What Should We Ask City Council Candidates?

Newark voters will go to the polls Nov. 8 to elect two City Council members and a new mayor. Historically, election coverage has been about what's said, who's saying it and who's ahead in the polling.

Newark Patch wants to take a different approach to election coverage this year by getting voters involved early, so that they define the issues for the candidates instead of the other way around.

We want voters to tell us through email and comments what they want the candidates to talk about. If the voters define the issues, they can see how well the candidates respond and make decisions based on who best addresses their concerns.

Why is this important?

As long as political campaigns have been in existence, candidates have been telling us what is wrong and how they are going to fix it. This citizens' initiative changes that dynamic by defining for the candidates what needs fixing and asking them to consider how they would accomplish those changes.

After we build our list of issues, Newark Patch will send out questionnaires to City Council candidates asking their approach to dealing with the issues the citizens have identified.

Please don’t hesitate to make your views known. 

You can write your thoughts in the comment section at the end of this article or you can send your comments directly to Newark Patch Editor Nika Megino at nika.megino@patch.com.

Important Dates: Because incumbents are not running for the vacant seats, the filing period for candidates running for mayor and City Council ends at 5 p.m. on Aug. 17. Nomination packets for City Council are available at , 37101 Newark Blvd.

For more information, call City Clerk Sheila Harrington at 510-578-4200.