Meet the Candidates

Please join us for the Newton County Candidate Fair tonight Tuesday May 4th, in the Municipal Auditorium in Neosho
@ 7:00 PM. The 14 contested Republican Newton County Primary Candidates will each have 3 minutes to address the attendees. Candidates will speak in the ballot order ( incumbents will have the option to speak last). Each candidate will have a table in the auditorium for literature. Following the speeches there will be time to visit the candidates.

Meet the candidates and be an informed voter.
There will be refreshments!!

[admin]

Sounds interesting!

[lexi2]

the candidates debate.....I don't kow if this is true but I've heard none of candidates will debate against Doyle Shields.

If it is true, why won't they debate against Doyle?
If they want to be sheriff I'd think they'd jump at the chance to show their experience. I'd even pay to see that. Oh and make it a televised debate.

3 minutes that's all? A candidate can't even get out of the starting gate with only 3 minutes.

I'll pass on this one.......

[lexi2]

So, how was the meet the candidate fair?

I suppose "Meet the Candidates" was good. They really could have used more than 3 minutes. It was nice to meet some of the spouses, I met Doyle Shields wife, very nice and genuine: met Mike Langland's wife very pleasant personality, classy ( great hair): I did not meet with Steven Douglas' wife but I think she was the one with the ponytail, jeans, and tee-shirt that said Douglas: Mike Smith..don't believe he has a spouse present: as far as Ken Copeland goes..who were those guys hanging out with him??...not spouses..oh wait..weren't they from the SO and aren't they CJ & RL and do their wives know???and the drama continues to unfold. Anyway, Jack Sanders and his wife seemed quite pleasant. Dodson and Penn were well versed...didn't meet with their families. There just wasn't enough time to get around and meet everyone so I missed out. Geniso presented well. Hill is clear about her desire to serve as treasure. There just wasn't enough time to get around to meet everyone and the 3 minute speech was only a vague highlight on the candidates vie for the position. If the speeches could have been longer, the audience might have received more substance from the candidates.
I quess that's all.

[lexi2]

That's what I said, 3 minutes isn't enough time to get out of the starting gate.......

[Memnoch]

Do they plan on having this type of event again?

This is a once-a-year event. If you want to meet with the candidates , I am sure anyone of them will speak with you if you will notify them, but beware, some of the candidates are just for "show".

[shinobi]

Which ones?:cool:

You can have easy access to either Mike Langland or (I believe)
Doyle Shields, honestly, I would not bother with the others.
You can reach Mike Langland on his dedicated telephone line for the election matters @ 451-5044 or log onto his web address and email him at
www.langland4sheriff.com
and Mr. Shields is www.shieldsforsheriff.com

It is so important to be an informed voter.

[lexi2]

Shields can be reached at 417-776-8158 or 417-776-1672.

[Memnoch]

What about debates?
What about more "Meet The Candidates" meetings?
What about other public venues for the Candidates to voice their stance on certain issues?

I want to hear what they have to say, and three minutes of talk time isn't going to persuade anyone to vote for or against a candidate.

How do they expect me (us) to be an informed voter when I don't get but one opportunity to see the candidates in a public forum. Or if I am getting my "Candidate" information from biased media?

That's no better than flipping a coin and voting for whoever got heads!

Expecting me to vote after hearing a candidate speak for 3 minutes, 6 months before the election is rediculous.

I expect a better presentation than that!

[Scutter]

Boy do I agree with Memnoch on this one. Maybe we, Neosho Forums, should rent a place, such as the Municipal Auditorium, and invite the candidates to a real debate. I suspect that it would draw some people and even a couple of the candidates. Just a thought and feedback would be appreciated.

This would be a great idea. The New-Mac building can be used for free but I do not think they will accomodate a political forum. Might call the High School and see if they would allow use of the caferteria for such an event. Some churches might permit use of their facility if everyone would be invited. Just some ideas.

[admin]

Do you guys seriously think they would be up for a debate? I could see them attending something a tad less aggressive, but debates can get pretty nasty pretty fast.

Sure, they would be up for a debate, but it would not by necessary to call it that, it can be a moderated debate.I do not believe we need a verbal wrestling match with these guys. Now, I take all that back, Copeland could not handle a debate, the rest might.

[BEFAIR]

NOW IF RL AND CJ WERE THERE TO HOLD COPELANDS HAND HE COULD HANDLE IT? OR COULD HE:confused:

Only if they stick together like preschoolers on a field trip.

I am still finding it difficult to believe that CJ and RL have lost so much testosterone. I just hate to see a man who was once good, turn into...well ...I'll just leave it alone...

