From Mona’s desk Dear Disinformation
Dear Disinformation, I am writing to clear up any confusion there may be about the Media Candidate Forum for Dist. 43 Legislative Seat held April 24 in Broken Bow.
It’s been brought to my attention that there is concern that the Chief provided the questions to one Legislative candidate prior to the forum and not the other. That is disinformation. The media did not release questions to either of the Legislative Candidates.
I reiterate, the questions posed to Tanya Storer and Tony Tangwall were not given by the Chief to either candidate ahead of time.
And, for those keeping track, I have it on record that KCNI/KBBN and KBEAR 92.3 did not share the questions ahead of time, either.
Both Storer and Tangwall filed for office Jan. 26. They have had three months to familiarize themselves with issues and communities in District 43, if they didn’t already know them. By now, both should have a heightened awareness of issues important to District 43 voters. Anyone attending a forum or debate or participating in a candidate interview this year in Nebraska should know that property taxes, school funding and the EPIC option are top of the discussion list with gender issues and abortion not far behind.
There should have been no surprises at the forum. If there were, it lies in preparation for the event, not in the media handing out questions.
In retrospect, though, one could say each candidate was “given” the questions ahead of time.
Some time before the decision was made to hold a forum, I personally had the opportunity to visit with both District 43 candidates. When speaking with Tangwall, I asked about property taxes, EPIC and his history of delinquent property and income taxes. With Storer, I asked about property taxes, EPIC and what happened in Cherry County with the wind turbines and lawsuits. If conversations held weeks before we knew there was to be a forum count, then I am guilty of that but no more.
The questions asked at the forum were a combination of questions submitted by the public as well as some written by media representatives. Media reps chose topics of interest to themselves. I knew what I wanted to ask and the representatives of the radio stations knew what they wanted to ask. We coordinated so as to not duplicate questions but the exact wording of questions from each representative was not known to the others until spoken at the forum.
For the remainder of the campaign season, I offer this piece of advice: Running as a candidate for office is a job interview. I was taught that, before going on a job interview, research the company you are interviewing with so that you may answer questions confidently and knowledgeably. Whether or not a candidate chooses to do research and learn details about communities and people in District 43, that is an individual candidate’s decision.
If, in the future, you have questions or concerns about the work or integrity of the Custer County
Chief, I encourage you to contact us directly. Disinformation that swirls around elections these days is dismaying and we will work with you to set the record straight.
By the way, in case anyone is interested, the media did not release questions to the County Supervisor candidates ahead of time, either, and they handled their questions quite well.