The first business to be handled before we start an overview of Candidate Night, is to thank some people. The committee did an excellent job of pulling this event together - great job! The moderator and time keeper for the evening moved things along with fairness, just the right tempo, and credibility. Mitch Tompkins provided the Manor/Plantation House as our site, and did so much more, making himself, and his family available to pull things into shape at a time when the facility wasn't quite ready for "opening". Thank you, Mitch and family! All four candidates running for board attended - one unnamed, Connie Downs, Steve Vasey, and Butch Williams. We appreciate your presentations, and willingness to let us meet you, and your ideas in a public forum. The final thanks go to the members who cared enough to attend, write questions, and learn more about the people who will fill three board seats, after your vote.
I was surprised that every candidate pulled a question about the governing documents as they related to one phase of life in our association, in one aspect or another. Paper was provided for residents to write their questions right there at the meeting. There was time for every question. At least one question was pulled that was obviously brought in, as it was typed. As the question was drawn, and it was noticed that it was not prepared on the spot, it was pulled, and left unanswered. The candidates had been given the outline for the evening, and all told that questions would be written by those in attendance, to avoid any concerns, about planted - personal agenda questions intended to be unfavorable to anyone. No one from my household posed a question, nor did anyone collect anything from either of us.
Two residents in the audience stood up and asked for clarification on an answer, or to further describe the intention of their question. The committee stated that the procedure information provided to the candidates didn't not offer verbal discussion from residents to candidate.
After all hand ended, I asked Downs, Vasey, and Williams if they would help the committee by answering a few questions, in the event Candidate Night was considered for another election cycle. The questions follow: 1) It appeared at points during the evening that candidates would have liked to have had the opportunity to add to an answer/or rebut another candidate's answer. If that opportunity had been offered in the outline presented to you - the rules-would you have agreed to attend? Downs, Vasey, and Williams said that they would. 2) It appeared a couple of times that residents who legitimately wrote their questions last night on our papers, and dropped them in the bowl, wanted the opportunity to clarify their question, or ask for clarification of the candidate's answer. I asked Downs, Vasey, and Williams if they would have attended the event if residents had been allowed to clarify their question, or ask for clarification on the candidate's response, if they would have attended? All three said they would have. They should be thanked for helping a possible future committee plan structure of a future event.
While I didn't ask this question, and think a future committee might ask that residents send their questions to a committee in advance, sign the question, and provide all the questions to all candidates signed up to attend, so that they could prepare. Something else to ask a future committee to consider.
What surprised me was that Downs, Vasey, and Williams, at one point or another all spoke in their own way about the division in the community, and wanting to bring the community together. We wish them well in their efforts.
In the end, I think that candidates Downs, Vasey, and Williams gained insight into governance in Wedgefield, and that the residents who attended learned a little more about the candidates.
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