There will be plenty of chances for voters to meet candidates for local offices in the upcoming April 4 election.
Aurorans have been somewhat pre-occupied with the mayoral election, in part because they’ve already had one chance to vote for the next mayor in the February primary. There are at least two more mayoral forums scheduled, with the final two candidates, Richard Irvin and Richard Guzman.
The first is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Paramount Arts Center stage, 23 E. Galena Blvd., downtown. The event is sponsored by Aurora Downtown, an organization of downtown business and property owners, and is free to the public.
Terry Michels, Aurora Downtown vice chairman, will moderate the event. He said many of the questions will focus on the candidates “issues and visions relevant to downtown through questions posed by business and property owners as well as Aurora Downtown board members.”
There also will be index cards passed out to audience members for further questions. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the candidates will stay for a half hour after the forum to meet people.
There will be another mayoral forum the next day, beginning about 7:30 p.m., at Crimi Auditorium on the Aurora University campus, 1347 Prairie St. The forum will be moderated by Steve McFarland, vice president for University Communications at Aurora University.
The forum time is approximate because it will start after another forum, this one featuring the four candidates for the West Aurora School District Board of Education. The four candidates are Valerie Dykstra, Joe Grisson III, Rich Kerns, and Christopher Sparks, and they are running for three open seats.
The entire forum is sponsored by the West Aurora School District, in partnership with Aurora University and the Mikva Challenge. For the school board portion of the forum, West Aurora students, along with other area high school students, will moderate the forum. The school board portion will focus on youth issues in West Aurora School District 129. Students from government classes will be generating a list of questions for the candidates.
Those attending the forum can use the Aurora University parking lots without fear of getting a ticket, university officials said.
The mayoral candidates will again meet voters at a meet and greet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 27 in the first floor Dunham Atrium in the Aurora Santori Library at River and Benton streets downtown. The library is sponsoring several meet and greets for local candidates.
The library events include:
* 6:30 to 8 p.m., March 22, candidates for the Aurora City Council, including the two candidates for alderman at large, and the three candidates in the 10th Ward, will meet in the large meeting room at the Eola Road East Side library branch, on Eola Road just north of Route 34.
* 6:30 to 8 p.m., March 22, candidates for the West Aurora School Board will be featured at the library’s West Branch, at Constitution Drive and Downer Place.
* 6:30 to 8 p.m., March 27, the 11 candidates in three districts, as well as at large, for the Fox Valley Park District, will be in rooms 125 and 126, at the Aurora Santori library.
* 6:30 to 8 p.m., March 30, the candidates for the East Aurora School Board will be in rooms 125 and 126, at the Aurora Santori library.
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