Video summary
Floyd County candidates gathered at the Big Sandy Community and Technical College campus in Prestonsburg for a significant forum hosted by the Floyd County Chamber of Commerce. The event, which ran from 5:30 PM to 8:10 PM, brought together contenders for various key positions including the Kentucky House District 95, the Wheelwright and Allen mayoral races, the Prestonsburg mayorship, and the Judge Executive role. College President Todd Brand moderated the session, providing each candidate with a limited amount of time to address critical community issues. The discussions covered a wide range of essential topics such as infrastructure development, school quality, budget management, job creation, tourism growth, and the importance of government accountability and transparency.
Among the participants were Tanner Hesterberg and Johnny Ray Turner, who are competing for the state representative seat. Both candidates expressed gratitude for the opportunity to present their visions directly to the voters. Hesterberg emphasized that the upcoming election is not about past grievances but rather a forward-looking decision regarding the future of Floyd and Pike Counties. Turner highlighted the necessity of civic engagement, noting that many young people are not yet registered to vote and stressing that constituents deserve to hear diverse ideas and accomplishments from all candidates before making their choices in November. He also pointed out the importance of reviewing the administration's seven-year track record to determine how success can be sustained.
The forum also featured Mike Conn, a candidate for mayor of Prestonsburg, who spoke about the strong support he has received from his family and community members. Despite having a dedicated team helping with campaign activities like distributing flyers, Conn took pride in doing the hard work himself by going door-to-door to talk with residents. He shared a lighthearted moment about his wife driving him around town, jokingly referring to her as "Miss Daisy." Throughout the event, the atmosphere remained focused on encouraging voter participation and ensuring that the community has access to opposing viewpoints to make informed decisions.
In conclusion, the candidate forum served as a vital platform for local leaders to share their platforms and engage directly with the electorate in Floyd County. The structured Q-and-A format allowed voters to evaluate the candidates' stances on pressing issues like infrastructure and education while hearing personal stories about their commitment to public service. By facilitating open dialogue between politicians and citizens, the event aimed to increase political awareness and motivate residents to turn out for the upcoming November election. Ultimately, the gathering reinforced the democratic principle that an informed electorate is essential for choosing representatives who will best serve the community's needs in the future.
Read the full video transcript
Hey everyone, Robin Tillman here with
MountainTop News, and I am at the Big
Sandy Community and Technical College
campus here in Prestonsburg, where the
Floyd County Chamber of Commerce is
about to hold a candidate forum. It
starts here in just a few minutes at
5:30, goes till about 8:10, and we are
going to see everyone from the Kentucky
House District 95 to the Wheelwright
Mayoral race,
uh Prestonsburg Mayoral race, Floyd
County Judge Executive, and even the
Allen Mayoral race. So, all of those
candidates are going to be up on stage
sharing their point of view. So, let's
go inside and check it out.
Candidates were asked questions by
college president Todd Brand and given a
set amount of time to answer. The total
allotted time for each set of candidates
was 20 minutes, and topics covered
infrastructure, schools, budgets, jobs,
tourism, accountability, and
transparency. All right, I'm here with
Tanner Hesterberg, who is running for
state representative. How did it feel to
be on stage?
>> Well, I'm really grateful for this
opportunity tonight. I'm grateful to the
Floyd County Chamber of Commerce and Big
Sandy Community and Technical College
for having this forum and giving people
a chance to hear from the candidates.
And it was an opportunity for me to
share my vision for Floyd and Pike
Counties and show people why this is an
an election that's not about the past,
it's about the future.
>> Okay, now I'm here with Johnny Ray
Turner, who is running against Tanner
Hesterberg, who I just talked to. Why do
you feel it's important to get out here
with your constituents and talk to them?
>> Well, it's always good to see people get
out and get involved in politics,
because I believe that people are aren't
involved enough in politics. I believe
that
I know I know a few a few young people
that, like 26, 27 years old, they're not
even registered to vote. But people need
to be more involved in politics, and I
think it's important that people get out
and see see and try to vote for the
people that that they think is going to
do the best job for them.
>> I think voters deserve a chance to hear
from all the candidates for office, hear
about the ideas, hear about the
accomplishments, how they can make
things better for the people here in our
community. So, this is great.
>> Well, we just have to
basically go through and talk about what
we've been doing for the last 7 years.
And I think that's what people want to
hear. They want to hear that, you know,
have we been have we been successful and
how are we going to continue to be
successful? And I think that's what
folks want to hear at these debates. And
it gives them an opportunity to to get
opposing views from me and my opponent
and to to make a decision on and who
they want to vote for in November.
>> Yeah, I'm here with Mike Conn who's
running for mayor of Prestonsburg. You
have quite the posse behind you.
>> Oh, yeah. This is all fam. This is all
family. They've backed me from from the
get-go even when they they thought I was
crazy to actually want to do this.
>> So, you're making this party here pass
out flyers and do all the hard work?
>> Well, actually actually that I'm pretty
much the one that's done the boots on
the ground and going and talking with
people and handing out stuff, but they
have definitely reached out and helped
me. But
my wife Debbie here, she she tends to
drive me around. She calls it driving
Miss Daisy, but that's okay. [laughter]
>> Get out and vote.
>> Reporting for Mountain Top News, I'm
Robin Dilman.