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EDITORIAL: Candidates need to make an impact

In the Penticton municipal election, someone will need to take a strong stand to separate from the pack.

A few curveball questions have been thrown, but in the Penticton municipal election, someone will need to take a strong stand to separate from the pack.

With 25 candidates for council it is going to be tough for voters to make a choice of who they want to fill the six council seats. When it comes to the mayor’s chair, there are just three candidates to choose from, but the platforms put forward by the trio have similarities. It may just come down to a checklist of character, passion for the community, competence, policies and ideas for who will make a strong team for voters.

Few, if any, fireworks have erupted at forums so far. Not that they are needed, but a lively debate might just show the strengths of one candidate over another. On Wednesday, the Western News is trying for just that, putting the three mayors in a room with the media and a selected panel of community leaders to see how the candidates handle some direct questions.

Rather than an open forum with set speeches and pre-programmed questions, the Western News will give the panel a change to put their questions to mayoral candidates directly and give the candidates themselves a say on answers made by their peers.

Along with Western News journalists, our panel includes Frank Conci, representing the industrial development association, Mike Magnusson from Junior Chamber International, acting Downtown Penticton Association president Leigh Follestad and Donna Verbeek, representing the local seniors’ population.

We hope it entices just the lively debate that may help voters make their choice come Nov. 15. If you are still stuck on who you are leaning towards, make sure you check out our video, which will be posted online by the end of this week, and take the time to read through stories and Q&A’s that we will be featuring in our paper and online. Decide which issues are of most importance to you then go through that checklist.