Mitchell voters will get their first and possibly only chance to hear from all six mayoral candidates at once during a Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce forum Tuesday night.
All six candidates -- John Claggett, Roger Haley, Becky Haslam, Jerry Toomey, Ken Tracy and Tara Volesky -- have been invit- ed to attend the forum, which is being organized by the chamber's Governmental Affairs Committee. It will begin at 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Technical Institute's Technology Center amphitheater and is scheduled to last 72 minutes.
The event will be webcast live at mitchellrepublic.com.
After the mayoral forum, the event will include a joint appearance by District 20 state Sen. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell, and Steve Sibson. Their forum is scheduled to last 27 minutes.
Sibson is running against Vehle in the Republican primary. In 2010, Sibson ran unsuccessfully against Vehle in the general election as an independent. District 20 includes Davison, Aurora and Jerauld counties.
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One week from tonight, on May 15, the chamber will present a candidates and issue forum for those running for Mitchell school board, the GOP nomination for Davison County treasurer, and on the referred vote on converting three city streets from one-way traffic to two-way.
All the school board candidates have been invited. They include Craig Guymon, Theresa Kriese, Ed Potzler and Neil Putnam. Kriese and Putnam are the incumbents. The forum is scheduled to last 48 minutes.
Davison County Treasurer Brenda Veldheer will appear along with challenger Christie Gunkel. Their forum is scheduled to last 27 minutes.
They are both running in the Republican primary. They have no Democratic challenger, although an independent candidate could file by June 5 to run in the Nov. 6 election, according to Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke.
Jeff Logan will speak on behalf of changing the streets to two-way traffic while Toomey will speak against the change. Their forum is scheduled to last 27 minutes.
The speakers will make opening and closing statements and will field questions from a media panel and from the audience. Both events start at 7 p.m. and will be held at the Mitchell Technical Institute Technology Center amphitheater, 1800 E. Spruce St.
So far, only 77 voters have cast early ballots in the election, according to the Davison County Auditor's Office. That is lower than what was expected, according to the Auditor's Office.
Voters can vote at the Auditor's Office in the county courthouse, 200 W. Fourth Ave., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Monday, June 4, the day before the June 5 election.
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Voters can cast an absentee ballot on June 5 if they are ill or have another reason they cannot get to their polling place.
The deadline to register to vote is 5 p.m. Monday, May 21.
