Battleground Race 2024: Deschutes County Commissioner Position #2 candidates community forum.
Channel: Connect Central Oregon
Date: 12/04/2024

The candidates for Deschutes County Commissioner Position #2 will participate in a community candidate forum in Bend on Thursday, April 11th from 6:00-8:00pm at the Larkspur Community Center in Bend. Voters are encouraged to attend in person or watch online.

All filed candidates scheduled to participate:

Phil Chang
Brian Huntamer
Robert Clark Imhoff
Judy Trego

The forum is produced by the Central Oregon Open Programming Media Group (COOPMG), a program of Connect Central Oregon, and is hosted in partnership with The Bulletin/EO Media. The forum will be facilitated in a non-partisan forum format by:

 Tim Trainor, Editor-Redmond Spokesman
 Alan Unger, Former County Commissioner and Community Leader
 Cheri Helt, Former State Representative and Local Business Owner

Candidates will include brief remarks and engage in conversational dialog with questions from local leaders and the community.

To submit questions to the pool, email: ‘decision@connectcentraloregon.org’.

In-person and online participants are invited to submit questions during the forum, with those moderated questions presented at the forum and through followup conversation.

“By driving a dialog rather than straight debate of campaign platforms and slogans, EO Media and Connect Central Oregon are attempting to create a conversation that will enable voters to get a better understanding of the candidates and extend the dialog past the event itself,” noted Jim Fister, CCO board member and Program Director of the COOPMG initiative. “There will be other forums run by very capable organizations that are more traditional in their approach, and we feel that the combination of these forums will help to enable informed voter decisions.”

Another of the regional “battleground” races^, The office of Deschutes County Commissioner Position #2 is, for the first time, a non-partisan, 4-year term scheduled for the May 21st Primary Election. If, during the May 21st Primary Election, no candidate receives a majority of the votes (50% + 1 vote) for this office, the two candidates with the highest number of votes are nominated and advance to the General Election in November.

The forum will begin at 6:00pm with a 10-minute break, and is scheduled to end at 8:00pm, followed by an opportunity to meet and mingle with the candidates and other community members.

To attend in person:
 Doors open: 5:30pm
 Candidate meet: 8:00pm
Larkspur Community Center
1600 SE Reed Market Rd
Bend, OR 97702

To watch live:
6:00pm-8:00pm
https://www.youtube.com/@connectcentraloregon

Connect Central Oregon (CCO) serves the Central Oregon community by engaging in volunteerism, mentorship, innovation, and partnerships to foster community involvement and support future leaders in personal and professional development. Learn more at connectcentraloregon.org.

EO Media Group is a private, family-owned company with deep roots in the Pacific Northwest. With newspapers and magazines including The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman in Deschutes County, EOMG's owners are active in the business and dedicated to community journalism reflecting the responsibility and spirit of a free press.

^ Connect Central Oregon identifies battleground races in part with criteria from Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:Battlegrounds