There will be three candidate forums in the Highlands over the next two weeks, in anticipation of the Nov. 5 election.
At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the Haldane School auditorium, the League of Women Voters of Putnam County will host a moderated forum with candidates for the Philipstown Town Board, Cold Spring mayor and Cold Spring Village Board.
The candidates who have said they will attend are Judy Farrell and Robert Flaherty, who are running in Philipstown; Dave Merandy and Chuck Hustis, who are running for mayor, and Marie Early and Fran Murphy, who are candidates for the village board.
At 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, and Wednesday, Oct. 23, the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon will host forums for candidates for the city council and Dutchess County Legislature. Democratic candidates have been invited to attend on Oct. 22 and Republican and Independence party candidates on Oct. 23. Audience members will be able to ask questions directly of the candidates.
For Beacon mayor, Randy Casale is running for re-election and has been endorsed by the Republican and Independence parties. Lee Kyriacou, a member of the city council, is the Democratic candidate.
The other Democratic Party candidates are: Terry Nelson (Ward 1); Air Rhodes (Ward 2), Jodi McCredo (Ward 3), and Dan Aymar-Blair (Ward 4); Amber Grant and George Mansfield (at large). The Republican Party candidates are Andrew Cauzza IV (Ward 3), and the Independence Party candidate is Kelly Ellenwood (Ward 4).
The Dutchess County Legislature candidates are Democrats Nick Page and Fritz Zernike, Republicans Michael Justice and Theoni Salotto, and the Independence Party’s Sandy Moneymaker.
The League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region also will hold a forum on Wednesday, Oct. 16, for candidates running for Dutchess County executive, clerk and district attorney. It is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wallace Center on the campus of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park.
