The Town-Crier newspaper will host a televised Royal Palm Beach candidate forum on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Royal Palm Beach Village Meeting Hall council chambers.
The two candidates seeking the Group 1 seat on the Royal Palm Beach Village Council in this year’s election have been invited to participate in the forum.
In that race, education activist Julie Highsmith is challenging incumbent Councilman Jeff Hmara. The race is the only item on the Tuesday, March 8 municipal ballot.
The Feb. 22 forum will last approximately two hours and will be moderated by Town-Crier Executive Editor Joshua Manning with questions posed by Town-Crier staff members and the community.
All residents are invited to attend the forum. For those who cannot make it in person, the forum will be broadcast on the village’s Channel 18 and streamed live on the village’s web site and YouTube channel.
The forum will be broken up into two 50-minute sessions with a 10-minute break in between. Each candidate will provide an opening statement before being asked a series of questions by Town-Crier staff members.
Residents will be invited to submit questions during the first half of the forum. Moderator-chosen questions from those submitted will be asked during the second half of the forum. Each candidate will also be given time to make a closing statement.
“We’re excited to once again stage this event for the Royal Palm Beach community,” Town-Crier Publisher Barry Manning said. “We look forward to a very informative candidate forum. Our mission at the Town-Crier is to keep residents informed on important local issues, and crucial to that is helping to keep voters informed on election issues.”
The Royal Palm Beach Village Meeting Hall is located at the southeast corner of Okeechobee and Royal Palm Beach boulevards.
Residents not attending the forum in person are invited to submit a question in advance. Questions can be submitted in a sealed envelope marked “Confidential/Candidate Forum” and dropped off at the Village Clerk’s office prior to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
