Auburn Skies

Auburn Reporter editor Mark Klaas discusses all things Auburn, including comings and goings, local issues and community efforts.

Let’s debate: Auburn Reporter to put on mayoral debate in 3 weeks

September 23rd, 2009 at Wed, 23rd, 2009 at 4:13 pm by markklaas
Mayoral candidate Virginia Haugen has been critical of downtown redevelopment. 'We're in a little bit of trouble if we don't tighten the belt right now,' she said.

Mayoral candidate Virginia Haugen has been critical of downtown redevelopment. 'We're in a little bit of trouble if we don't tighten the belt right now,' she said.

It’s official: a mayoral debate will be here in three weeks. The Auburn Reporter firmed up details this week to hold a debate between two-time incumbent Pete Lewis and challenger Virginia Haugen at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15 at the historic Auburn Avenue Theater, 10 Auburn Ave.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The debate will be free. The theater is limited to 270 people. Tickets will be available at the door only. Come early.

The debate will be open at the end to accommodate questions from the audience. We will have a moderator and volunteers in place to help with the format. We will have more on the debate later.

markklaas Mark Klaas, editor of the Auburn Reporter, is an award-winning journalist who has worked in the newspaper industry for more than 25 years. He previously worked as a reporter and editor in Idaho, Oregon and California before moving to the Puget Sound in 1993. He lives in King County with his wife, Sara, and children, Derek and Elizabeth.

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  • Laidback

    What a great opportunity for the citizens of Auburn to see and hear the truth and be able to understand which candidate has the true belief in a positive Auburn and how to grow and prosper our town. I hope the room is packed with the citizens who want to see our fair city grow and prosper and see new business come to town and existing businesses excel, versus stopping all development to slide back in time. Everyone should come and form your opinions at this debate. Thank you Auburn Reporter for putting this together for our future.

  • youngauburncitizen

    Wow! 9 tenths of a percent of registered voters may be able to attend! Will this be a televised event? If so, please let me know what channel to watch as the odds are stacked against me getting a ticket as I will be competing with 29 thousand other voters to get one. What about the PAC or an outdoor venue at the Auburn football field? This would be much more reasonable and would give more voters a chance to attend. I think it is a great to have a debate, however the venue could have been a little more accomidating to the citizens of Auburn as this is who the debate is for, right? I sure hope the tickets are not for sale seems how the citizens already pay to lease the building. Will there be a fee to get in? The article did not mention this but only that we will need a ticket. How early would one need to show up to get a ticket if they are competing with 29,000 voters? Will there be crowd control? Where will everyone park? Just a few concerns…but I'm sure all this has been thought of as I'm sure whoever is setting this debate up only has the Auburn citizen's best interests at heart. If anyone can answer any of these questions that would be helpful.

  • Laidback

    You are starting to sound like Shelley now. People wanted a debate, they now have one. Quite frankly, I doubt the place will fill up for many have made their mind up about who the right candidate for our city really is. Recently, the Chamber hosted an event that everyone was invited to. It was to hear the candidates for many positions, mayor, council, port commissioner and county executive. It was held at Emerald Downs. I even told you about it. The room would hold over 600 people. There were maybe 125.
    Get over the fact the city leases the Ave. It is done. Haugen was part of the council that voted on this as well as Lewis. The schoold district charges for their stadiums, the Performing Arts charges for their facility. As you stated, it is good there is no admission charge, but there probably would have to be in one of the other venues. Also, if it was done in a park, can you guarantee no rain? I didn't think so. Try putting on a psoitive spin on the debate actually being held in the first place, it is what the citizens ask for and it is what they will get, whether it is 270 people or 125. Let the candidates speak to the people.

  • AuburnTrailers

    Exactly “what people” want the debate, Laidback? Frankly, this debate is an opportunity for Pete and Virginia's friends, family, and brown nose’s to fill the theater and heckle the opposing candidates. In fact, I would bet that 95% of the people that attend this event will have already made up their minds on who they are voting for … seems like a waste of time and space. If you have a question for the candidates, why not just call them or email them?

  • Laidback

    As you may have learned recently, the Auburn Noon Lions club was setting a debate between Mayor Lewis and Councilmember Haugen for October 13th. The Lions are a large supporter of the city of Auburn and many, many business owners are members of this group. Virginia has chosen not to partiucipate and reaching to a very weak excuse for not being there. If she was qualified, this would give her a great opportunity to verbalize her position on a number of important issues and address the people's concerns. Now, I wonder if and when she will back out of the debate set for October 15th.

  • AuburnTrailers

    Laidback, as an independent supporter for change and a registered voter in Auburn, I am very aware of the laws that this city council and state abides by in reference to disclosure. The information that you revealed in this blog is questionable as to its origin and confidentiality.

