The City of White Rock’s first all-candidates forum has been announced, but it’s possible that not every candidate will get an opportunity to participate.
The Peninsula Homeless to Housing (PH2H) task force announced at its regular monthly meeting Friday that it is to host an all-candidates forum Oct. 9 at Church of the Holy Trinity, 7 p.m. The event is to have a focus on affordability and housing.
However, organizers noted that the growing list of candidates – an unofficial count is up to 22 candidates as of Sunday – may be difficult to accommodate.
“It’s an impossible number to deal with at an all-candidates meeting,” PH2H member Peter Greenwell told task force members.
Task force members briefly discussed how they could accommodate all candidates, with opening introductions plus an opportunity to answer questions.
PH2H member Pat Petrala suggested that one option would be to invite all independent candidates to the Q&A forum, but require slates (Democracy Direct and White Rock Coalition) to nominate one representative to participate.
PH2H chairman Rick Bayer put together a committee to create rules for the event, and create a list of questions for the candidates.
“It’s interesting how complex civic elections are,” Bayer said to the group. “For somebody who has just lived here for three years, this whole idea of coalitions and sending a rep to represent your group… For a small city, this level of complexity…”
Residents of cities across B.C. go to the polls Oct. 20.
The task force, which is a volunteer-based group operating on a limited budget, also discussed how it could secure funding for the work they do.
“We don’t need a lot of money to operate, but we need some money to operate,” Bayer told members.
Leading up to the all-candidates forum, the group has put together a sponsorship package.
To register as a sponsor, or make a donation, contact ph2htaskforce@gmail.com or 604-910-7746.
