Italy Candidate Forum Update

The city called me back about the candidate forum.

Keith Whitfield told me they can't do it in city hall. I would have to use the community center instead. He didn't give a reason for why city hall was off the table. I'll be honest: I didn't ask, either. I was annoyed.

Keith transferred me to the front desk for community center pricing. The rates are $200 for six hours or $250 for twelve hours, plus a $75 cleaning deposit.

What the City Could Have Done

Under the Texas Election Code, a government building can be made available for candidate-related events as long as the access is content-neutral, meaning no candidate or viewpoint is favored over another. All I was asking for was a room, a date, and the PA system that's already there. I offered to cover any expenses. I offered to handle all the organizing. No city employees would need to be involved.

Instead of finding a way to make that work, the city pointed me to a rental.

The Real Cost

On the surface, a couple hundred dollars and a cleaning deposit might not sound like much. But organizing a candidate forum at the community center means more than just showing up and turning on a microphone.

The community center doesn't have a PA system. So I need to find one, rent one, or buy one. I need to show up early to set everything up and test it. I need to take time off work to do that. By the time you add up the rental fee, the deposit, PA equipment, setup time, and lost wages, the cost of hosting this forum rapidly exceeded $1,000.

For that kind of money, I could purchase professional audio and video gear and produce something better than a community center forum would ever be.

Moving On

I'm not going to force the city to work with me on this. I was already uncomfortable being in the council chambers, and the city has made it clear, once again, that they will take every available avenue to avoid finding a way to work with me. So I'll stop asking.

I'm going to do this my own way.

What's Coming

I will have the candidate questions published soon. Along with those questions, I'll share my preferred format for responses: recorded video interviews with each candidate at a predetermined public location, on an upcoming Monday evening at 6 PM. The date and location will be announced once finalized.

This gives every candidate the same opportunity, the same questions, and the same format. No city hall needed. No rental fees. No middleman. Just candidates answering questions on camera for the voters of Italy to watch and judge for themselves.