School Board Candidates to Debate Tuesday

The three candidates seeking to represent Easley on the School District of Pickens County will debate each other Tuesday evening.

The debate will be held 6:30pm Tuesday, Sept. 25 at First Wesleyan Church of Easley and is organzed by PCVotes.

John Schafer with PCVotes said the purpose of the School Board District 5 debate is twofold.

“We at PCVotes desire to bring the voting public closer to the process of selecting school board members and all elected officials,” he said. “When the voters are fully informed, they make better, more intelligent decisions at the voting booth.

“Also,when the candidates have the opportunity to inform the public their stance on all the issues, they are able to make sure everyone understands how they will represent them in office,” Schafer continued.

District 5 candidates Judy Edwards, Dr. Valerie Ramsey and David Whittemore have committed to attend.

The format of the school board debate will follow that of PCVotes' first debate last month between the candidates running for sheriff.

A panel comprised of representatives from area organizations will pose questions to the candidates.

Those organizations have been invited to create a list of questions for the candidates, but the public itself will be enlisted to narrow those lists down to the 10 or so questions fielded at the debate.

The list of organizations interested in participating in the debate series continues to grow.

In addition to the groups that took part in the sheriff's candidate debate (School District of Pickens County, Conservatives of the Upstate, Easley and Clemson Chambers of Commerce, Pickens County Taxpayers Association and ABATE), PCVotes has approached the Business/Education Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, The Parenting Place and Voice of Pickens County about participating in the debate series.

If you're not able to attend in person, not to worry. Like the sheriff's candidate debate, the school board debate will be streamed live and archived on youtube. Check back with Patch for streaming information.

The debate is sponsored by the Easley Chamber of Commerce, Easley Rotary, Grandparents Rights Association of South Carolina, Grandparents Rights Association of the United States, Easley Patch, Conservatives of the Upstate, ABATE, Clemson Chamber of Commerce, Pickens County Tea Party and the Pickens County Taxpayers Association.