Beverly Taylor Ellis, candidate for Wichita Falls Mayor, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
The Student Government Association teamed up with the League of Women Voters to host a candidate forum Thursday in CSC Comanche. All city council and mayoral candidates attend the forum to answer questions and share their visions for MSU. The event offered students an accessible place to connect with local issues, but also drew a large number of community members to campus.
Carol Murray, candidate for Wichita Falls Mayor, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
SGA president and political science senior Zetta Cannedy said she was especially pleased with the turnout.
Scott Poenitzsch, candidate for Wichita Falls Mayor, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
“This is our second time doing this, and the one thing we learned from last year is put out more chairs, a lot more chairs, and they were almost all full. So we have a lot of community members, we have a lot of students that came out to listen to our candidates and overall I think it went off without a hitch. It was really great and I loved the turnout for this year,” Cannedy said.
Tim Short, candidate for Wichita Falls Mayor, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
Psychology freshman Jalecia Thompson said she came out to the event for extra credit but that the forum ended up being “eye-opening.” Several candidates addressed building entertainment options and career paths that would be enticing to young professionals, and Thompson said she was glad it was a topic of discussion.
Jeff Browning, candidate for Wichita Falls City Council District 3, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
“I thought it was kind of cool what they talked about in the city of Wichita. Not going to lie, I noticed first thing that the city was kind of dead. So I liked that everyone else knew it was kind of dead too, and that these new people they’re trying to elect in are kind of like thinking about that,” Thompson said.
Cathy Dodson, candidate for Wichita Falls City Council District 3, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
“Most MSU students aren’t really involved in the community anyway, so I think this is a pretty good opportunity to find out how you can be connected to the community, how the community is trying to like reach out to us and get us to stay,” she added.
Mike Battaglino, candidate for Wichita Falls City Council District 4, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
Betty Richie, president of the League of Women Voters of Wichita Falls was one of the primary organizers for the event.
Kevin Hunter, candidate for Wichita Falls City Council District 4, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
Richie said she wanted to bring the event to MSU to make politics more accessible to younger members of the community. She added that the students who helped organize and pull off the event worked hard.
Samuel Pak, candidate for Wichita Falls District 4, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
“As a former educator, I feel very strongly about promoting our youth. And I said, Zetta and Andres, amazing, amazing young people, and they’ll go far,” Richie said.
Tom Taylor, candidate for Wichita Falls City Council District 5, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
Cannedy said she shared Richie’s hope that students would get involved in the civic process.
Steve Jackson, candidate for Wichita Falls City Council District 5, Sept. 28. (Sam Difiore)
“So especially if you’re a freshman, get registered to vote in Wichita County and hear what the Wichita Falls city council and mayors have. Because tonight we had a lot of questions about MSU, we had a lot of questions impacting young professionals, so students really got to hear the decisions they make and how really it impacts so much of what they do, especially in their higher education journey,” Cannedy said.