You are just too funny, maybe they will all come to Mike Langland's spaghetti dinner and buy a pie. We could make them a special pie. I thought it was highly inappropriate for the SO to be showing that kind of favoritism, but hey, RD has shown that type of sweetness to Copeland since they decided to have Copeland run for sheriff.

All this talk is making me nauseated. I think I'm going to get ................oh no....watch out...here it comes......ahhhhhh..just bad gas.

Whew!!! I never thought I could feel so bad so quick just thinking. about those guys.

I'm sure they will be very happy together.

[lexi2]

Gawd....no gas passing please....

A debate? Let's do it! One with a moderator.

[Scutter]

I was not thinking only of the Sheriff's race because there are a couple of more positions which are contested in the County also. You all have to realize that such an event will take a couple of months to put together. We need someone with a "personality" to serve as moderator and decide on a set of rules, as well as the type and foremat for questions, and whether those questions will be given to the candidates in advance. The candidates have to be contacted and their agreement on format and content is vital to it working. I can see a good potential for this, however, it is going to take time and a bit of money to really make it work and it has got to be absolutely fair to all the candidates concerned, meaning all candidates must be invited regardless of which party they belong to.

[Scutter]

First of all, we would have to decide upon a place to hold this function. Would it be the Municipal Auditorium, a conference room at a local motel, or some other location. Then we need to contact each of the candidates and get their input into such things as dates of availabilty and suggestions from them on a moderator, and a suggested list of questions from each of them. We would then need to put together a final list of questions, hopefully with the help of one of the Political Science Professors from one of the local colleges, and submit the finalized list to each of the candidates. We would have to determine a time frame for each question and answer, as well as the time for each to give an opening and closing statement. We would have to find a moderator which would have to be a local professional or someone from a neighboring jurisdiction, such as McDonald or Jasper County (or even Kansas City if we could get a former newsman to act as moderator) or someone out of one of the local colleges. Note that the moderator has to be someone articulate and not involved personally in the campaign of any of the candidates. The candidates would have to decide themselves whether or not we invite the local media, I suspect they will want that but the decision has to be theirs. There will have to be advertising for the function and guidelines need to be set upfront on what political material a candidate would be allowed to display or distribute. I estimate that the entire process will cost a minimum of five hundred dollars but I suspect the total will be more like a thousand and we, the membership, will have to pick up that bill. We already have the paperwork we will have to file with the County Clerk as a political action committee for this event so that is not a problem nor a major cost. If we really want to do it, the process has got to start within the next four weeks to have this a viable function for the latter part of July. Let us know if you think it is worthwhile to do it and if you would be willing to contribute either time or money to the effort. There is also the possibility that some other group or entity will co-sponsor this event with us, but I would not hold my breath on that one happening.

[lexi2]

Steven and Copeland are the ones with all the campaign $$$.......:p

Well, get to work on it Scutter and let us know.

[Scutter]

No Lexi, it cannot be at a cost to the candidates and we cannot cross that line. If we do this it has to be an independent function and not in any way tied to any individual campaign. This has to be a public service activity period and we are the ones who have to absorb the cost for it. And I am not going to accept the responsibility for the event if we decide to do it. I will offer my time and I will contribute money to it but if the membership wants to do this, some of them are going to have to step forward and offer their help. If we do this, we will set up a committee for it, give them a closed thread to discuss their issues and provide them with whatever support they need. This is the real test of Democracy at work in Newton County Lexi, and we will see what comes of it. Anyone who wants to do it can e mail Admin, however, I am not holding out a lot of hope that anyone will volunteer.

[Memnoch]

I am going to send an email to the top 3 or 4 people on this list.
Maybe they can't get something going as well.

Neosho Daily News Contact List (http://neoshodailynews.com/extras/about.shtml)

BTW who sponsored the first "Meet The Candidates" event?

[Swatter]

It is my understanding that there are two origanizations presently planning on sponsoring debates. I would imagine these would be done a little closer to actual voting time, although I do not know the dates yet. At least there will be two opportunities for the people to see the contestants have time to talk about the issues.
I also find it interesting that people from the SO should not have the same rights that you all have to on their own time support whoever they want. Is this a right that only you have or does everybody have that right. Everyone is going to support and vote for the person of their choice but it amazes me how hard everyone works to change each others mind by throwing out as much negative as they can about anyone other than their candidate.
I hope all this is just not talk and everyone does indeed use their right and go vote on election day for whoever you support.

[Scutter]

We are starting to get a lot of response on this issue and a lot of our members want us to find a way to make a debate happen. We need some more input folks, how do you feel about it and would you be willing to help us put the thing together?

[windtalker]

I'm with Scutter, I think a debate would be wonderful.