VBT candidates for office take part in League of Women Voters forum

Candidates running for office in Van Buren Township in the Aug. 2 primary election took part in a candidates’ forum put on by the League of Women Voters on June 16 at Wayne County Community College.
Two candidates did not participate. Clerk Leon Wright is unopposed and was not included in the forum. Trustee candidate Al Ostrowski had been out of town for two weeks visiting his brother in North Carolina.
Paula Bowman, vice president of the Northwest Wayne County League of Women Voters, introduced the forum and emphasized that the LWV is non partisan.
She said all the VBT candidates in the August primary are Democrats so the winners of the primary will most likely win in the general election, unless there are strong write-ins.
“That’s why it’s so important to vote in the primary,” she said.
Bowman said candidates will be on the LWV website VOTE411.org by the second week of July. A printed version will be available at the Belleville Area District Library.
She introduced Susan M. Rowe, who moderated the forum and asked questions of the candidates. Rowe is a member of the Northwest Wayne League of Women Voters and also the mayor of the City of Wayne.
The three candidates for supervisor were first called to the stage: Philip Hart, Brenda McClanahan, and Kevin McNamara.
Next were the two candidates for treasurer: Harry Roesch and Sharry Budd.
Then, five of the six candidates for trustee came forward: Anthony Woodford, Paul White, Regina Miller, Kevin Martin, and Sherry Frazier.
All the candidates got one minute to answer questions posed by Rowe, with some coming from the audience after being written down on cards and screened.
There were no rebuttals allowed and Rowe ran a tight ship keeping the forum on time. The 7 p.m. forum ended at 8:54 p.m.
Bowman said the video of the forum will be posted on the www.lwvnorthwestwayne.org .
Officials at VBT reportedly said it could not be shown on the township’s cable channel.
Volunteers at the event were members of the newly organized Belleville-area unit of the LWV, which is being trained by the Northwest Wayne County League.