The North Kitsap Herald and KitsapDailyNews.com will host a candidates forum featuring the write-in candidates for Poulsbo City Council, Position 7, at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the courtroom at Poulsbo City Hall.

We thank the Office of the Mayor and BKAT for helping to make this happen. City Hall will be alive with activity that evening: The Mountaineers will meet in the City Council chambers, the Parks and Recreation Commission will meet in the third-floor conference room. And so, the candidates forum will take place in the courtroom, next to the police department. (Walk into the main City Hall entrance, take an immediate left.)

BKAT will tape the forum for broadcast at 7:30 a.m. Nov. 2, 7:30 a.m. Nov. 3, 11 p.m. Nov. 4, and 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. The forum will also be available for viewing on KitsapDailyNews.com.

This forum is important because it’s an opportunity to meet two late candidates for City Council: Abby Garland and Bill Mash. Their candidacies are unique; John R. Bukowsky is the only name on the ballot for the position, but he withdrew his candidacy. If elected, he won’t serve. But because his name is on the ballot, Garland or Mash must get more votes than Bukowsky or the position will be considered vacant and the City Council will appoint someone to the position.

Garland, a mom of three with a master’s in postsecondary education, is concerned about affordability issues. Mash, an artist and author, is concerned about bolstering the downtown economy.

The forum will follow the rules used by the League of Women Voters: Each candidate will make an opening statement. The moderator will ask questions submitted by the audience on index cards, and each candidate will have the opportunity to answer. Each candidate will make a closing statement.

We look forward to seeing you there.