'Talk Berkshires' Hosting Pittsfield Mayoral Forum
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| 'Talk Berkshires' Sherman Baldwin and John Garb. |
Local radio show "Talk Berkshires," in collaboration Berkshire Money Management, Pittsfield Community Television and Crowne Plaza Hotel will sponsor the town hall-style debate on Monday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. in the hotel's grand ballroom.
This will be the final opportunity for the voters to collectively address and question the candidates prior to the preliminary election. The election will determine which two candidates will face off on the general election ballot on Nov. 3.
A forum sponsored by The Pittsfield Gazette, hosted by Berkshire Community College and also televised by PCTV will be held Monday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in the college's Boland Theater. A free-form forum with nine of the candidates was moderated by Daniel Valenti on PCTV last month.
The 10 candidates are Nicholas J. Caccamo, Patricia "Pam" Malumphy, incumbent James M. Ruberto, Mark A. Marciano, Rick E. Moon, Daniel L. Bianchi, Paul Kwasniowski, Stephen A. Fillio, Lisa M. Boyd and Jeffrey W. Ferrin.
The two-hour debate will be moderated by Sherman Baldwin, host of WBRK's "Talk Berkshires," and will air live on WBRK-AM 1340, its FM station Star 101.7, and PCTV. Attendance at the debate will be on a first-come, first-seated basis.
"When we launched Talk Berkshires on May 18, 2009, we made a commitmentto provide the Berkshires with an unprecedentedand unique level of community involvement," said John Garb, producer and co-host. "This debate represents a unique opportunity for the voting public to ask questions and participate directly with us in this crucial part of the election process."
The "Talk Berkshires" forum will look to the participating audience rather than the moderator to ask the majority of questions directly of the candidates. In addition, radio listeners and television viewers will be invited to submit questions via live texting and e-mail during the debate.
All questions will be submitted to an unbiased review panel that will be responsible for selecting those questions that best represent the widest possible range of relevant issues, but the questions will be posed directly by the respective audience members.
The panel will be comprised of locally respected community members, and will be announced shortly.
All audience members intending to submit questions must arrive at the venue no later than 3:30 p.m, Monday Sept. 21. iBerkshires will also be covering the forum.
"Talk Berkshires" airs on WBRK-AM 1340 weekday afternoons from 3 to 6.
