Linton mayoral debate set for Oct. 16

Someone made the statement earlier this week that "it has been a pretty quiet election so far."

That statement came from someone in Linton. If you're from Bloomfield, it's been anything but quiet.

For the Linton mayoral race, it's a true statement. But it's early.

Nov. 6 is right around the corner, but people don't usually get too excited about an election until the final weeks or days.

That's when the fun starts.

Politicians love talking about how important their particular race is to the overall future of their city, town or county. "Our future depends on what happens in this election." It's political jargon.

In the case of the Linton mayoral race, that's a pretty fair assessment.

Linton is far from out of the woods in its economic recovery, but things do seem to be heading in the right direction -- even though it may be at a snail's pace.

Some new businesses have picked Greene County's largest city to open shop, and there's excitement in the air about future businesses doing the same -- and at least one having the real possibility of employing a decent number with decent pay.

That's all good news. But sitting back and hoping the trend will continue isn't an option.

The next mayor must -- MUST -- be ready to make some tough decisions no matter what people think. Being mayor isn't a popularity contest.

Voters need to know as much as possible about Democrat incumbent mayor Tom Jones and his Republican challenger, Kelly Foglesong, a current member of the Linton City Council.

That's why the Greene County Daily World will sponsor a mayoral debate Oct. 16. It will start at 7 p.m. in the Linton-Stockton High School auditeria.

Jones and Foglesong agreed to the debate shortly after the May primary, when Jones defeated challenger Keith McDonald and Foglesong was unopposed.

The date, though, wasn't finalized until Tuesday.

The newspaper wanted a day that would hopefully work best for the largest percentage of voters who wanted to attend. Wednesday isn't good because it's church night for a lot of folks, and Friday night means football. On Monday there are a lot of meetings.

Both candidates agreed that Tuesday was a good choice.

Jones, Foglesong and myself will meet sometime next month to go over the groundrules of the debate, and also go over the topics.

The candidates will bring a list of topics they'd like to be included in the debate, and I'll do the same. We'll then come to a consensus on the topics. The questions at the debate will then come from those topics, giving both candidates an equal chance to prepare.

They won't know the questions, but they will know the topics.

It hasn't been decided yet if questions from the audience will be allowed.

The audience won't be allowed to become unruly. Taunting the candidates, both verbally and physically, won't be tolerated.

Linton Police Chief Troy Jerrell has agreed to have an officer present that night, and I will personally ask that officer to escort anyone who becomes unruly out of the auditeria.

To use some political jargon, this election/debate is too important for Linton's future to allow someone to disrupt it by being stupid.

All Linton City Council candidates will also be offered three to five minutes to talk about their views of the city. That will take place at the end of the mayoral debate.