An Oxford Village Council Candidate Night has been slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 and residents have Scott Walter to thank for it.
Sponsored by the League of Women Voters Oakland Area (LWVOA), the informational event will take place in the Oxford Community Room at 22 W. Burdick St. ? right across the hall from the village council chambers.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government. Local area leagues merged in 1991 to form the Oakland Area League (www.lwvoa.org).
Walter, a 24-year-old Oxford resident and private music teacher, assisted the Oakland Area League in setting up this forum which offers citizens the opportunity to meet the candidates face-to-face and ask them questions.
A Lake Orion native who moved just outside Oxford Village on Nippigon Drive a little more than a year ago, Walter said this forum is important ‘to create awareness? among local voters about the upcoming election and the candidates involved.
‘I think the majority of people don’t even know that there is (an election) taking place,? he said.
One four-year council seat will be up for grabs in the Sept. 13 village election. Incumbent Councilman Tom Benner and challenger Sue McGinnis are running for the open seat.
Each candidate will be given two minutes to present an opening address to the audience at the Aug. 31 forum.
A question-and-answer period will follow during which each candidate will be given one minute to answer each question.
Questions will be submitted in writing by members of the audience and presented to the candidates by a LWVOA moderator.
To the best of her knowledge, Lisa Bauer, the recently elected LWVOA president, said this is the first candidate forum the Oakland Area League has hosted in this area.
A resident of nearby Ortonville, Bauer said she ‘initiated the push to begin providing more services like candidate forums to outlying areas.?
‘I recognize as a resident of a village on the northern border of Oakland County that the issues of (urban) sprawl and wise growth are becoming serious concerns for our communities,? she said.
‘It is our local governments that will most directly decide how we will balance growth with the desire to protect our small town community life-style.?
Bauer was very appreciative of the instrumental role Walter played in helping organize a candidate night in Oxford.
Walter secured the location for the forum and made arrangements with the local cable access station (Channel 19) to televise the event.
‘It is challenging to organize forums outside of a community and he was a big help in our effort to reach out to Oxford,? Bauer said.
In addition to helping organize this candidate forum, Walter recently joined the Oxford DDA’s Organization Committee, one of four committees that make up the local Main Street program. ‘It’s just neat to find out what’s going on. To help in any way that I can to preserve the small town intimacy,? he said.