Despite some empty seats at a forum this week, it looks like commitments are solid for the May 7 and May 13 events.

The Democratic Club of Ventura will host a debate on Thursday featuring the two of the three candidates seeking the party's nomination in the county's 24th Congressional District, Tim Allison and Marie Panec.

The club's meeting will begin at 6:30, and the 75-minute debate will start shortly after what is desribed as a "small amount of club business" is dispensed with. The event will take place in the Topping Room at Ventura's Foster Library, 651 W. Main Street. It is free to the public and snacks will be served.

The debate will be moderated by David Maron, a member of the League of Women Voters and a frequent moderator of political forums and debates in the county.

 

Assemblywoman Audra Strickland will be in Newbury Park Friday morning to meet with constituents. The coffee is a get-together with voters she represents in the state Assembly, but she may also be answering questions on her race against Linda Parks for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. Parks is seeking her third term in the June 8 election. The coffee is scheduled from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Pickles Deli & Restaurant, 1940 Newbury Road, Suite 100. 

Today is my last day at The Star -- I'll be leaving for another job in journalism -- so this is the last post I'll be writing for this blog. As both of the blog's loyal readers know, I've been writing most of the posts here at Vote. Starting very soon, you'll be reading more from Scott Hadly, Kathleen Wilson and the rest of our news team.

I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading so far for their patience while we work out the glitches. This blog is going to become much more active as the June and November elections approach, so keep it in your bookmarks.

And don't forget the commenting rules, spelled out in our very first post. They pretty much boil down to Bill and Ted's first commandment: "Be excellent to each other."

Geoff Dean and Dennis Carpenter seem a lot more interested in debating each other than some of this season's other candidates. Last night they faced off for the 5th time already, and there are three more debates scheduled that will be open to the general public (plus a few more for smaller groups that might not be open to everyone).

Our coverage is here. As you can see, there weren't a lot of fireworks. Dean and Carpenter don't seem to disagree on their basic approaches to police work. There was one awkward moment for Carpenter: one of the panelists asked the candidates which new programs or community policing initiatives they would put into place as sheriff, and Carpenter drew a blank. He paused for a moment and then passed on the question. Dean seized the opportunity to talk about how he thinks the department needs a greater emphasis on community policing, better use of crime stats, and better use of technology in general.

We've had some requests to broadcast one of these debates live on our website, and we do plan to do that. That does take some resources on our part, so we can really only do it once for this race. We've decided to webcast one of the League of Women Voters debates next month. Keep your eyes on the paper and this blog for more information.

The Star is often asked to participate in those debates, by supplying some of the questions. What do you think we should ask the candidates for sheriff? Comment away and we'll pass your suggestions along to whoever ends up moderating.

Leonard Klaif and Paul Blatz are the running for the open seat on the Ojai City Council, and they faced off in a debate on March 22, hosted by the Ojai Valley Democratic Club. The club was thoughtful enough to tape the whole thing and post it to YouTube, and they've sent us a link to the videos. It's chopped up into 14 different clips, available here. Enjoy.

The executive management of the Vote blog has been on vacation for the past five days. Now that we're back, we'll be getting you some of the latest, freshest, steaming-hot election news we can find. Look for the debut of our "truth meter" very soon, in which we evaluate the factual claims made in a political mailer. We'll also be bringing you the latest on efforts to get Linda Parks and Audra Strickland together for a debate.