With the Nov. 7 election day approaching, Perry residents are invited to attend a Perry Candidate Forum at the Perry Public Library Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
The forum, to be moderated by ThePerryNews.com and possibly others, will follow a presentation at 6 p.m. by Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson on the local option sales tax (LOST) measure that voters will also face on election day.
Six candidates are scheduled to participate in the forum. One-term Perry City Council member John Andorf is giving up his at-large council seat in order to run for the position of Perry mayor. Andorf will be the only candidate on the ballot for mayor.
Second-district Perry City Council member Dr. Randy McCaulley is running unopposed for a third term on the council.
Four first-time candidates are vying for the at-large city council seat vacated by Andorf:
- Harlan DenBeste, a retired cell biologist with the biotechnology company GIBCO, moved to Perry in 2012.
- Liz Hix, a Perry native and accountant at Van Wall Equipment near Perry, sits on the Perry Airport Commision.
- Vicki Klein recently retired after 23 years in the Dallas County Auditor’s office, including serving 16 years as Deputy Auditor.
- Ron Leber, a Perry native and 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army, currently works in residential treatment at the Woodward Resource Center.
Perry voters and other interested readers are encouraged to submit questions for the candidates in advance of the forum either in the comment thread at the bottom of this story or in the comment thread on ThePerryNews Facebook page.
Peterson will also give his local option sales tax (LOST) presentation in the library Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Some points of Peterson’s talk can be found in the presentation he delivered Oct. 2 before the Perry City Council.
1. One of the requirements of a government servant is to identify the needs in a community. Tell me a time in which you’ve identified an existing need. Briefly describe the situation and when it occurred. What was the need you identified? How did you go about identifying it? What actions did you personally take to fulfill this need? What was the result of your actions? Looking back would you do anything differently? Why?
2. Government servants field complaints. Describe a time when you’ve dealt with an irate person. Briefly describe the situation and when it occurred. What actions did you personally take to deal with the person? What was the result of your actions? Looking back would you do anything differently? Why?
3. Regardless of the experience you bring to this role, you are likely to encounter topics and issues outside your personal area of expertise. Topics on which you may have to make decisions. Describe a time when you’ve been in such a situation — needing to make a decision on a topic outside your area of expertise. Briefly describe the situation and when it occurred. How did you handle this situation? That is, how did you approach it? What was your process? What did you personally do? What was the result of your actions?