Redwood ACLU to Hold First Eureka Council Candidate Debate: September 12th

◼ The Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is holding a Candidates' Debate on Civil Liberties for the candidates for Eureka City Council (Ward 2) on Wednesday, September 12th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on live television -- Access Humboldt Channel 11 -- out of the Community Media Center studio at Eureka High School.

This debate will be held before a televised audience and in cooperation with independent producers working with Access Humboldt it will also be aired several times on public access Channels 11 & 12 and will likewise be available for later viewing on-line.

The debate will be moderated by Redwood ACLU Treasurer Peter Martin, and shall be staffed by other members of the Board of Directors of the Redwood ACLU, although any persons who have made any sort of campaign contribution or endorsement of any of the candidates in this year's election are excluded from involvement.

"The voters of Eureka actually have a contested race in this ward," Redwood ACLU Chair Greg Allen said. "The Redwood Chapter ACLU is pleased to be able to give the candidates a forum, and the voters a chance to hear and see what the candidates have to say."

The candidates have already expressed their willingness to participate in this debate, and both Linda Atkins and Joe Bonino are expected to attend. It is believed that this will be the first TV debate between the incumbent and challenger for this seat.

The debate sponsors held a successful televised debate for First District Supervisor earlier this year featuring Rex Bohn, Annette De Modena and Cheryl Seidner, with more audience questions flooding in than there was time for.

The Redwood ACLU kicked off this program by holding the only televised debate for all candidates for the Northern Humboldt High School District in 2005 at the Senior Room of the Arcata Community Center, and has also presented civil liberties-oriented forums for local city council races over the last seven years. In 2010, the Redwood ACLU hosted two televised debates, in both the primary and general elections, for all of the candidates running for District Attorney of Humboldt County -- the October 2010 run-off debate between Paul Gallegos and Allison Jackson was the first live event to be televised from the Access Humboldt studio at Eureka High School.

The Redwood ACLU, based in Eureka with over 850 members across the North Coast, is a non-partisan organization that never endorses or opposes candidates for public office.

The format of the debate will start with opening statements and an airing of the candidate’s views on questions posed by the moderator concerning civil liberties issues in Humboldt County. All other questions will be posed by phone-in questions from the television audience at (707) 336-2258 (in addition to Twitter questions @redwoodaclu and e-mail questions to redwoodaclu@hotmail.com), followed by closing statements. Each candidate will have the opportunity to issue rebuttals to the statements of the other.

Members of the press or public with questions may contact the Redwood ACLU at (707) 336-2258 or redwoodaclu@hotmail.com, or drop by our office at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka.