Democracy for Vancouver

www.clarkblog.org has launched a grassroots effort to sponsor a debate among all of the candidates in the upcoming Vancouver City Council races this August. Three incumbents have filed for reelection; Councilmen Tim Leavitt, Larry Smith and Dan Tonkovich. To date, Tonkovich is the only incumbent who has not agreed to the debate, while Leavitt and Smith have enthusiastically endorsed the idea and agreed to participate in it. Don Yingling and David Kallstrom filed on Friday and have not yet been contacted by Clarkblog, but will be invited to join this debate. Candidates Charles Stemper and Pat Campbell have agreed to the debate as well. Plans call for a formal, Moderated, 90 minute debate to be held on Wednesday, August 15th 2007, at the Firstenberg Community Center in East Vancouver. An effort is underway among a group of private citizens in East Vancouver to secure a Moderator, and an announcement of that selection will be forthcoming. The format of the debate calls for questions from citizens to be submitted to the Moderator, who will select and pose the questions to the Candidates. This will be the first event of it's kind for the nearly year-old Firstenberg Center, and the sponsors hope to have the event covered by CVTV (Clark Vancouver Television) as well as the local Public Access channel 11. Space will be provided for Internet journalists, along with seating for the Public who will be admitted free of charge. Further announcements concerning the debate will be made at www.clarkblog.org in coming weeks about more specifics of this real grassroots event. Inquiries may be directed to bkoski@worldaccessnet.com. Chief

Update:  Event cancelled