job Korben.