LITTLE ROCK — Last week I had the pleasure of asking questions during the mayoral candidates forum sponsored by this newspaper.

As I told the more-than-80 people attending, it was exciting to see so many people take an interest in the race. I guess attendance reflects the race: Four people seek the job.

Before the forum started -- in fact, the day before - the order of questions was set by the newspaper staff.

The night of the forum, the four men drew for the order of seating, and they drew based on their order of arrival. Thus, there was no way for me, or managing editor Annette Beard, to pick which candidate got what question first.

Skeptics can ask Al Fowler, a preacher in town who agreed (when Annette asked him) to serve as time keeper for the event. Preacher had a list of questions handed to him moments before the event started. He got the list to help keep track of who got the next questions first. He is the only person outside the newspaper staff who saw the questions ahead of time.

One candidate got a bit bent about not seeing the questions ahead of time.

Well, when someone gets elected mayor, and that nosy, bothersome voter, John Q. Public, walks up toMister Mayor at the Mule Jump and asks a question, Mister Mayor doesn’t get the question ahead of time. Mister Mayor can always beg off and say, “I don’t know.” Nothing wrong with that. Same applied to the forum.

After the forum ended, a couple of people asked why questions weren’t taken from the audience;

others asked where the questions came from; a couple people implied that all the questions favored the incumbent.

I’m happy to tackle those questions.

◊Favored the incumbent: ANY question asked about municipal government ALWAYS favors the incumbent. Why? Because that person has been doing the work, knows the particulars, has the experience. But that does not mean that the incumbent has leadership skills, charisma, the spark a city needs in these days and times to take the city into the future.

◊Where’d the questions come from: Seeing as how the managing editor and news clerk have been covering the city’s events,reading every word in the newspaper - and, by gosh, getting an earful from the good citizens of Pea Ridge - it’s safe to say that they are pretty well versed in the issues facing city government. They came up with the questions. But I had a hand in it, too. I do know a few people in Pea Ridge and I’m not above asking what’s on their minds. (No, I will not tell you whom I asked because I protect my sources - but I will say that none of then are running for office.

Please notice that I’m not saying who asked these questions - but I could.) Annette and I met two months ago to discuss the format and questions, and have talked about it a number of times since then.

◊Why not take questions from the audience: I’ve been to enough forums to see things turn into a verbal fistfight, for the forum to turn into an organized effort to make one candidate look like a moron. Giving a microphone to someone who’s willing to ask Candidate B if he’s still beating his wife, or make claims about Candidate A’s Internet usage habits, or ask about a rumor of Candidate D’s sister-in-law getting a job at City Hall, or Candidate C’s history regarding use of city-owned equipment - or, my gosh, questions FAR worse: Well, it’s not something I want to deal with.

Annette and I discussed taking written questions from the audience, but I nixed the idea. Why?

Who’s going to pick the questions? Annette? Me?

She’s reporting on the event. Me? I’m trying to ask the questions and pay attention to the answers.

We could have pulled some questions from the hat - but depending on the questions, refer to the third bullet above. I could have pulled one, then rejected it, but then Miss Angry Citizen would ask why I didn’t pick her question “Because it was the best one.”

For those interested in holding their own forum - voters who want to set their own rules, to be in charge of getting the cookies and sound system and setting up the chairs - this is the United States of America.

You’re free to do it. It’s a grand tradition we have in this country. Don’t like something? Then work to change it. The newspaper will be happy to cover it.

That’s the American Way.

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Editor’s note: Kent Marts is publisher of the weeklies for Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/20/2010