AAUW, Leadership MH to host local candidate forums

The Nov. 8 ballot will be filled with choices for candidates and issues at every level of government. Two local organizations and the City of Morgan Hill aim to help local voters become informed by sponsoring three public candidate forums in the coming weeks. 

Candidate forums on Sept. 15, Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 will take place at Morgan Hill City Council chambers, located at 17555 Peak Ave., from 7-9pm. Members of the public can attend in person, or watch online as all three forums will be broadcast on the city’s social media channels. 

The forums are sponsored by the Morgan Hill branch of the American Association of University Women, Leadership Morgan Hill and the City of Morgan Hill, says a press release from the AAUW. 

The first forum, on Sept. 15, will feature the two candidates for Santa Clara County Supervisor District 1, Sylvia Arenas and Johnny Khamis; and both candidates for Assembly District 28, Gail Pellerin and Liz Lawler. The public can send questions (to [email protected]) for these candidates to be asked at the forum by Sept. 13, or attend the event and submit questions in writing. 

The Sept. 29 forum will gather the nonpartisan candidates for the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education. These candidates are Nancy Altman and incumbent Wendy Sullivan for Trustee Area 1; James Dill and incumbent John Horner for Trustee Area 2; Armando Benavides, Dennis Paul Delisle and Terri Knudsen for Trustee Area 3; and Pamela Gardiner and incumbent Carol Gittens for Trustee Area 4. 

The AAUW press release advises voters to visit the website tinyurl.com/4e3wceck to find what MHUSD Trustee Area they reside in. 

Questions for the MHUSD Board of Education candidates can be submitted by Sept. 27 to [email protected]. 

The Oct. 13 candidate forum will feature candidates for Morgan Hill mayor: Larry Carr, incumbent Rich Constantine and Mark Turner. It will also include candidates for Morgan Hill City Council District B—incumbent Yvonne Martinez Beltran and Bryan Sutherland—and for City Council District D—Marilyn Librers and incumbent John McKay. 

Questions for these candidates can be emailed to [email protected] by Oct. 11 to be asked at the Oct. 13 forum, says the press release. 

The Morgan Hill City Council’s four new districts have new lines for the Nov. 8 election, after the city was required to update boundaries for the 2020 U.S. Census. To find out what district you reside in, visit tinyurl.com/2p8w88tk. 

All three forums will follow the same format, says the AAUW press release. The facilitator will introduce the candidates and other participants, and the moderator will direct questions submitted by the public to each candidate. All candidates will be held to time limits.