GATESVILLE – The Gates County Chamber of Commerce and Gates County Index are co-sponsoring a Candidates’ Forum at 7 p.m. on Thursday night, April 19 in the Courtroom of the Gates County Courthouse.

Robin Phillips, Coordinator of Communications and Public Relations with Roanoke Electric Cooperative, will serve as the moderator for this free event for all Gates County citizens.

All candidates running for local office have confirmed their attendance at this informational event.

The Forum will be broken down into the following format:

Segment 1: Each candidate will have 90 seconds to introduce themselves with an opening remark. Candidates Ray Felton (School Board) and Sharon Harrell (Register of Deeds) will only participate in this segment since they have no opposition in the primary or general election.

Segment 2:  This will consist of questions that will be addressed to each candidate and responses will be limited to one minute. County Commissioner and School Board candidates will be given three questions each. A list of potential questions was provided to all candidates a week prior to the Forum. There will be a different set of questions for each office. Questions will be placed into a bowl and randomly selected by each candidate. All questions will be asked through the moderator.

Segment 3: Each candidate will have 60 seconds to give a closing statement.

After the conclusion of the moderated event, all candidates have been asked to remain in the Courtroom to meet with citizens.