The Town-Crier newspaper will host a televised Royal Palm Beach candidate forum on Monday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Royal Palm Beach Village Council chambers.
The six candidates running in this year’s municipal election — three seeking the Mayor’s Seat and three seeking the Group 3 Seat on the Royal Palm Beach Village Council — have been invited to participate in the forum.
In the race for mayor, Jeff Hmara, who was appointed mayor in October to fill the vacancy created by the unexpected death of Mayor Fred Pinto, is running to keep the top job, challenged by Vice Mayor Selena Samios, as well as political newcomer Justin Plaza. The race for Group 3 includes Steve Avila, who challenged Pinto for mayor last year, along with Pinto’s widow Donielle Pinto, and Sylvia Sharps.
The election will be held on Tuesday, March 11.
The Jan. 27 forum will last approximately two hours and will be moderated by retired WPTV news anchor Jim Sackett with questions posed by a panel assembled by the Town-Crier, as well as those submitted by 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. It will later be available on demand.
The forum will be broken up into two sessions with a 10-minute break in between. Each candidate will provide an opening statement before being asked a series of questions on local topics.
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.
“Being informed about local government is so important, and we are honored to once again be presenting the Royal Palm Beach community with a candidate forum in advance of this important election in March,” Town-Crier Publisher Barry Manning said. “Our mission here at the newspaper is to keep residents informed, and crucial to that is helping voters get informed on election issues.”
The council chambers are inside Royal Palm Beach Village Hall, 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 Monday, Jan. 27.
The candidate forum is sponsored by the Town-Crier newspaper with support from the Village of Royal Palm Beach, the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County.
