I had the pleasure of moderating the Licking County Chamber of Commerce's Annual Candidates forum last night.  I am always impressed by local office seekers.  These candidates are more-often-than-not individuals who hold down day jobs.  Still they seek important local posts because of an interest in improving their community.

We heard from the candidates for Mayor in nearby Heath and Pataskala along with the two Newark City Treasurer candidates.

Coverage of the event is here.

Our local radio station, WCLT, broadcast the event live and posted audio of the forum here.  The Chamber will shortly be posting video of the event on YouTube (I'll link when available).

The Chamber, and its Government Affairs Committee (of which I am a member), works diligently every year to put this great event together.  The Committee also surveys candidates for public office on business-related issues and distributes their answers in the interest of informed voters.  The survey results for this year's election cycle can be found here.  This committee is made up of civic-minded men and women who have day jobs yet still volunteer their time to improve their community.

Finally, what impressed me was the professionalism and civility of the candidates and the crowd.  When these candidates disagreed, they disagreed without name-calling or shouts.  The crowd of business men and women seemed to enjoy the exchanges and walked away more informed - our republic in action.

Update:  Mayor of Heath race here.  Mayor of Pataskala race here, here, and here.  Newark Treasurer's race here and here.