The League of Women Voters’ debate for 6th Ward alderman candidates was Wednesday at 7 p.m. While the turnout was relatively low, there was an interesting twist to the debate. This debate was conducted with questions from the audience for two reasons:

1. So that citizens could bring up issues that they felt were important.

2. The answers were not “canned,” offering a better insight to each candidate.

Imagine my surprise to notice most of the questions posed to the candidates were written by people sitting in the front row, wearing buttons with my opponent’s name, and he was well rehearsed for those questions. Things that make you go hmmm? But I suppose this is a normal tactic for a true politician, to stack an audience in his favor.

Unfortunately for my opponent, it didn’t really work. One reporter, Kim Kubiak of the Sycamore News, saw right through this tactic. Kim approached me immediately after the debate to inform me that they are endorsing me in the election. The factors included the differences in our candidate profiles, and most importantly, the debate results.

The next scheduled debate is sponsored by the Student Association on Monday, April 12 at 7 p.m. in the Capitol Room of the Holmes Student Center. As I discussed with Maura Jandris of the SA, I feel the debates should be fair, and I will continue my commitment to not playing political games.

KEVIN K.O. JOHNSON

Senior Marketing Major

6th Ward candidate