The Salmon Arm & District Chamber of Commerce is sticking by their decision to try out their pilot format at this year’s Municipal Election Candidate Open House.
The event takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 6 and aims to provide residents with an opportunity to meet municipal election candidates and ask questions directly.
In a statement, the Chamber said they considered a number of formats and heard feedback from community members, candidates and stakeholders.
The Chamber has chosen to pilot an open-house format designed to maximize opportunities for direct engagement between voters and candidates.
Christine Jontz-Barbour, Executive Director of the Salmon Arm & District Chamber of Commerce said the team is aware that people value traditional all-candidates forums.
“This year, we’re trying a different approach that creates more opportunities for one-on-one conversations, allows residents to ask the questions most important to them, and gives candidates the chance to engage directly with voters.
The Chamber added that the open-house format provides a different benefit by allowing residents to discuss topics that are personally important to them.
The Chamber is also exploring opportunities to collect community-submitted questions and invite candidates to provide written responses for publication through Chamber channels.
“This would provide residents with an additional resource for comparing candidate perspectives on common issues while complementing the direct conversations available at the open house,” the Chamber’s statement read.
The open house will take place on Oct. 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Salmon Arm Recreation Centre.
