Candidate nights slated for Monday, Tuesday

Fallon Community Theater and the Lahontan Valley News are presenting two candidates’ nights next week — one for school board candidates on Monday and the second forum on Tuesday for sheriff and justice of the peace.

Monday’s event begins at 6:30 p.m., and Tuesday begins at 6:30 p.m. for the two sheriff’s candidates and about an hour later for justice of the peace. Early voting begins Oct. 20

Gary Smith, a member of the theater group, said a night for voters to hear the candidates is important.

“We’re moving into a bigger role in the community … more than just movies,” Smith said. “We have the venue for events and activities like this.”

Before the primary election, both the theater group and the LVN hosted candidate nights but for the general election, both decided to combine their resources. Smith also said it was important to partner with the LVN because of the newspaper’s experience in conducting previous candidate nights and the ability to report on each race.

“We’ll set up for this one in the lower theater, and if it fills up, we’ll simulcast on a screen in the upper theater …. If and as needed.”

Dr. Stuart Richardson, who is also a board member, touts the importance of the public meeting the candidates.

“Candidate night helps a lot of people decide how they will vote when they see the people on the stage,” Richardson said.

The eight candidates who running for four positions on the school board are incumbents Clay Hendrix, Matt Hyde and Carmen Schank followed by Fred Buckmaster, Amber Getto, Patty Jullian, Tedd McDonald and Debbie Smotherman.

Ray East and Richard Hickok are the two candidates for sheriff, while incumbent Mike Richards and Sheriff Ben Trotter are vying for Justice of the Peace.