Winners of the race for Port of Kingston Commission and North Kitsap School Board will be empowered to make decisions on your behalf. Decisions they make will affect how your tax dollars are spent, the quality and level of services they provide, and whether their agencies sink or swim in future economic storms.

So, your vote in the Aug. 16 primary is a very important one. Of all the North Kitsap races on the ballot this year, these two are the only ones that generated enough candidates to warrant a primary; we congratulate the candidates for fostering the discussion of issues that comes from campaigns.

The three candidates for Port of Kingston Commission, District 3, will meet the public in a candidates forum presented by the Kingston Chamber of Commerce July 26, 7 p.m., in the Kingston Cove Yacht Club. The candidates are Thomas A. Coultas, incumbent; Walt Elliott, chairman of the Kingston Ferry Advisory Committee; Jerry Kirschner, who led the Port of Kingston’s passenger ferry advisory team. The top two vote-getters in the Aug. 16 primary election will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

The three candidates for North Kitsap School Board, District 4, will meet the public in a candidates forum presented by the League of Women Voters of Kitsap County July 27, 7 p.m., at Poulsbo City Hall. The candidates are Julie Edwards, vice chairwoman of the Citizens Budget Review Committee during the 2010-11 school year; Scott Henden, a small-business owner and an assistant school sports coach; and Val Torrens, the incumbent and an adjunct political science teacher at Olympic College.

BKAT will record and televise the school board forum. The forum will be moderated by Catherine Ahl, a league member and former school board member. The league will also provide a timekeeper.

Both forums have the same format: Each candidate will get a two-minute opening statement, and one minute to one-and-a-half minutes to answer each question. Each candidate will make a two-minute closing statement.

Thank you, Kingston Chamber of Commerce and League of Women Voters, for presenting these forums. We encourage voters to attend and participate.