KINGSTON — Kingston Port Commission candidates Walt Elliott and Jerry Kirschner will answer the public’s questions at a candidates forum sponsored by the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce tonight at 7 in the Kingston Cove Yacht Club.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Attendees can write questions on index cards; the questions will be asked by the moderator during the forum. Each candidate will make a three-minute opening statement, will be given one and a half minutes to respond to each question, and will make a three-minute closing statement.
The forum will be moderated by Richard Walker, editor of the Kingston Community News and KingstonCommunityNews.com.
The general election is Nov. 8.
Elliott (www.Walt4Port.com) graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and has a master’s degree in engineering management from Catholic University. During his U.S. Navy career, he commanded the USS Henry Jackson and USS Simon Bolivar; and led a Navy research, engineering and industrial enterprise in Newport, R.I.
Elliott is chairman of the Kingston Ferry Advisory Committee; co-chairman of the Washington Council of Ferry Advisory Committees; and a member of the Kingston Citizens Advisory Council, Kingston Parks and Trails Committee, Kingston Sub-Area Plan Steering Committee. He and his wife, Bobbie Moore, have kept a boat at the Port of Kingston marina for 20 years.
Kirschner (www.Kirschner4Kingston.com) graduated from Xavier University and earned a PhD in chemistry at Purdue University. He worked for 26 years at Eli Lilly and Co, of which 20 years were in management positions.
He is chairman of the Passenger-Only Ferry Advisory Committee. In Indiana, he served as a director of the Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union and the Terra Haute Symphony, and two-term president of his church parish council. He earned a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton master’s license and has sailed more than 35,000 miles, including two ocean crossings, with his wife, Nancy.
Port of Kingston commissioners are each elected to six-year terms. Port commissioners are empowered by state law to set objectives, policies and overall direction for the port district. They wield considerable authority: They can exercise the right of eminent domain, levy and collect assessments on property within the district without voter approval to provide services to the public, and issue bonds and impose excess levies for specific purposes.
An earlier story about the candidates: “Elliott, Kirschner differ on subtleties,” Sept. 30 KingstonCommunityNews.com.
