Forum goes digital with video submittals through YouTube & recordings at Lazy Daze

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2009

CARY, NC – Make plans now to play an active role in the 2009 Cary Community Candidate Forum, the first and only forum for candidates for local office sponsored by a Triangle local government, and the only forum for local offices to be cablecast on Cary TV 11. New this year, citizens will be able to post video submittals on YouTube for consideration, as well as record questions in person at Cary’s Lazy Daze Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday, August 22, 2009 . Sponsored by the Town of Cary and featuring only questions submitted by Cary citizens, this year’s forum is being managed on behalf of the Town by the NC Center for Voter Education (NCCVE).

“The NC Center for Voter Education brought tremendous professionalism and expertise to the 2007 forum, and we appreciate their willingness to serve Cary citizens again this year,” said Town of Cary Public Information Officer Susan Moran .

The North Carolina Center for Voter Education is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to informing and involving citizens so they may fully participate in democracy. The Center has hosted and moderated a number of forums giving candidates an opportunity to debate issues in a constructive format, including a series of forums airing statewide on UNC-TV in 2006 and 2008. The Center is a leading resource for unbiased candidate information, using its voter guides, online radio station, media partnerships and statewide syndicated column to give candidates from all political persuasions the opportunity to communicate directly with voters.

“Our research shows that the primary reason why qualified voters don’t go to the polls on Election Day is because they lack information on the candidates,” said Damon Circosta, NCCVE executive director. “We are very pleased to take part in the Town of Cary ’s effort to empower its citizens with the facts they need to cast a confident ballot.”

This year’s forum, which will be held on September 15 in the Cary Town Council Chambers, will include candidates for one At-Large seat and districts A and C. Wake County School Board seats that represent Cary will also be included: districts 2, 7 and 9. The forum will be recorded and played throughout Western Wake County daily on the Town’s government access channel—Cary TV 11—and available on the Town’s web site September 18 until Election Day.

Questions asked of candidates may be submitted by Cary citizens beginning July 20, 2009 ; questions and links to video submissions should be e-mailed to cary@ncvotered.com. The forum manager will review, select, and read the questions to candidates for the first time during the forum. The Town of Cary is paying the NCCVE $2,500 to serve as this year’s forum manager.

The idea of the Town’s hosting a forum dates back to the fall of 2001 when a record number of candidate forums sponsored by special interest groups were cablecast on the Town’s government access channel, Cary TV 11. Complaints about that situation led the Town Council to ask staff to develop alternatives. After nine months of research, which included meetings with past forum sponsors, staff recommended in August of 2002 the concept of one large “mega forum” – now known as the Cary Community Candidate Forum. Benefits of this approach include:

• Allowing for increased community focus and involvement

• Eliminating the issue of candidate endorsements

• Providing a better product for viewers

• Reducing the amount of time candidates and Town staff spend in forums

• Reducing the amount of politics and bias potentially brought to the forums by outside sponsors

The first Cary Community Forums were held in the fall of 2003, followed by subsequent ones in 2005 and 2007. For more, visit Cary Community Candidate Forum at www.townofcary.org.

###