October 17, 2011

The public is invited to a forum for Town of Davidson mayoral candidates on Sunday evening, Oct. 23. Challenger Vince Winegardner and incumbent John Woods will discuss issues facing the town beginning at 6 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room at Davidson College. There is no charge to attend.

The Davidson Think Tank is organizing the event to bring local political and civic issues to citizens' attention. The mayoral forum is the first of what the group hopes will be a series of events to be videotaped and posted on the Think Tank's video-blog for availability to the public.

The four Think Tank founders - Paul Miller, Paul Studtmann, Robert Lee and David Sitton-will serve as forum moderators to ask the candidates written questions from college faculty, students and town citizens. Questioners may then pose follow-up questions.

"The back-and-forth dialogue in a discussion format will allow us to delve deeper into candidates' philosophies on governance, town planning and other matters," explained Studtmann. He added that the college's emphasis for the current year on Civic Engagement makes the political forum an especially appropriate event.

The October 23 forum at the college follows another election forum scheduled for October 18 at St. Alban's Episcopal Church featuring the mayoral candidates and all town board members. In that forum, a moderator will ask a series of questions, and candidates will be allowed a response.

A third forum, also featuring town board members and mayoral candidates, is planned for October 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Davidson Presbyterian Church. This forum is sponsored by the Davidson Coalition for Fiscal Responsibility, a group organized this summer by Winegardner.

Terms of office for the Mayor and Davidson's five Commissioners are two years. Woods, a lifelong resident of the town and employee of Peoples Bank, was elected Mayor in 2007 following three terms as Mayor Pro-Tem.

Winegardner is a retired military officer who has lived in Davidson since 1998 and owns and manages a medical practice in Huntersville. He is a member of the Davidson Planning Board, a former president of the River Run Property Owners Association, and has served in a variety of other community leadership roles.

The Oct. 23 event is being sponsored by the Departments of Philosophy, Economics, Political Science and the Student Government. To contribute questions for the forum, or for more information, contact Studtmann at pastudtmann@davidson.edu.

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,900 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.
###