Candidate Forum a Success

Thanks again to everyone who came out to our first ever candidate forum August 23 and supported their favorite candidate for Mayor and City Council! We learned a lot, survived the heat, and made it through in record time given the number of candidates on stage. And the Fiddler Farm peanuts were great!

Thanks also to Miller's Grand Evenets, who donated all the chairs for the crowd free of charge. And to Dr Music in downtown Fairhope who donated an incredible sound system for the night's event. We appreciate your support of our efforts to make the WIndmill Market a place where people can gather, exchange ideas, and meet their neighbor.


Below is an article that ran in the Fairhope Courier prior to the event...

Windmill Market hosts final forum of Fairhope election season

Posted: Monday, August 20, 2012 2:43 pm 

By Mike Odom 

The Fairhope Courier courier@gulfcoastnewspapers.com

FAIRHOPE, Alabama—With turnout heavy for the first three public candidate forums of the city campaign season, the one this Thursday could draw upwards of 100 people to The Windmill Market.

The Thursday forum will be the last chance to see all candidates on stage together prior to the Aug. 28 city election for mayor and City Council.

Flyers for the event say the event is an opportunity to “hear their platforms and ask your tough questions.”

The event starts at 5 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 23, with time for attendees to find seats and then write questions for the candidates, who will have three minutes to introduce themselves and present their platforms when the forum starts at 5:30 p.m.

Following the forum, there will be a meet-and-greet with the candidates and light refreshments.

“From the beginning, The Windmill was started to be a place for the community and people to come together,” said Maggie Lacey, manager of the business. “We’ve always been a place where we encourage people to hang out and talk and have conversations with their neighbors and strangers. So I think it was the next logical step when there’s something important going on in the community to give people a place to gather and discuss it.” 

The candidates running in the Aug. 28 city election are as follows: mayor—Tim Kant (incumbent), Lonnie Mixon (outgoing council president) and Chris Warner; council Place 1—Jack Burrell and Debbie Quinn (incumbent); Place 2—Rich Mueller and Dan Stankoski (incumbent); Diana Brewer, Mike McPherson and Vince Valentim; Place 4—Kyle Brady and Mike Ford (incumbent); and Place 5—Kevin Boone and Rick Kingrea (incumbent).

All candidates except Kant have confirmed their attendance at Thursday’s event, Lacey said this morning. She added that neither the mayor’s office nor campaign had responded to requests about whether he would be attending, but that she would be trying again today and tomorrow.

The candidate forum will be moderated by Ric Lacey, her husband, who works at a Montrose business and has previously done political work in Mississippi but is not aligned with any candidate now nor actively involved in partisan politics, she said.

Mac Walcott, a local architect and one of the developers of The Windmill Market, said he is affiliated with Diana Brewer’s campaign for council Place 3 and has thus kept “at arm’s length” from the Aug. 23 forum.

The Windmill Market is an open-air marketplace in downtown Fairhope where famers, artists, antique dealers, bakers and more sell their wares seven days a week, according to its website. It is home to Mary Ann’s Deli, B Side and Sweet Olive restaurants, bakery and juice bar, as well as the Westside Grocery, a market selling local and organic produce, meat, cheese, snacks and more.

“I think there are not enough places where the candidates can get in front of the public and talk about their messages,” Maggie Lacey said. “Hopefully, (this event and venue) will be a nonpartisan and generic place where everybody can come and exchange these ideas.”

The Windmill Market is located at 85 N. Bancroft Ave. in downtown Fairhope, one street east of Section.