MCC candidate forum runs into snag

Just one day after announcing that the Manchester Community Council (MCC) would be hosting a forum for the three Port Commission candidates at its regular meeting Tuesday, Secretary John Winslow conveyed a change in plans.

According to Winslow, the MCC invited Jim Thompson, Dave Kimble, Mark Rebelowski and Steve Pedersen, the unopposed candidate for the Manchester Water District Commissioner seat, to participate in the forum.

But the forum was canceled when several candidates were unavailable to participate, including Kimble, who is currently on a work assignment in Pittsburgh.

“We were unable to get all the candidates for Port Commission to participate and felt that the community would be better served by judging the candidates based on the material that will be available in the Voters’ Guide,” Winslow said. “We were hoping to have a least several of the candidates available.” Winslow added that as many as three of the four were not available for the forum. “We felt that to be fair to all the candidates we’d better not have a forum,” he said.

Winslow noted the purpose of any future forum is not to endorse any candidate for any position. “As a service to the community, we are offering this chance to meet the candidates,” he said. “However, there are some group members who would prefer the council stay out of politics altogether.

“I was a little disappointed,” Winslow said. “I think we’ll end up discussing (whether to reschedule the forum) at the meeting on Tuesday.”

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