Mike McInally

We were delighted with the turnout Tuesday night for the Gazette-Times’ forum on Measures 66 and 67: More than 150 people turned out, forcing me to return time and again to that side room where the library stores its extra chairs. That’s a good problem to have.

My thanks go out to Sen. Frank Morse and Rep. Sara Gelser, who presented the cases for and against the measures — but always kept the conversation civil. The questions we solicited from the audience were good ones. And audience members were on their best behavior throughout;  I should have expected as much, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t worried a bit about that.

You can read Bennett Hall’s story about the forum by clicking here. Click here to find a video of Gelser presenting the case for the measures. Click here to find a video of Morse presenting the case against. More video from the forum is coming, although we did not shoot the entire event.

Finally, special thanks to Mike Huntington, who contributed the use of his sound system — he had it in his vehicle and volunteered its use when he saw the size of the crowd. That allowed us to send the audio from the session out into the hall outside the meeting room, so that everyone in the standing-room-only crowd had a chance to hear the forum.

As I said in an earlier blog, we’ll try to do more of these forums with our editorial board through the new year. But I’d be surprised if any of them draw as well as last night’s event. Thanks again to everyone who helped with the event, and thanks to everyone who showed up.

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