OK, everybody is on board

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

We’sre still talking about the debates here. As I mentioned last week, we’re having a debate among the candidates vying for the Reno City Council table. It’s going to take place at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 at the Nevada Museum of Art, and it’s going to be a one-hour forum we’re calling “Speed Debating.” So far, candidates for Ward 2, incumbent Sharon Zadra and challenger Vivian Freeman, and candidates for Ward 4, incumbent Dwight Dortch and challenger Scott Kelley, have agreed to participate.

The challenger for the mayor’s seat, Erik Holland, has also agreed to take part, but as I mentioned last week, Reno Mayor Bob Cashell hadn’st yet given us an answer. His campaign manager, the inestimable Chris Barrett, was keeping us on pins and needles over here, first promising to give us an answer on Sept. 25, then promising by end of day Oct. 3. It appeared the mayor was going to be out of town and had yet to decide whether he’sd be able to return in time for the event.

To be perfectly honest, if I were in the mayor’s shoes, I would hesitate myself. After all, he’s going to win in a landslide. He’s a popular guy. This isn’st certain to help him, and if he were to slip up, he might not win by as large a margin. Debates are always risky. An image of a melty-faced Richard Nixon comes to mind.

But here it is, 11:24 a.m. on Wednesday, and I just heard. Reno Mayor Bob Cashell is going to come to our forum/debate. This is exciting, as I said last week, our paper has never done one of these things before.

Along other lines, I’sve gotten some calls from other candidates and campaign representatives. Sorry, maybe next election we’sll try to put on more forums for more candidates. However, this time, from 5-7 p.m., we will have two tables available for campaign materials for any candidate in any race. By the way, the forum will be televised on SNCAT, channel 16, but we don’st know exactly when.