Candidate Zoom forum very effective

Three candidates, Lisa Garrison, Brandon Shepherd and Trent Knuckles, out of the seven running for City Commission in Corbin, showed up for the “Meet the Candidates” forum sponsored by the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Monday evening.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

This is opposed to all eight candidates that were present for the Williamsburg City Council contest that was presented by the Chamber one week earlier. You can fill in the blank as to the candidates’ participation.

I was the moderator for the evening and the forum went smoothly. I learned a lot about the candidates. It is disappointing that the other four candidates were not present.

I realize that many people had already cast their vote by the time the forum aired, but this recently thought of idea by the Chamber of Commerce Director, Bruce Carpenter, for putting the candidates in front of the taxing paying citizens via the “Zoom” platform on the Internet, plus having it aired on T-107.3 radio was a good idea, one that will serve the citizens well in the future.

I have moderated several candidate forums in the past that were open to the public. The Monday evening zoom cast was a much better way of reaching the voters and hundreds of viewers tuned in.

So much for yard signs. They tell me nothing about a candidate except their name. This newspaper sent out questionaires to the candidates and the responses are in this edition of this newspaper. That is one way we can find out about those running for office, but the ability for voters to sit in their homes and see and hear a candidate react to questions is an excellent way too.

It is my hope that those seeking office in the future will see the value of informing the voters via the Internet and participate. My congratulations to the three in Corbin that did participate. All did an excellent job. The forum can be seen on Facebook by going to the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce page.

As for the candidates running for office on the state and national scene, I would vote for any candidate who would make conquering cancer as their top priority. COVID-19 is awful and it warrants the attention it is getting from the scientific community. It must be eradicated.

In all the talk from candidates I wanted to hear them give attention to eradicating cancer as a top priority. Are you aware that cancer will take the lives of over 600,000 citizens of the United States this year?

I know personally about the suffering and agony cancer produces. My mother and father and six sisters had cancer. My wife and I both have had cancer.

Rather than repeat slanderous television ad after ad, wouldn’t it be better if candidates would talk about health issues and things that directly affect us?

Coronavirus is something we can help prevent by simply wearing a mask and keeping social distance. A vaccine can’t come soon enough. Some cancers can be prevented by not smoking and eating a healthy diet.

Health issues are our biggest enemies and have received little attention during the campaign. Government must do more to help conquer them!