    Any and all candidates have a right to refuse debate regardless; in this case, Mayor Pete Lewis is strongly aligned with the Lions Club. Certainly Ms Haugen’s campaign focus would be better spent elsewhere. There is nothing unusual about this type of campaign strategy.

    However, the information that you exposed on this blog was privy to only her supporters and certain council members at the time of your posting. If indeed you are a council member or the mayor himself, you have violated the agreement of privacy and confidentiality. Be assured, that every blog on the Auburn Reporter is subject to subpoena and you will be investigated in due accordance.

    Again, fortunately, the refusal of this debate is simply common practice for candidates (just as you have the right to refuse debate), but your blog is out of order and worthy of investigation.

    As an independent supporter for change in Auburn, I am prepared to not only reveal my identity, but also to push a subpoena to the Auburn Reporter that will publicly reveal your identity.

    So, please respect this blog, let’s all be big girls and boys, and abide by the City of Auburn’s council agreements and those of Washington State.

  • Laidback

    Once again, misinformation is being distributed. I am not a member of the Council and I am not the Mayor of Auburn. I happen to be having lunch at Andys and a supporter of Council Member Haugen was there with his Haugen badge on. We discussed some issues and I informed him I was looking forward to the two debates. He informed me Council member Haugen was not going to do the Lions debate. He also told me why, which I didn't post here. As a registered voter of Auburn and more importantly, an American, I am entitled to hear the candidates answers to questions and was disappointed to hear she chose not to participate. Now, with all the information at hand and regardless of your threats, go for it.

  • AuburnTrailers

    Thank you for your clarification as to the origin of your information. I have forwarded this on to Virginia’s campaign committee for further investigation. However, with so many rumors, hear-say, misinterpretations of our candidates performance within this community, it‘s best to contact the candidate for clarification or attend a non-biased debate event.

    There are many citizens in Auburn that are wearing buttons, stickers, posting signs, etc., who may not have accurate information regarding the mayoral candidates. I have both Pete’s and Virginia’s buttons and can be seen wearing both of them at the same time for the purpose of promoting discussion within the community.

    The fact is, as voters, we often make up our mind on our vote for reasons that have little to do with the actual candidate’s platform. For example, look at our last presidential election. Frankly, neither of the candidates stood out stronger than the other. Many Americans voted based on partisan alignment, gender, race, military experience, etc. This is a simple fact for all elections – Political Science 101.

    As for the Auburn’s mayoral candidacy, well, the fact of the matter is that any of the council members or community leaders could have run for mayor. For example, Sue Singer might make an outstanding mayor, yet she didn’t run! Well, Virginia did run, and yes, she or anyone else that won the primary against Pete can make it happen if they win this election. The City of Auburn will not shut down and perhaps some “feather ruffling” will benifit everyone.

    Pete has been in office for two terms. As mayor he has done many good things, but some other projects didn’t turn out so well. So why not give someone else a chance? I’ll save this topic for another blog.

    Regardless Laidback, let’s keep this upcoming debate clean and free of gossip and hear-say. And keep in mind that posting under multiple guises not only goes against the ethics of this newspaper, but also hurts the candidates and can bring about legal implications. It can happen; the threat is very real and should not be dismissed lightly.

  • aubbusiness

    Can we stop with the ongoing threats? They are blogs. People can write. Just because they do not agree with you does it always have to be some kind of plot? It ireally seems to be getting close to if you don't agree with me i'm going to get you!

    I'm for debate. Let's hear what both candidates have to say. If you say few will be there then why do you worry about it. If you say only a few hundred out of thousands will see it then again why would you worry about it. Let them debate how can it harm you?

    Then you go on and complain that you don't like the venue that it is too small, no parking. You want the city to pay for parking your car? Really?

    Stay on issues. Go to the debates. Listen and learn and do not let anyone tell you that you cannot listen, you can not talk or that you can be intimidated.

  • aubbusiness

    Can we stop with the ongoing threats? They are blogs. People can write. Just because they do not agree with you does it always have to be some kind of plot? It ireally seems to be getting close to if you don't agree with me i'm going to get you!

    I'm for debate. Let's hear what both candidates have to say. If you say few will be there then why do you worry about it. If you say only a few hundred out of thousands will see it then again why would you worry about it. Let them debate how can it harm you?

    Then you go on and complain that you don't like the venue that it is too small, no parking. You want the city to pay for parking your car? Really?

    Stay on issues. Go to the debates. Listen and learn and do not let anyone tell you that you cannot listen, you can not talk or that you can be intimidated.

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