Last night’s Republican Tele Town Hall Meeting

For readers who missed last night’s first ever Republican Tele Town Hall Meeting, we thought we would provide a brief description. When the phone rang at 6:35 p.m., we were pretty sure it was the Norwood Republican candidates calling, so with pen and paper in hand we answered the call and took notes as we listened to the proceedings over the next hour and a half. Law Director Ted Kiser, who is not running for his office this year, was the moderator. He periodically introduced himself, the entire slate of candidates, and also explained that listeners could press zero on the phone pad at any time to ask questions in the queue line.

Questions ran the gamut from what is the fee for garbage collections and can’t it be reduced, what is happening with vacant land for the proposed Rookwood Exchange and what would the Republicans do to make it look better, are homeowners responsible for fixing sidewalks, to how many employees in our City departments are related to one another. Usually, more than one candidate would jump in to answer each question.

Ted Kiser alternated listeners’ questions with a few of his own for each candidate to answer, questions like, “What is the most important issue facing the City?” and “Once in office, how will you make sure you know what your constituents want?” Making the event even more interactive for listeners, Mr. Kiser posed poll questions that could be answered by pressing the appropriate answer key on the phone pad. Following are the questions and the results he announced:

1. What is your opinion of Norwood’s street program?
Good: 11%
Average: 56%
Poor: 33%

2. Have you ever talked to your councilperson?
Yes: 50%
No: 50%

3. Are you voting in this election?
Yes: 100%

4. Are you satisfied with the services of the Norwood Police and Fire Departments?
Yes: 100%

5. Do you know who your councilperson is?
Yes: 64%
No: 36%