MARQUETTE — A candidate forum for the Marquette City Commission will be held at 6:30 Wednesday in the commission chambers at Marquette City Hall, located at 300 W. Baraga Ave.

There are eight candidates running for the two open seats on the city commission, including Aaron Andres, Margaret Brumm, Jenn Hill, Matthew Luttenberger, Brian E. Miller, Mike Plourde, Jermey Ottaway and Jenna Smith.

Plourde and Smith, who are currently city commissioners, are running as incumbents.

The forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Delta County, Marquette County Unit. The LWV is a national nonpartisan political organization that works to increase the public’s understanding of major policy issues through education and advocacy. After dispersing in 2006, the LWV Marquette Unit re-established in April 2017.

“The league does not support or oppose any candidate or political party. It wants to bring people together, it wants to educate voters and it just seemed like a really good time to do that. It’s a way to be involved in a positive way when things feel so contentious right now, and hopefully make a difference for everybody no matter what their beliefs are,” said Darlene Allen, unit leader of the local chapter of LWV. “Our forums have guidelines and rules so it’s very important to us that it remain fair.”

Wednesday’s forum will include opening and closing statements from each candidate. Audience members will be able to ask questions on note cards and the moderator, who will be an LWV member, will present them to the candidates.

“The forum is one of the key ways to help educate voters about a candidate and their views,” Allen said. “You can see the candidates and kind of get a sense of who they are (and) meet them. The big part of the forum is the audience gets to submit questions on note cards and the moderator of the forum will read those questions. It’s an opportunity for citizens to ask their questions directly to the candidates that are going to be running for their city commission.”

The order of speakers will be determined by a drawing.

“It’s not a discussion, it’s not a debate, it’s an opportunity for each candidate to answer a question in order. Each candidate gets one minute to answer each question,” Allen said.

Allen said candidates and the audience are asked not to wear or bring any campaign materials in the forum room.

The forum will be live-streamed on the local League’s Facebook page www.facebook .com/LWVDeltaCountyMarquetteCountyUnit/ and will be videotaped and posted on the website: http://lwvdeltacounty.org.

LWV also provides a free, online voter guide at www.Vote 411.org where Marquette County voters can view their ballot, read and compare candidate responses to questions on relevant issues and see the language for their local proposals. The website also helps voters find their polling place and read tips about voting in Michigan.

Marquette city voters will have the opportunity to cast their ballots for their top two choices for the Marquette City Commission during the primary election on Aug. 7 when polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The four candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the general election on Nov. 6.

Jaymie Depew can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is jdepew@miningjournal.net.