Forum to feature council candidates

Event scheduled for 6:30 a.m. today at Arizona Western College

Candidates vying for three seats on the Yuma City Council will share their viewpoints at a forum set for 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at Arizona Western College Schoening Conference Center, 2020 S. Ave 8E.

If unable to attend, the Yuma Sun invites readers to check out where candidates stand on issues in a story in Friday’s edition.

The Yuma County Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Yuma City Council Candidate Forum as the program for the monthly breakfast Good Morning, Yuma! The cost is $15 and includes breakfast.

Scheduled to appear are the following candidates: Deputy Mayor Gary Knight; former councilwoman Leslie McClendon; retired Yuma Police Department Officer Greg Counts; Ken Rosevear, retired executive director of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce; and nurse practitioner Karen Watts.

Candidates Kristina Rojas McNair and Shelley Ostrowski are unable to attend, nor is write-in candidate Valerie McIntire.

Mayor Doug Nicholls and Presiding Municipal Judge James Coil are each running unopposed.

The city’s election takes place Aug. 29, when voters will fill the offices of mayor, three council seats and presiding municipal judge.

City elections are nonpartisan and no affiliations to political parties are disclosed. Council candidates are not bound to specific geographic areas; seats are held at large.

Candidates may be elected to office in the primary if they receive 50 percent plus one vote among ballots cast. Any candidate who receives a majority of all ballots cast at the primary will be declared elected.

In the event that seats remain open following the primary election, the general election will be held Nov. 7. Those elected to these positions would each serve a four-year term beginning Jan. 1 and ending Dec. 31, 2021.