In one month, Wilton voters will head to the polls for the 2017 municipal elections. Three key races are contested this year–Board of Selectmen, Board of Education, and Planning and Zoning Commission. In order to help voters decide who to support, the candidates have been invited to participate in community forums at the Wilton Library on Oct. 18 and 19, that will be moderated in a Town Hall-style. Members of the audience will be able to submit written questions for the candidates to answer live at the events.

But the sponsors of the forums–the Wilton League of Women Voters, the Wilton Library Association, and GOOD Morning Wilton–want to open up the opportunity to a wider audience, and allow Wilton residents who may not be able to attend the forums in person to submit questions in advance by email, and have them considered as ones that will be posed to candidates. For the next week, you have the chance to ask them what you want to know by emailing your questions. Wilton, what do you want to ask the candidates?

A special email address has been set up–questions will be accepted at Wilton2017Election@gmail.com from now until midnight on Sunday, Oct. 15 only. There are some important guidelines to follow for submitting emailed questions:

  • Anonymous emails will not be accepted. The sender must sign his or her name.
  • The name of the board/commission to which the question is addressed should be noted in the subject line.
  • Only one question can be submitted per email.
  • All questions should be applicable to all candidates. Questions targeted at one specific candidate–for example, “Candidate Jane Doe, why did you vote for/against xyz?”–will not be accepted.

So, which questions submitted by Wilton residents will be chosen as the ones to pose to the candidates? The sponsors have mapped out a selection process to make sure that the questions chosen are fair, representative and balanced.

All questions emailed and received by midnight on Oct. 15 will be combined with questions received in writing on the night of the event. They will then be screened together at the back of the Library’s Brubeck Room by a team of two League members–one Republican and one Democrat–for applicability to all candidates and duplicity. While there is no guarantee that every question can be asked and answered in the allotted time, the moderators will try to make sure that all the different topics and issues raised in the questions are addressed by the candidates.

Only in the event there are not enough questions posed by the voters by email and in writing on the evening of the event, will questions prepared by the League in advance be used.

So start thinking, Wilton. What are the pressing issues the candidates need to address? What do you need answered to give a candidate your vote?

If you can attend in person, the Candidate Forum for Planning & Zoning Commission candidates will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7-9 p.m. in the Wilton Library’s Brubeck Room. The Candidate Forums for both Board of Selectmen and Board of Education candidates will be held the next evening, Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7-9:15 p.m., in the same location (BOS at 7 p.m., and BOE at 8:15 p.m.).

To attend in person, registration is suggested by visiting the Wilton Library website or by calling the library’s Circulation Desk at 203.762.6334. Pre-registrants should arrive by 6:50 p.m. to be guaranteed seating; wait-listed and walk-in registrants will be admitted after 6:50 p.m. if space is available.

Both evenings will be recorded on video and rebroadcast on GOODMorningWilton.com, as well as on Wilton’s Government Access Ch. 79 and the Wilton Library Association website.