LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

The City of Laredo Public Information Office and the Telecommunications Division wanted to be an integral part of the local political process, helping to shape people’s opinion of the candidates and motivate citizens to vote.  It once again hosted political forums, in which all candidates for all city and school board general election races were invited to participate and present their position on various issues, important to voters of Laredo. 

The forums were taped at both the Public Access Channel studio and in partnership with two Texas A&M International University political science classes. All debates were structured in a fair format in which candidates received questions, in English or Spanish, from an unbiased panel of members of the media (see list of panelists below) or from the students.  The candidates had strict timelines in which to provide their responses, in either English or Spanish. 

Dr. Mohamed Ben-Ruwin, professor and chair of TAMIU’s Department of Social Sciences, said that the partnership allows TAMIU students an opportunity to learn more about politics and its processes. 

“By participating in this partnership, our Department wishes to accomplish several goals, one of which is to engage our community in their government and politics and establish a neutral process that will fairly and accurately present all political candidates to the voters,” said Dr. Ben-Ruwin.  “The debates’ objectives are also to help the voters to make their own personal and informed decision regarding who they decide to vote for and provide an accessible, open and neutral political platform for the discussion of all important community and government issues and challenges.”  The debates taped at TAMIU included both the Mayor’s and the Municipal Court Judge’s race. 

All debates will air on the local Public Access Channel, Cable Ch. 3 (available to Time Warner Cable subscribers only), several times during Early Voting and before Election Day. They will also be available for viewing on the City of Laredo website at www.cityoflaredo.com. However, due to technical difficulties, the Municipal Court Judge debate will be broadcast in audio format with visual captions to include candidates’ names and pictures on both Public Access Channel 3 and the Internet.  While the schedule highlights three specific time frames for each debate, because of scheduling repeats throughout a 24-hour period, the debates will actually run nine times leading up to election day.

 “Public Access Channel is a great resource for the citizens of Laredo and Webb County,” said Carlos Villarreal, City Manager for the City of Laredo.  “The City of Laredo is proud to bring fair, professional and insightful debates for all races, so that more citizens are informed and get to know the candidates to help them make an informed opinion before they go vote,” he concluded.