Candidate forums set for Monday and Tuesday

Wahkiakum County residents will be able hear political candidates discuss issues at two candidate forums next week.

The Eagle is sponsoring a forum Monday, 7 p.m., at the Pioneer Community Center (Pioneer Church). The Grays River Grange is sponsoring a forum on Tuesday, 7 p.m., at the Grange hall in Grays River.

The Eagle invites readers to submit questions to pose to local candidates at the forum we're sponsoring next Monday in Cathlamet.

This forum will focus on local races--county commissioner and treasurer and Wahkiakum PUD commissioner. All local candidates are invited to speak, whether or not their race will be on the primary ballot.

Candidates will have an opportunity to make a statement, and they'll answer written questions submitted by the public.

Questions should be directed at all candidates for a particular office, not an individual candidate. Submit them by email to ernelson@teleport.com, or send or deliver a written copy to our office by 12 noon on Monday. There will also be an opportunity to write questions at the forum. The authors of the questions will remain anonymous.

The forum will be next Monday, 7 p.m., at the Pioneer Community Center in Cathlamet.

Cathlamet attorney Tom Doumit will be moderator.

Here is the information about the Grays River Grange Forum:

A Primary Election Forum will be held at the Grays River Grange Hall on July 24, at 7 p.m. The Grange is nonpartisan and all candidates are invited to attend. Candidates for State House and Senate will attend. Wahkiakum County office seekers will also be there. Come and hear what these candidates have to say. There will be questions too.

Grays River Grange is hosting this year’s salmon dinner at the Finnish American Folk Festival on July 28. Fresh Alaskan salmon, Finnish potatoes, fresh salad greens from Homegrown in Naselle, fresh baked bread, and much more are on the menu and all for $15. What a deal! Dinner starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. Plan a day at the Finnish American Folk Festival. It’s a great place to eat some salmon, and run into past classmates, friends and neighbors you haven’t seen in a while. Grangers are needed to help put the meal together. If you are willing to help, please call and leave a message at 465-2268 and we will get back to you.

This spring, Grays River Grange passed a resolution calling for more transparency in federal election advertisements. This is in the spirit of a new Washington State law. In the fall, when our airwaves and mailboxes will be flooded with advertisements that are independent of campaigns, the name, city and occupation of the top five donors will be featured on state-based materials. The legislature passed this law because of serious abuses in elections. In one case, Olympia insider lobbies flooded a district with negative ads while hiding behind innocuous sounding names clearly designed to mislead voters about who was really paying for the campaign. At the Washington State Grange convention last June, Grangers passed our resolution and transparency in federal elections is now our state policy. The resolution is headed to National Grange to be considered by the delegates at the convention in Boise this fall. If this resolution becomes national policy, we will have a voice in Congress to support laws that give voters more information about where the money that buys all the ads in federal campaigns is really coming from.

Need to contact the Grange, call 465-2268 and leave a message or email grange@wwest.net. Don’t forget to visit the Grange website http://graysriver.grange.wahkiakum.info.

Grays River Grange meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Dinner begins at 6:45 p.m. and the business meeting at 7:30 p.m.