PTC Council, Mayor candidates will be questioned by high school students

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City mayor and City Council candidates will face a much younger audience Thursday night at a candidate forum which will be hosted by local high school students.

The forum, which will begin at 7 p.m. at the library, will feature questions developed by students from two government classes at McIntosh High School. It is open to the public and sponsored by Peachtree City's Youth Advisory Board.

Some of the possible topics include youth-related matters such as police services and curfew violations, said state Rep. Kathy Cox, who teaches the government classes at McIntosh and assisted in planning the forum.

The issues "come to life" for the students when they can meet the actual candidates, Cox said.

"I hope they also learn from this that it's very important to meet the candidates and get to know them before election day," Cox said.

Candidates will be given a short time for opening remarks, followed by the question and answer session. Candidates will also be given an opportunity for a closing statement at the end of the event.

The students have also used local newspapers to research other issues to generate general questions about other city government topics, Cox added.

The candidates will not be given the questions in advance, but they will be provided with a list of topics that will be covered through the questions, Cox said.

The event will be moderated by a student while another student serves as timekeeper. It will also be filmed, Cox added.

Some of the students in her government classes are already registered to vote, Cox said. Others can bring registered voters for extra credit, she added.

Students will not be required to attend, but they will earn extra credit if they choose to, Cox said.

The event is expected to last approximately 90 minutes, Cox said.

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